Situated between the river mouths at Dartmouth and Salcombe is the 3-mile long shingle and pebble beach of Slapton Sands. The area has a lot more history than you would think.
In late 1943 some 3000 local villagers, farmers, and towns folk were evacuated and 30,000 American troops moved in as the beach became the site of the practice for the D Day landings.
Photo courtesy of the US Library of Congress.
It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts. On the 27th of April 1944, the first practice landing was marked by a friendly fire incident when using live ammunition to accustom the troops to the real landing, unfortunately, timings and orders got a bit confused, and it all became a little too real. The full toll was never released but it was estimated around 450 men died that morning.
The next disaster cost, even more, lives when 6 German E-boats operating out of Cherbourg evaded the escorts and attacked the slow-moving Landing ships with torpedos resulting in a number either sinking or being set on fire leaving another 749 soldiers and sailors dead.
About halfway along the beach, there is a monument erected by the US Army.
But not dedicated to any of the fallen soldiers as you might think it would be but to the locals who had to give up their homes.
The monument to those who died had to wait until 1984 when a local man Ken Small, became invested in the story or lack of it after finding things on the beach like military buttons, and in the course of researching the story, he heard about the tank sitting offshore from local divers and set about organizing its recover as a memorial.
The Sherman tank now sits at the end of the Torcross car park along with information about Ken, the charity.
Along with information on Exercise Tiger and a list of those lost during the training.
On the inland side of the road and beach, you will see Slapton Ley a 1.5-mile long freshwater lake, reed beds, nature reserve, and site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
It’s a real haven for bird watchers and there are a number of hides set up around the lake.
If all that history and walking and birdwatching has left you feeling a little hungry it might be a good idea to stop off at The Start Bay Inn.
A local pub is renowned for its beer and fish and chips the portions are huge this is a small and more than enough for a good lunch.
So there you have it Hivers some scenic bits of the South Devon coast a little bit of WW2 history all topped off with fish and chips in the sun.
