{{Short description|Australian cricketer (1916–2009)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2011}} {{Infobox cricketer |name = Stan Sismey |image =Stan Sismey WWII.jpg | caption = Sismey in 1945 |country = |fullname = Stanley George Sismey |nickname = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|7|15|df=yes}} |birth_place = Junee, New South Wales |death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|6|19|1916|7|15|df=yes}} |death_place = Taree, New South Wales |heightft = |heightinch = |batting = Right-handed |bowling = |role = Wicketkeeper |club1 = New South Wales |year1 = {{nowrap|1938/39–1950/51}} |club2 = Australian Services XI |year2 = 1945–1945/46 |club3 = Scotland |year3 = 1952 |columns = 1 |column1 = First-class |matches1 = 35 |runs1 = 725 |bat avg1 = 17.68 |100s/50s1 = 0/4 |top score1 = 78 |hidedeliveries = true |catches/stumpings1 = 88/18 |date = 21 February |year = 2013 |source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7625.html CricInfo }}
'''Stanley George Sismey''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} (15 July 1916 – 19 June 2009) was an Australian cricketer. Sismey, who achieved the rank of Squadron Leader in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II, was the official Commanding Officer of the Australian Services XI that played England in the Victory Test series that followed VE Day in 1945. He was not, however, the on-field captain, an honour bestowed upon pre-war Test cricketer Lindsay Hassett. Sismey was the team's wicketkeeper and a middle order batsman during the five unofficial Test matches.
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.<ref name="Argus">''The Argus'' (Melbourne), 30 May 1942, p. 1.</ref><ref name="The Argus 1943, p. 4">''The Argus'' (Melbourne), 5 June 1943, p. 4.</ref><ref name="GEP">''Goulburn Evening Post'', 11 June 1942, p. 9.</ref><ref name="CT" /><ref name="202 sqn"/> 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.<ref name="Catalina"/> During the Services XI's tour of India in 1945, Sismey withdrew from the team temporarily so that surgeons could remove shrapnel.<ref name="The Courier-Mail 1945, p. 4">''The Courier-Mail'' (Brisbane), 22 November 1945, p. 4.</ref>
Although his cricket career was disrupted by the war, Sismey played 35 first-class matches between 1938 and 1952, mostly for New South Wales. He took 88 catches, made 18 stumpings and was a right-handed batsman with a first-class batting average of 17.68 runs per innings.<ref name="Catalina"/><ref name="cricinfo">{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7625.html |title=Stan Sismey|last=ESPNcricinfo|author-link=ESPNcricinfo|year=2013|accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref>
According to an obituary in the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', Sismey was unusual amongst wicketkeepers in that he did not break any of his fingers during his 25-year career.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/cricket/vale-stan-sismey-wicketkeeper-to-the-best/2009/06/21/1245522734069.html |last=Sydney Morning Herald |author-link=Sydney Morning Herald |title=Vale Stan Sismey, wicketkeeper to the best|date=22 June 2009|accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref>
==Personal life== thumb|left|Stan Sismey with wife Elma upon her arrival in Sydney on 3 June 1946 Sismey was born on 15 July 1916 in Junee, New South Wales. He attended Goulburn High School in Goulburn.<ref>''Goulburn Post'', 22 August 2012, p. 15.</ref>
In June 1945, while stationed in Scotland, Sismey met and married Sergeant Elma McLachlan (WAAF) of Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire.<ref name="Catalina">{{cite web |url=http://www.catalinaflying.org.au/documents/Stanley%20George%20Sismey.pdf |title=Stanley George Sismey|last=Catalina Flying Memorial|year=2009|accessdate=20 February 2013}}</ref><ref>''Sydney Morning Herald'', 25 June 1945, p. 6.</ref> Their best man was Flight Lieutenant Keith Carmody, a teammate for NSW and the Services XI.<ref name="Catalina"/> Sismey had succeeded Carmody as captain of an RAAF XI – made up of personnel based in the UK – that played the RAF XI.<ref>''Army News'', 29 January 1945, p. 4.</ref> Elma and Stan Sismey had two daughters.<ref name="Catalina"/><ref name="asca"/>
Sismey was a banker by profession, and worked in Australia and Scotland.<ref name="asca"/> By the time he retired, Sismey had become a senior manager with the Bank of New South Wales.<ref name="asca">{{cite web |url=http://www.ascacricket.net.au/Stan_Sismey.html |title=Biography: Stanley G. Sismey, OAM |last=Australian Services Cricket Association |year=2009|accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref>
Sismey died at Taree on 19 June 2009 at the age of 92.<ref name="Catalina"/> The eulogy at his funeral, at the Forster-Tuncurry Uniting Church, in Forster, was read by Australian all-rounder Alan Davidson.<ref name="asca"/>
