English: Exercise Tiger: Slapton Sands Slapton Sands are a narrow strip of land and shingle beach which separates the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley from Start Bay and carries the A379 coastal road (see road sign on the left of the photograph) north to Dartmouth. The beach is an example of a bar, the material that makes it up was pushed up by the rising sea levels after the last glacial period (from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago). A similar process formed Chesil Beach. In 1944, Slapton Sands was the scene of the ill-fated Exercise Tiger, a full-scale rehearsal for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Nine German torpedo boats (E-boats), alerted by heavy radio traffic, intercepted the exercise sinking two tank landing ships. A Sherman tank, sunk in the action, was recovered and now serves as a memorial to the 749 American troops who lost their lives - the tank can be seen adjacent to the Torcross public car park on the opposite side of the coast road.