Newspaper Report 2 –
August 1944

Supreme Allied Headquarters, Aug 7 – The only effective German action against numerous invasion rehearsals was made in April when swift enemy E-boats sank two Allied landing craft on the British coast, killing 442 U.S. troops, it was disclosed tonight.

The E-boats slipped through a hole in the Allied escort and sent two LSTs flaming to the bottom in a few minutes. The enemy escaped without loss.

It was announced Saturday, 130 were killed, 312 missing, ?? wounded in the maneuver, one of many before D-Day. The missing were so listed because their bodies were never found. The LSTs sank with all their equipment. The figures do not include the sailors lost nor disclose the small number of survivors.

The practice force was making ready to enact a mock invasion when the E-boats evaded screen warships and torpedoed the LSTs, heavily laden with troops, tanks and other vehicles. The landing craft blew up and disappeared rapidly.