A song recorded in the home of US country music to commemorate an ill-fated military exercise on Slapton Sands in preparation for the D-Day landings almost 80 years ago is being released this week.

The song, Slapton Sands (Exercise Tiger), recorded in the US, in Nashville, Tennessee, was written and recorded by English singer-songwriter, Mike Charles.

The song pays homage to the hundreds of US servicemen who died between April 22-30, 1944, during rehearsals for the Normandy beach landings weeks later.

Thousands of troops were involved in the operation. The exact details of what happened were kept from the public at the time, but about 639 soldiers and sailors perished as a result of a series of mishaps involving a friendly friendly fire incident and later when they were attacked by German patrol boats in the early hours of April 28.

Mr Charles said he wrote the song because he felt “deeply moved by the loss of the American troops”, adding that he wanted them to be remembered “as the heroes that they were”.

Mr Charles, who played gigs in west country for more than 20 years with his band The Accelerators, later turned to songwriting and music production, recording country songs in Nashville.

Slapton Sands (Exercise Tiger) was released on Monday, April 22, and will be widely available on music streaming services.

A YouTube music video of the song incorporating footage of Exercise Tiger can be viewed at https://youtu.be/aqDt7M2yez0.