Brooklynite swims 200 yards to land under German fire
A Brooklynite’s grim story of swimming 200 yards to the invasion coast of France in the first wave, under constant heavy fire, was related yesterday in a rebroadcast interview conducted by NBC’s George Hicks in London.
Frances James Agusta, gunner’s mate on a small landing craft, described “heavy casualties” as the personnel in the boat swam to shore with “many being hit while in the water.” Most of the fire was from artillery pieces, he said, with the rest being machine-gun fire.
Agusta declared:
The wounded do not cry or moan. They sit there and try to hold what part of them is wounded. The rest of the landing force continue on the job and leave the casualties for the medical corpsmen.
Asked what the major landing problems were, he stressed minefields which had not been cleared and the heavy tides. His grueling experiences found him in the water three hours.
Agusta concluded:
I’m a little tired, have swallowed some oil and was a bit scared. Otherwise, I’m all right.