In April 1944, the Allies planned Exercise Tiger to practise their landing on France's Normandy beaches ahead of D-Day. During the rehearsal, a German fleet attacked, sinking two allied ships. Around 749 US servicemen died.

The Allies’ military leaders ordered troops not to discuss the disaster because they didn’t want to damage morale or give away the D-Day plans. So, Exercise Tiger was largely forgotten for decades.

Ben Henderson tells the story using archive interviews with Paul Gerolstein, who was on board one of the ships that came under attack.

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This programme has been updated since the original broadcast.

Archive: Exercise Tiger Memorial Ltd courtesy of Dean Small and Laurie Bolton, audio/visual maintained by Chris Kirsten of CeeVisk David FitzGerald

(Photo: US troops ahead of D-Day. Credit: AP)

Exercise Tiger: Disastrous D-Day rehearsal