Ken Small

The rusted Sherman tank sitting on Slapton Sands isn't a war memorial you'll find in a guidebook - it's Ken Small's obsession made metal. Back in 1984, this local diver and businessman decided Devon's forgotten D-Day rehearsal disaster needed marking. In April 1944, American troops training for the Normandy invasion were ambushed by German E-boats off this very beach. Around 750 soldiers died. Nobody really talked about it afterward.

Small raised the cash himself, dredged up a tank from the seabed, and planted it right here on the shingle as a permanent "what happened here matters" statement. It's free to visit, just walk along Slapton Sands from Kingsbridge - the tank's impossible to miss. You can get right up to it, run your hands over the corroded hull, read the plaques. The whole thing takes twenty minutes, maybe half an hour if you're the reflective type.

History enthusiasts will find it genuinely moving - there's something about standing in front of actual wreckage that beats any museum display. Kids under ten might find it just looks like an old tank, but teenagers studying the war will get it. The beach itself is lovely for a walk regardless, pebbly but proper atmospheric.

If you're camping at Start Bay Caravan Club or Wilton Farm nearby, it's an easy morning stop before heading elsewhere. Not a full day out, but absolutely worth the detour. Ken Small died in 2004, but his stubborn insistence that this story deserved remembering still stands.