Two of Lycoming County’s native sons perished during the little-known tragedy of Exercise Tiger off the English coast on April 28, 1944, according to storiesbehindthestars.org. Forty-four service members from Pennsylvania lost their lives in the sinking of LST-507 and LST-531 during the exercise.

James Donald Peters was born on June 16, 1907 in Williamsport to Harry Warren and Florence Anna Peters. His father was a railroad brakeman for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Peters had one older brother and three sisters – two older and one younger.

Peters completed three years of high school and married Josephine Virginia Fahrenbach. The couple welcomed the birth of their daughter, June Eileen, in 1927. Peters, his wife, and daughter lived with his wife’s stepparents. Peters supported his family by working at a rubber works plant and then becoming a shoemaker for W. S. Green.

Peters, according to research by volunteers with the Stories Behind the Stars project, registered for the draft on Oct. 16, 1940, in Williamsport. He enlisted in the Navy on March 17, 1943, in Harrisburg and attained the rank of Coxswain. Peters was assigned on March 10, 1944, to Landing Ship Tank (LST) 531.

Joseph H. Sessamen was born in 1923 in Virginia to George H. and Estrella Chafin Sessamen, according to storiesbehindthestars.org. He had a grammar school education and worked as a farmer prior to entering the Army. Sessamen was living in Jersey Shore at the time of his enlistment on Aug. 28, 1942 as a private in the Transportation Corps. He was eventually assigned to the 462nd Amphibious Truck Company, 24th Amphibious Truck Battalion, 1st Engineer Special Brigade. The brigade was activated at Camp Edwards when, on Aug. 5, 1942, the brigade was sent to England, arriving on August 17, 1942. The 1st Engineer Special Brigade participated in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, in December 1942. They supported the allied invasion of Sicily and then Salerno in September 1943.

According to storiesbehindthestars.org, Peters and Sessamen were deployed to England in November of1943 to prepare for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. Exercise Tiger was one of a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion at Utah Beach. The exercise was to last from April 22 to April 30, 1944. It involved 30,000 troops and covered all aspects of the invasion culminating in a beach landing at Slapton Sands, Devon, England. The rehearsal included live fire from naval vessels supporting the exercise from offshore. These exercises were all conducted under very tight security.

Exercise Tiger began with the marshaling and embarkation of troops onto nine 4,500-ton flat-bottomed assault ships capable of carrying several hundred men, lorries and tanks. The plan was to simulate a Channel crossing by taking a roundabout route through Lyme Bay and arriving at Slapton Sands at first light on April 27, 1944, according to the Stories Behind the Stars project’s research. Miscommunication resulted in friendly naval forces firing on ships that landed early. Estimates of up to 450 troops were killed in this friendly-fire incident.

On the morning of April 28, 1944, a flotilla of eight LSTs loaded with American troops, combat engineers, and equipment was operating in Lyme Bay of the English Channel and was preparing to conduct an amphibious landing at Slapton Sands, according to research by volunteers with the Stories Behind the Stars project.The convoy was to be protected by two British naval vessels, but one of them collided with an LST and had to return to port for repairs. Because the LSTs and the British Navy were operating on different radio frequencies, the convoy was unaware that it was protected by only one of the escorts. Six German E-boats with machine guns and torpedoes made visual contact with the convoy during a normal reconnaissance mission from Cherbourg, France. Soon after 0200, the E-boats opened fire on the convoy. LST-507 was torpedoed in its auxiliary engine room, cutting all electrical power. The LST burst into flames. Firefighting attempts proved futile as the fire-fighting equipment was damaged or destroyed by the torpedoes. LST-531 was hit shortly afterward. It burst into flames, rolled over and sank in six minutes. Hundreds of American troops were trapped below deck of the two torpedoed LSTs and went down with the vessels when they sank. The torpedo attack lasted until about 3:30 a.m. on April 28, 1944.

Peters and Sessamen were killed in action on April 28, 1944 during Exercise Tiger when LST-507 and LST-531 were torpedoed and were sunk by an attack by German E-Boats in Lyme Bay of the English Channel, according to research by volunteers with the Stories Behind the Stars project. Peters was interred temporarily in England before being repatriated to the U.S. He was laid to rest at Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport on Aug. 31, 1948. Sessamen’s remains were never recovered, according to research by volunteers with the Stories Behind the Stars project. He was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, England. Peters and Sessamen posthumously received the Purple Heart.

In all, 749 American service members died on that night. A total of 946 in total died in Exercise Tiger. LST-507 lost 202 US Army and Navy personnel. LST-531 lost 424 US Army and Navy personnel. By comparison, the actual invasion of Utah Beach resulted in the deaths of 197 American service members.