 Training exercises for the Overlord landings took place as early as July 1943.As the nearby beach resembled the planned Normandy landing-site, the town of Slapton in Devon, was evacuated in December 1943, and taken over by the armed forces as a site for training exercises that included the use of landing craft and the management of beach obstacles.A friendly fire incident there on 27 April 1944 resulted in as many as 450 deaths.