==Cricket career== Sismey entered club cricket as the wicketkeeper for Western Suburbs in the Sydney grade competition.<ref name="Catalina"/> He made his debut for NSW on 15 December 1939 against South Australia – led at the time by Don Bradman – at Adelaide Oval.<ref>''The Argus'' (Melbourne), 16 December 1939, p. 14.</ref> He was considered a contender to succeed Bert Oldfield as the wicketkeeper of the national team when the war intervened;<ref name="asca"/> there were no official international matches involving Australia between 1940 and 1946.<ref>Kate Darian-Smith, 2009, ''On The Home Front'', Carlton, Melbourne University Press, pp. 164–165.</ref>
During the war, Sismey played for a combined Dominions XI and a RAAF XI.<ref name="Catalina"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1943/ENG_LOCAL/DOMIN_ENG_02-03AUG1943.html |last=ESPNcricinfo|year=2004|title=England XI v Dominions, 1943|accessdate=20 February 2013}}</ref><ref>''Canberra Times'', 18 June 1945, p. 2.</ref>
[[File:Hassett and sismey.jpg|thumb|right|Lindsay Hassett and Stan Sismey (''right'') walk out to bat for the Australian Services XI, against England, during 1945.]]
His best first-class batting performance, 78 runs, was achieved for the Australian Services XI against H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI at the North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough, Yorkshire in September 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1945/AUST-SVCS_IN_ENG/AUS-SVCS_LEVESON-GOWER_05-07SEP1945.html|last=ESPNcricinfo|year=2009|title=HDG Leveson-Gower's XI v Australian Services, Scarborough, 5–7 Sep 1945|accessdate=20 February 2013}}</ref> Sismey played in the five Victory Tests of 1945, as well as two more unofficial tests in India, and other games in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Australia.<ref name="asca"/>
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.<ref name="The Courier-Mail 1945, p. 4"/>
''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| [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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152297.html |last=ESPNcricinfo|year=1985|title=Forty years on: Cricket's post-war resumption|accessdate=25 February 2013}}</ref>
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.<ref name="Catalina"/><ref name="asca"/> His first-class career in Australia concluded with the 1951/52 season, after which his banking career took him to Scotland.<ref name="asca"/> There Sismey played for Clydesdale Cricket Club, as well as one game for the national team of Scotland, during 1952<ref name="Catalina"/> against Yorkshire at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow.<ref name="scotland">{{cite web|url=http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CSTATZ/saltires/bio/S/sismey_sg.html|last=CricketEurope Scotland|year=2008|title=Stanley George Sismey|accessdate=21 February 2013|archive-date=14 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614105601/http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CSTATZ/saltires/bio/S/sismey_sg.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He was on the board of selectors for NSW between 1958/59 and 1978/79, including 10 seasons as chairman of the board.<ref name="Catalina"/>
Sismey was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia (1990) for "services to cricket", the Australian Sports Medal (2000) for his 20 years of voluntary service as a NSW selector, and life membership in Cricket NSW (the former NSWCA).<ref name="asca"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cricketnsw.com.au/~/media/NSW/sportalimport/Documents/00000634-source.ashx|last=Cricket NSW|year=2009|title=Annual Report 2008/09 Yearbook – Part Two|page=108|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-date=31 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331030834/http://www.cricketnsw.com.au/~/media/NSW/sportalimport/Documents/00000634-source.ashx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==War service== Sismey joined the RAAF on 3 February 1941 and was assigned the service number 403605.<ref name="ww2roll">{{cite web |url=http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=R&veteranId=1063512 |last=World War Two Nominal Roll|publisher=Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia) |year=2002|title=Sismey, Stanley George|accessdate=20 February 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm_v2.php?id=record_detail&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000299 |date=16 February 2007|title=A Short History of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and the Museum|last=Virtual Museum of Canada|accessdate=28 February 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rcaffortmacleod.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/blog-post.html |title=''No. 7 Service Flying Training School, Fort Macleod'' (blog)|year=2012|accessdate=28 February 2013}}</ref>
