For tens of thousands of Americans stationed in England in the spring of 1944, France was the Far Shore, the place where they would finally meet the Nazis in a fight to the death. To prepare, they trained along a stretch of English coast that had been cleared of civilians. It was called Slapton Sands, a tranquil beach that was chosen for its geographic similarity to the coast of Normandy. Their most realistic training was Exercise Tiger, a live— ammunition D-Day rehearsal that involved some 300 ships and 30,000 men in April 1944, six weeks before the invasion... (read the article here)