Related records: Air route book has been transferred to the CASM Library. See lower level description.
John Joseph Sebisty from the Hamilton area enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on 16 July 1941. Sebisty completed his training at St. Hubert Manning Depot, Quebec; Valcartier Manning Depot, Quebec; Debert Military Camp (guard duty), Nova Scotia; No. 3 ITS Victoriaville, Quebec; No. 4 EFTS Windsor Mills, Quebec; and No. 9 SFTS Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Sebisty trained on the following types of aircraft: Fleet Finch II, N.A. Harvard II; Hurricane II; and a Hurricane I. From there he joined No. 1 OTU at RCAF Station Bagotville, Quebec in August 1942 before moving in November 1942 to No. 59 OTU RAF Station Milfield, Northumberland (also the satellite field at RAF Station Brunton). He finished his operational training in July 1943 at No. 152 OTU at RAF Peshawar, India, where he continued to fly the Harvard II and, for the first time, the Vultee Vengeance. During this training he won first prize in a dive bombing competition. He was first posted to the No 21 Ferry Control Unit at RAF Station Mauripur, India, in September 1943. In October 1943 he joined the 110th Squadron at Digri and Kumbirgram air fields, where he flew on bombing missions directed at Japanese targets. On 11 August 1944 Sebisty had an accident on take-off at RAF Station Aboukir with the Vultee Vengeance he was flying. The crash was investigated and kept him from flying for at least eleven weeks. The result of the investigation is unclear. In June and July 1945, Sebisty took the No. 14 (Special) Officers’ Administrative Course – Class “C.” Sebisty was honourably discharged from the RCAF on 27 February 1946. For his service he received the Burma Star (UK), the 1939-1945 Star, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the Defense Medal (UK). Sebisty seems to have graduated from the University in Toronto in 1951 with a degree in Metallurgical engineering. He then seems to have worked for the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources in the Metals Technology Laboratories and was inducted into the American Galvanizers Association's Hall of Fame in 1978.
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The fonds contains: 8 cm of graphic records, 3 cm of textual records, 3 pins, 1 badge, and 1 heliograph.
The fonds contains graphic and textual records related to J.J. Sebisty’s Second World War service. This includes three photograph albums, a log book, an air route book, a photo portrait, a discharge certificate, and a file of documents related to the investigation into Sebisty’s 1944 crash. It also includes the following artefacts: 3 service pins, RAF 110 squadron badge, and a heliograph. The records are arranged in rough chronological order.
Records are generally in good condition though photograph corners in the albums are coming off. Albums should be handled carefully for this reason as loose photographs may fall out.
The fonds was donated by a relative of Sebisty in 2012.
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The album contains photographs showing Sebisty’s training at EFTS Windsor Mills, Quebec as well as at SFTS Summerside, P.E.I. . Captions indicate names but are most often humorous as opposed to being simply informative. The photographs show the Fleet 16b Finch, Harvard II and Hurricane II aircraft that Sebisty trained on. They also show other aircraft at the stations. There are many photographs of other men in Sebisty’s Squadron No. 2. The photographs in the album are in reverse chronological order, with some photographs of the 1939 visit of King George and Queen Elizabeth to Hamilton at the end. A photograph shows Sebisty leaving on the train and in his first uniform as a private.
Adhesive is starting to dry up and so that photograph corners are coming away from the page and photographs are becoming loose.
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Item is a black and white photograph portrait taken of J.J.. Sebisty in his RCAF uniform at the Bombay Photo Studio in Calcutta. The poem In Flanders Fields is taped in the bottom left-hand corner of the frame.
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Transferred to the CASM Library. See Horizon record and RARE CASM TL 726.15 G7 1943.
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Item is a heliograph in its original cloth bag. The heliograph is in excellent condition with foresight attached by string. The bag has rust stains.
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The album holds photographs and a post card that Sebisty took during his training in England and in India. The post card and 14 of the photographs document his transport by boat, first the transatlantic crossing on the R.M.S Queen Elizabeth and then his transport to India. Other photographs are aerials that he presumably took on training flights. The majority of photographs appear to have been taken while he was on leave. They show sites in London, such as the Parliament buildings, and of the English countryside. There are also eight photographs showing a wedding he attended between a Canadian airman and presumably an English woman. The album is bound in leather embossed with Egyptian motifs and so the album was likely made when Sebisty was in Cairo.
Adhesive is starting to dry up and so that photograph corners are coming away from the page and photographs are becoming loose.
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The file includes original and copied documents related to the investigation into the accident that took place at RAF Station Aboukir on 11 August 1944. Sebisty crashed the Vultee Vengeance Mark IV F.D. 255 that he was piloting at take-off. He was accused of negligence by raising the under-carriage prematurely. The documents include three inspection reports submitted as exhibits in the investigation, a map of the Station, a report submitted, and certified true copies of the summary of evidence of the case. Sebisty had said that he was sure the aircraft was already airborne when he retracted the under-carriage as he was up to speed. However, Sebisty had also noticed a momentary loss of power. Sebisty wrote a letter admitting an error of judgement, but denying any suggestion of negligence in October after the proceedings had already lasted eleven weeks. There are no documents indicating the result of the investigation in the file.
One photograph in this album shows a corpse and so may be upsetting.
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The album contains photographs of Sebisty and fellow airmen from the 110th Squadron stationed in India at at Digri and Kumbirgram air fields. The photographs show Sebisty on leave in Lower Topa and in the Himalayan foothills, as well as in Cairo. The photographs show the Vultee Vengeance bombers of the Squadron. Sebisty also saved eight gun camera photographs from his bombing runs in the Silchar and Imphal areas. Later photographs appear to document Sebisty’s return home to Canada after the war by ship. There are also photographs of the No. 14 Officers’ Administrative Course he attended and of a holiday in the Muskoka region with fellow RCAF veterans, perhaps soon after his return.
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