Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
9:13 | It was just a training exercise, a dry run for the upcoming invasion of Normandy. Exercise Tiger took place on the English coast at a place called Slapton Sands. It was attacked by German E-Boats which had slipped through naval defenses. George Sarros, a sailor on an LST, describes the action and his captain's efforts to rescue men from the frigid water.
Keywords : George Sarros Landing Ship Tank (LST) Slapton Sands England Exercise Tiger General Quarters German E-Boat torpedo Floyd Hicks Arthur Victor dog tags British
George Sarros was just six months away from graduating high school but there was a war on and Uncle Sam needed him. He managed to get sent to the Navy instead of the Army because he "didn't feel like walking." He was assigned to a brand new LST and sailed off to England.
It was good duty down in the engine room. It was four hours on, twelve hours off for George Sarros with no paint chipping up on deck. Although his captain was aloof, he didn't sweat the small stuff, like being back late from leave.
The LST carried Army engineers so it wasn't in the first wave of the Normandy landing. Once the beach was secure, it was time to unload men and equipment and load up with casualties to return to England. There were also paratroopers who had jumped before the landing and George Sarros listened to their tales and took a look at their souvenirs.
LST-515 made 52 trips between England and Normandy after the initial one on D-Day. German prisoners were carried to England on the ship and George Sarros heard the younger ones saying that Germany was going to win the war but an older one was glad he was out of it.
George Sarros came home after the war, met a girl and moved to Hawaii to be with her. The marriage lasted for 46 years but Hawaii was too expensive.
