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The subsequent report from Rear Admiral John Hall dated May 5 offered profound regrets to the Americans. The main cause of the tragic incident was attributed to inordinate pressures on staff. Factors included the concurrency of Operation Tiger and Operation Fabius and actions against enemy destroyers on the 25th and 26th and a further planned action on the 28th. Under these extraordinary circumstances communications and signals were delayed and some reporting was incomplete.

Lessons were learned but the appalling loss of life had little or no compensating benefit to the allied landings at Normandy. However recommendations included;

using larger escort forces if available
the need for rescue craft during any large scale landing
ensuring that vital information on enemy contacts was disseminated quickly
introducing standard procedures and special communication circuits for each Operation including the use of the same radio wavelengths
reinforcing the message for all hands not to look at flares or fires ... to do so reduced ability to see objects in the dark
limiting the amount of fuel carried to that needed for the operation itself to reduce combustible material and thereby fire risk
making rifles and pistols more generally available to fire on E-boats when they paced close aboard especially when guns could not depress sufficiently
making life boats and life rafts as near ready for lowering as possible
issuing illumination rockets to help slow moving large ships locate E-boats in darkness
improving fire fighting equipment including the installation of manually operated pumps for LSTs and other ships carrying large amounts of inflammable material
providing training in the use of the kapok life preserver jacket in preference to the CO2 single type. The former was more effective in keeping heads above water
loosening boot laces where an order to abandon ship seemed likely to make it easier to remove heavy waterlogged boots in the water.

When 10 "bigots" were reported missing there was a strong possibility that the plans for the reinvasion of Europe had been seriously and possibly fatally compromised. At the time of Operation Tiger the date for D-Day was not known even to Eisenhower but the 10 officers did know the location of the invasion beaches ... information of vital interest to the enemy. A vast search of Lyme Bay was undertaken and by a miracle the bodies of all ten officers were recovered whilst 100s of others were, at least for the moment, lost at sea. Although the loss of the "bigot" officers was regrettable the relief amongst the allied planners, to know that the their invasion plans had not been compromised, can only be imagined.

To the outside world the disaster of Tiger was kept a closely guarded secret. No official communique was issued and the staff of the 228th Sherbourne Hospital in Dorset, who received hundreds of immersion and burns cases, were simply told to ask no questions and warned that they would be subject to court martial if they discussed the tragedy.

The total of 639 American killed and missing was 10 times the actual losses on Utah beach on June 6 1944.

A NEW FEATURE ~ The Foxhole Revisits...

The Foxhole will be updating some of our earlier threads with new graphics and some new content for our Saturday threads in this, our second year of the Foxhole. We lost many of our graphic links and this is our way of restoring them along with revising the thread content where needed with new and additional information not available in the original threads.

A Link to the Original Thread;

The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Operation Tiger - Slapton Sands (4/28/1944)- Apr. 29th, 2003

Fascinating account of what happens when one shoots their mouth off without bothering to do the research. It shows again that a modern peacetime society must be careful in judging past events. The war was not going very well for us until after D-Day was assured to be a success. What if D-Day had failed due to a leak of plans, or simply dumb luck for the Germans?

The total of 639 American killed and missing was 10 times the actual losses on Utah beach on June 6 1944.

Is this a typo, or did we only lose 65 men on Utah beach the first day? After watching Private Ryan it is a wonder anyone survived.

Kenneth Small's contribution was to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

In the fog of war a training exercise was attacked by the enemy causing tragic loss of life.

Now in this time of war suspicions arise regarding November 2003 collusion of Hitlery Das Butch Von Buchenvald with Brigadier General Janice Karpinski and the subsequent "leak" of certain photos.

Odd, and ironic as well, that this occurs even as FReeper ajfavish (Alan J. Favish) is locked in a legal battle with Ted Olson (whose wife was FReeper BKO) over crime-scene photos of Vince Foster--no doubt part of the whole Roll Over Webb Hubbell and Protect the First Lady One More Time.

And while plugging FReepers, again recommend Notra Trulock (FReeper ntruclock), Code Name Kindred Spirit--did I mention Wen Ho Lee downloaded the W88, met with the head of the PRC nuclear weapon program, and lied about it all to the FBI?

Our USNA grad's former fiance's (she does Army bomb dogs) brother is driving truck in Iraq--hence my calls to Chuck Hagel and John McCain regarding their inflation of the "torture" photos were especially heated.

The fifth column inflames the armed anacephalic terrorists, putting our people at ever greater risk--all for unscrupulous partisan gain.

Mark Steyn underlines what was first revealed in Foxhole Magazine, that Benedict J. Kerry is a victim of his "overzealous speechwriters".

I'm Benedict F. Arnold and I approved this message. . .

Before I called a couple of times to overzealous speechwriters.