The incident in which Sismey was wounded occurred on 18 May 1942, when he was the co-pilot of a Consolidated Catalina flying boat flying over the Mediterranean, off Oran, French Algeria.<ref name="Argus"/><ref name="The Argus 1943, p. 4"/><ref name="GEP"/><ref name="CT">''Canberra Times'', 12 November 1942, p. 2.</ref> The Catalina (''AJ158''; callsign "F") was assigned to No. 202 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), based at Gibraltar.<ref name="202 sqn">{{cite web|url=http://www.202-sqn-assoc.co.uk/files/Autumn-2005.pdf|year=2005|title=202 Squadron Catalina|last=Frank Harper|work=202 Squadron Association Newsletter|issue=17 (Autumn)|page=4|accessdate=20 February 2013|archive-date=1 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101193532/http://www.202-sqn-assoc.co.uk/files/Autumn-2005.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="french">{{cite web |url=http://ww2fighters.e-monsite.com/pages/content/dewoitine-d-520-4.html |last=Chasseurs de la 2° GM|year=2009|title=Dewoitine D.520|language=French|accessdate=4 March 2013}}</ref> It was attacked by three Dewoitine D.520 fighters belonging to ''Groupe de Chasse III/6'' (GC III/6) of the Vichy French Air Force.<ref name="Argus"/><ref name="GEP"/><ref name="CT" /><ref name="202 sqn"/><ref name="french"/> Sismey received multiple wounds in his back from shrapnel – metal fragments of his own aircraft and/or French ammunition. The crew managed to make a forced landing on the sea,<ref name="CT"/><ref name="Catalina"/> after which the Catalina sank. Further attacks by French aircraft were fended off by Fairey Fulmar fighters from the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Argus|I49|6}},<ref name="french"/><ref name="war diary">{{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-MedFleet1942a.htm |last=Admiralty (UK)|date=16 January 2012|title=''Mediterranean War Diary'' |page=May 1942 |accessdate=21 February 2013}}</ref> and the crew of a Short Sunderland, commanded by Flight Lieutenant Graham Pockley, from No. 10 Squadron RAAF.<ref name="CT"/> The Catalina crew spent eight hours in the sea, and Sismey was unconscious<ref name="Catalina"/> by the time they were picked up by the British destroyer HMS ''Ithuriel''.<ref name="Catalina"/><ref name="war diary"/> Nevertheless, all of them survived the incident.<ref name="202 sqn"/>
Even after Sismey had recovered from his wounds, many metal fragments remained in his body.<ref name="Catalina"/> He joked that "there was so much shrapnel in his back, that the compasses of the aircraft he flew were affected".<ref name="Catalina"/> 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.<ref name="Catalina"/>
Sismey did not return to operational flying duties for more than two years,<ref name="asca"/> when he was offered a posting to an RAF unit as a test pilot.<ref name="Catalina"/><ref name="asca"/> Following the end of hostilities he was transferred to RAAF Overseas Headquarters to organise the Services XI.<ref name="asca"/> He was discharged from the RAAF on 24 July 1946.<ref name="ww2roll"/>
His younger brother, Frank (Francis Leonard Sismey; born 1918), was killed on 20 May 1945, while piloting a RAAF Liberator heavy bomber that crashed while taking off, at Truscott Airfield, in the extreme north of Western Australia.<ref>''Goulburn Evening Post'', 7 June 1943, p. 1.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?ServiceId=R&VeteranId=1063511|last=World War Two Nominal Roll|publisher=Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia)|year=2002|title=Sismey, Francis Leonard|accessdate=25 February 2013|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230649/http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?ServiceId=R&VeteranId=1063511|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-24/A72-160.html |last=Pacific Wrecks|year=2012|title=B-24M-10-CO Liberator Serial Number A72-160|accessdate=25 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a72.shtml|last=Col Tigwell|year=2006|title=RAAF A72 Consolidated B-24D/J/L/M Liberator|publisher=ADF Serials|accessdate=25 February 2013|archive-date=12 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412024111/http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a72.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Stan Sismey}} *{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002050112/http://www.manningrivertimes.com.au/news/local/sport/general/obituary-stan-sismey/1549311.aspx |date=2 October 2009 |title=Phil Wilkins, 2009, "Obituary: Stan Sismey", ''Manning River Times'' (24 June) }}. *{{cricinfo|id=7625}} *[http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CSTATZ/saltires/cst787.htm ''CricketEurope Scotland'' 2009, "Stanley George Sismey"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524030423/http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CSTATZ/saltires/cst787.htm |date=24 May 2011 }}. [Scotland statistics.]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sismey, Stan}} Category:1916 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Australian Services cricketers Category:Royal Australian Air Force cricketers Category:Australian World War II pilots Category:Royal Australian Air Force officers Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Shot-down aviators Category:Australian cricketers Category:New South Wales cricketers Category:Scotland cricketers Category:People from Junee Category:Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Category:Cricketers from New South Wales Category:Clydesdale CC players Category:Wicket-keepers