Plaque Dedication News Article - April 18, 2014

Laurie Bolton, honorary director of Exercise Tiger Memorial Ltd and the late Ken Small,
who raised the tank from the sea, in front of the memorial, Torcross car park in 1994


KINGSBRIDGE GAZETTE                                                                           APRIL 28, 2014


Plaque in honor of memorial man Ken Small


     A ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the tragic Exercise Tiger will be held at the Tank Memorial, Slapton Sands.  The ceremony will be led by Prebendary John F. Richards of the Royal Tank Regiment Association, Plymouth, on Sunday, April 27, at the tank memorial site, Torcross car park at 3:30 pm. The ceremony will include the unveiling of a plaque to honor the late Ken Small, who recovered the Sherman Tank that now sits as a memorial to the 749 US Servicemen who lost their lives.
     Laurie Bolton from Kingsburg, California, USA, honorary director, Exercise Tiger Memorial Ltd, whose uncle perished in Exercise Tiger, was a friend of Ken’s and will be dedicating the plaque in his honor.      Laurie has been coming to Slapton Sands for the last 20 years, and has brought a group of veterans and family members for the 60th and 65th anniversaries, as well as last year in 2013.  This year, through age and ill health, the veteran survivors were unable to travel.    
     Ken’s son, Dean Small, director of Exercise Tiger Memorial Ltd, who maintains the Tank Memorial, will join Laurie who will read a message from the veterans and family members.  Also present will be members of the LST and Landing Craft Association. The unveiling of the plaque at this year’s ceremony is to remember Ken’s tireless work to create a lasting memorial to those who died on April 28, 1944, when German E-Boats attacked the US convoy during the full dress rehearsal for D-Day.    
     Laurie Bolton said “My uncle, Sgt. Louis A. Bolton, US Army, lost his life on board LST 531.  His body was never recovered.  I was born on this birthday eight years after he died.  His name is on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in England, along with many others never found.  I am honored to unveil the plaque in memory of Ken Small and pay tribute to his dedication over 30 years.  The Tank Memorial gives us a tangible place to come and pay tribute to our loved ones who died, as well as a place of remembrance.  I am grateful to Dean Small for carrying on his father’s legacy and to all the local people who left their homes and farms for the cause of freedom.”

Sgt. Louis A. Bolton - Perished on LST 531

     Dean and his wife, Sarah, will be present during the memorial service.  He said, “My father campaigned tirelessly for a memorial to ensure that the sacrifices made by these young men were recognized.  I have been privileged to meet many of the survivors and family members over the years and have always been impressed by their courage and determination to remember their fallen colleagues. My father died in 2004.  If he were here today, he would be humbled and honoured to be recognised in this way.”
 

Dean & Sarah Small

     The Exercise proved to be the most costly training incident in terms of lives lost in the whole of World War Two.   In the early morning hours of April 28, 1944, eight Landing Ship Tanks full of American servicemen and military equipment were converging in Lyme Bay, off the coast of Devon, making their way towards Slapton Sands for Exercise Tiger.  A group of four German E-Boats, alerted by heavy radio traffic in Lyme Bay, intercepted the two-mile convoy.  The slow moving LSTs were easy targets for the torpedo boats.   A series of tragedies, including the absence of a British Navy destroyer assigned as an escort having been ordered into port for repairs, and an error in radio frequencies, led to three of the LSTs being hit by German torpedoes.   The soldiers and sailors who survived were ordered not to speak about the incident and many did not talk about it until 50 years later.  It remained a secret until Ken Small, than a Torcross hotelier, was told about a Sherman Duplex Drive tank that was resting on the seabed three-quarters of a mile out from the shore.  He bought it from the US Government for $50, finally recovering it from the sea in May 1984.   Thanks to his efforts, the Sherman Tank Memorial Site was officially recognized by the US Congress and acknowledged by the addition of a plaque.

Ken Small on the Tank as it is raised from the sea in May 1984

      The official annual ceremony led by the Royal Tank Regiment Association, Plymouth Branch, is held on the
nearest
Sunday to April 28. 
 


 For more information, visit  www.exercisetigermemorial.co.uk