Here's a few more:
On September 6, 1939, just three days after Britain went to war
with Germany, a young Shropshire pilot, Pilot Officer John Hulton-Harrop, age 26, became
the first operational casualty of Fighter Command when he was shot down in a tragic case
of 'Friendly Fire' soon after he took off from North Weald fighter station.
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In preparation for the D-Day landings on Utah beach, the US Forces were conducting a series
of exercises on a stretch of beach called Slapton Sands, near Plymouth. In an area comprising
around 30,000 acres a total of 3,000 people (750 families) 180 farms with livestock were
evacuated. This enormous task had to be completed in six weeks.
During the actual exercise, while maneuvering for position in Lyme Bay on the night of April 27
the landing ships were attacked by nine German motor torpedo boats, E-boats, from Cherbourg
in France. Two of the landing craft, LST 507 and LST 531 were sunk and others damaged. On
board the two landing ships the casualties were severe, 638 men killed (197 sailors and 441
soldiers) and hundreds injured. This was more than ten times greater than the casualties
sustained in the real assault on Utah Beach on June 6 (43 Americans killed, 63 wounded).
Altogether, including casualties from other ships and those killed by friendly fire on shore, a
total of 946 Americans gave their lives during Operation Tiger. News of this disaster was kept
a closely guarded secret for many months.
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After the attack on Pearl Harbor, US army personnel started digging trenches along the
beaches in anticipation of a seaborne invasion. Every fifty feet or so along the beach, a
gun crew with 30 calibre machine guns took up their positions. At around 8pm on
December 7th, seven planes were seen trying to land on an airstrip on Ford Island.
Misjudging the length of the runway the pilots decided to go around again for a second
try. As the planes came around again the gunners, thinking they were Japanese,
opened fire and shot down all seven. The planes were their own aircraft from the carrier
USS Enterprise out at sea.