Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North Deane Sismey
1900-1993
Mess Jacket, c. 1930
Sismey
graduated from Eton College in 1918 and became a second lieutenant in
the King’s Royal Rifle Corps on July 16, 1920. He was advanced to
lieutenant in 1922 and made adjutant in 1926. Sismey received his
captaincy on July 16, 1929, and married Anna Laetitia Philips, the
daughter of Brigadier Lewis Francis Philips in 1931. From 1935 to 1938,
Sismey was on staff at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst as an
instructor. He was promoted to major on August 1, 1938, and returned to
the King’s Royal Rifle Corps by the year’s end. Sismey became a
temporary lieutenant colonel in 1941 with the Second Battalion of the
King’s Rifles. The Second Battalion had been reformed after having been
lost during the defense of Calais, which allowed for the evacuation of
the British Expeditionary Force to proceed. In early 1942, Sismey took
command of the Second Battalion, leading it during the Battle of Gazala
during the North African Campaign. He relinquished command of the Second
Battalion in August of 1942. Whilst with the First Battalion during the
Italian Campaign, Sismey was mentioned in despatches in January of
1945. He retired with the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in 1948
and due to his age was released from the Reserve of Officers in 1951,
but returned to the service as an officer in the Territorial Army on
February 11, 1952, as a second lieutenant. Having been made a Deputy
Lord Lieutenant for the County of Huntingdon on June 3, 1952, Sismey
left the service again as a captain in 1956.
