Fundo SEB - J.J. Sebisty fonds

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.