BBC Coast - Exercise Tiger Disaster

Thanks for reminding us SGT John " Mac " McConnell that realistic combat training may well cause death. A classmate and friend of mine was killed while assigned to 1st BN 75th Rangers during a live-fire exercise in the mid-1980s in Honduras. He shielded another soldier with his body as he died.
Exercise Tiger demonstrated the fog of war in spades. Plans are never executed as written. While the exercise was devastating to those involved and their families back home, the lessons learned on 28 April off the coast of southern England were useful in the preparation and conduct for D-Day.
Images: 1944-06, the U.S. Navy captured the German submarine U-505; 1944-06-17. UNITED STATES NAVY TORPEDO BOATS PATROLLING; 1944-03 U-1229, a 740-ton U-boat under attack by aircraft from USS Bogue
"General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied commander in chief, had decreed that the Normandy invasion forces–and if possible the entire English Channel–must be free from the threat of massed U-boat attack for the D-Day landings to succeed. From D-Day to D-plus-14, the assault forces would have to be landed safely, the beachhead consolidated, and the buildup of supplies assured.

On June 6, D-Day, 76 U-boats sailed from their Biscay bases into the Channel to disrupt the landings in Normandy. As sighting reports streamed into Starling, Walker said: ‘Eisenhower wants two weeks. He’ll not only get it, but this is our chance to smash the U-boat arm for all time.’

In those first three days, he directed his 40 ships into no fewer than 36 attacks, during which eight U-boats were destroyed and many more damaged. Aircraft claimed another six, and the first enemy wave withdrew. The U-boats returned later for another desperate effort to penetrate into the Channel, and for a week there was no rest for men or ships.

Each time it was Starling‘s turn to retire for new ammunition her crew snatched a few hours’ sleep. But not Walker. He attended conferences, adjusted tactics, laid new plans and with seemingly inexhaustible energy took his ship back to sea to resume the struggle. Only a handful of U-boats needed to reach the landing area to create the havoc that would give the enemy vital respite.

The two weeks demanded by Eisenhower passed without a single U-boat getting through. In the third week, three slipped past the defenders and caused a moment of panic among the great invasion fleet, but they were quickly destroyed. After three weeks, the U-boats withdrew again, unbelievably mauled. They were never to return in strength.

Walker had achieved his final ambition–destruction of the U-boats as an integrated fighting force. The Battle of the Atlantic was won; the Battle for the Channel had never been lost.

Even Walker’s own officers were becoming alarmed at the gray, drawn face of their captain. His eyes had sunk back into a gaunt face that was itself little more than skin stretched across bones. His lean frame sagged, and his normal decisiveness was being replaced by growing hesitancy and an uncertain search for the right words when sending signals.

Yet no one could foresee the end. Johnnie Walker’s name was acclaimed in the press alongside those of the glamour boys–Patton, Bradley, Montgomery and Mountbatten. An Admiralty representative called on Eilleen at her Liverpool home to relay the news that her husband was to be knighted by King George VI. Now, she thought, he will have to take a rest.

The afternoon following his arrival home, the couple went to the movies to see Madame Curie. Afterward, he complained of giddiness and a curious humming noise in his head. At home he was violently sick, and the giddy spells returned.

Walker was rushed to the hospital and immediately examined. ‘All your husband needs is quiet and rest,’ Eilleen was told. But the next day it became apparent that something was seriously wrong with Johnnie Walker. The news that his life might be in danger spread from Eilleen to Sir Max Horton and then throughout the whole command.

At midnight on July 9, 1944, Eilleen was summoned to her husband’s bedside. Too late. Johnnie Walker was dead. Officially he died of a cerebral thrombosis. In fact, he died of overstrain, overwork and war weariness; his mind and body had been driven beyond the normal limits in a life dedicated to the total destruction of the enemy, revenge for his son and to the service of his country."
http://www.historynet.com/captain-frederick-john-walker-royal-navys-german-u-boat-menance.htm
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 Charlie Poulton SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SP5 Mark Kuzinski SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SP5 Robert Ruck SCPO Morris RamseyCPL Eric Escasio

Good read and interesting video- learned something more today. Good morning SGT John " Mac " McConnell

Thank you John, great video and read, have a great day buddy.