 The tragedy meant tanks were launched closer to shore on D-Day |
A service has been held for six men who died during D-Day preparations off Dorset which helped ensure a successful allied assault. The men died when the amphibious tanks they were operating sank off Studland Bay during bad weather on 4 April 1944.
It meant similar tanks were launched much closer to the French shore than first planned on D-Day on 6 June.
The widows of the men and former members of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards attended the service.
A memorial representing the lost lives was unveiled on the headland near Fort Henry, Studland, and wreaths laid on the waters of the bay to the sound of a bugler.
Allied forces disembarked on the Normandy coast in the first step towards liberating France from German occupation during World War II.
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