Stan Sismey
Wicketkeeper | |||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
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Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
1938/39–1950/51 | Australian Services XI | ||||||||||||||
1952 | Scotland | ||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 21 February 2013 |
Stanley George Sismey
In 1942, Sismey was seriously wounded when the flying boat of which he was the co-pilot was attacked by fighter aircraft of the Vichy French Air Force, over the Mediterranean Sea off Algeria.[1][2][3][4][5] He received multiple wounds in his back from shrapnel. These injuries sometimes affected Sismey long after his recovery: he had to leave a ground during at least one game, because a piece of metal had begun to work its way out of his body.[6] During the Services XI's tour of India in 1945, Sismey withdrew from the team temporarily so that surgeons could remove shrapnel.[7]
Although his cricket career was disrupted by the war, Sismey played 35
According to an obituary in the
Personal life
Sismey was born on 15 July 1916 in
In June 1945, while stationed in Scotland, Sismey met and married
Sismey was a
Sismey died at
Cricket career
Sismey entered club cricket as the wicketkeeper for
During the war, Sismey played for a combined Dominions XI and a RAAF XI.[6][16][17]
His best first-class batting performance, 78 runs, was achieved for the Australian Services XI against
On 21 November 1945, as a result of his war wounds, Sismey underwent an operation at a hospital in Bombay (later Mumbai) to remove a metal fragment that was working its way out of his body.[7]
Wisden, commenting on Sismey's performance for the Services XI, said: "Looking to a renewal of the fight for the Ashes, critics tipped Hassett and [Keith] Miller, plus Sismey and Cristofani, to play for Australia. The first two did, to well-remembered effect. Sismey found his way barred, first by the brilliant Don Tallon and then by the stylish Ron Saggers."[19]
Sismey was also kept out of the NSW team by Saggers, before being re-selected during the 1949/50 season, when his keeping also earned him selection for an unofficial Australian Second XI that toured New Zealand.[6][13] His first-class career in Australia concluded with the 1951/52 season, after which his banking career took him to Scotland.[13] There Sismey played for Clydesdale Cricket Club, as well as one game for the national team of Scotland, during 1952[6] against Yorkshire at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow.[20]
He was on the board of selectors for NSW between 1958/59 and 1978/79, including 10 seasons as chairman of the board.[6]
Sismey was honoured with the
War service
Sismey joined the RAAF on 3 February 1941 and was assigned the service number 403605.[22] He received basic training as a pilot in Australia. Under the provisions of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (also known as the Empire Air Training Scheme), many Commonwealth aircrews during World War II received advanced training in Canada at Royal Canadian Air Force facilities and, after graduating, were posted to units of their own or other Commonwealth air force units, in various parts of the world.[23] Sismey embarked at Sydney on 13 June 1941 and arrived in Canada on 3 July; he received advanced training at No. 7 Service Flying Training School, RCAF Station Fort Macleod, near Fort Macleod, Alberta.[24]
The incident in which Sismey was wounded occurred on 18 May 1942, when he was the co-pilot of a
Even after Sismey had recovered from his wounds, many metal fragments remained in his body.[6] He joked that "there was so much shrapnel in his back, that the compasses of the aircraft he flew were affected".[6] On at least one occasion after he resumed playing cricket, Sismey had to leave the ground during a game because a metal fragment had suddenly worked its way out of his body.[6]
Sismey did not return to operational flying duties for more than two years,[13] when he was offered a posting to a RAF unit as a test pilot.[6][13] Following the end of hostilities he was transferred to RAAF Overseas Headquarters to organise the Services XI.[13] He was discharged from the RAAF on 24 July 1946.[22]
His younger brother, Frank (Francis Leonard Sismey; born 1918), was killed on 20 May 1945, while piloting a RAAF
References
- ^ a b c The Argus (Melbourne), 30 May 1942, p. 1.
- ^ a b The Argus (Melbourne), 5 June 1943, p. 4.
- ^ a b c Goulburn Evening Post, 11 June 1942, p. 9.
- ^ a b c d e Canberra Times, 12 November 1942, p. 2.
- ^ a b c d Frank Harper (2005). "202 Squadron Catalina" (PDF). 202 Squadron Association Newsletter. p. 4. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Catalina Flying Memorial (2009). "Stanley George Sismey" (PDF). Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ^ a b The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 22 November 1945, p. 4.
- ^ ESPNcricinfo (2013). "Stan Sismey". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- Sydney Morning Herald (22 June 2009). "Vale Stan Sismey, wicketkeeper to the best". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ Goulburn Post, 22 August 2012, p. 15.
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June 1945, p. 6.
- ^ Army News, 29 January 1945, p. 4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Australian Services Cricket Association (2009). "Biography: Stanley G. Sismey, OAM". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ The Argus (Melbourne), 16 December 1939, p. 14.
- ^ Kate Darian-Smith, 2009, On The Home Front, Carlton, Melbourne University Press, pp. 164–165.
- ^ ESPNcricinfo (2004). "England XI v Dominions, 1943". Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ^ Canberra Times, 18 June 1945, p. 2.
- ^ ESPNcricinfo (2009). "HDG Leveson-Gower's XI v Australian Services, Scarborough, 5–7 Sep 1945". Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ^ ESPNcricinfo (1985). "Forty years on: Cricket's post-war resumption". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ CricketEurope Scotland (2008). "Stanley George Sismey". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ Cricket NSW (2009). "Annual Report 2008/09 Yearbook – Part Two". p. 108.
- ^ a b World War Two Nominal Roll (2002). "Sismey, Stanley George". Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia). Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ^ Virtual Museum of Canada (16 February 2007). "A Short History of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and the Museum". Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ^ "No. 7 Service Flying Training School, Fort Macleod (blog)". 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ^ a b c Chasseurs de la 2° GM (2009). "Dewoitine D.520" (in French). Retrieved 4 March 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Admiralty (UK) (16 January 2012). "Mediterranean War Diary". p. May 1942. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ Goulburn Evening Post, 7 June 1943, p. 1.
- ^ World War Two Nominal Roll (2002). "Sismey, Francis Leonard". Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia). Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ Pacific Wrecks (2012). "B-24M-10-CO Liberator Serial Number A72-160". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ Col Tigwell (2006). "RAAF A72 Consolidated B-24D/J/L/M Liberator". ADF Serials. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
External links
- Phil Wilkins, 2009, "Obituary: Stan Sismey", Manning River Times (24 June) at the Wayback Machine (archived 2 October 2009).
- Stan Sismey at ESPNcricinfo
- CricketEurope Scotland 2009, "Stanley George Sismey". [Scotland statistics.]