Daryl Kenneth Seaman was born on 28 April 1922 in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, to Byron Luther Seaman and Letha Mae Patton. Daryl was the second of four children, Dorothy Verna his elder, and Byron James (B.J.) and Donald Roy his juniors. Byron Seaman was born in Wisconsin and had come to Canada during the First World War to help with the harvest. After the United States entered the War on 6 April 1917, Byron returned stateside, joined the army, and fought with the American Expeditionary Forces in Germany. He would return to Canada in January 1920 and marry that same month. Seaman had met Mae Patton in Avonlea, Saskatchewan. Patton was born in Unadilla, Nebraska, in 1899 and moved to Canada with her family in 1912. Until 1928 both Byron and Mae both worked on a farm. In 1928 Byron started a road-construction company, which all of his sons worked for in the summer once they were old enough.\n', '

Seaman graduated high school in the spring of 1939, months before Canada entered the Second World War on 10 September 1939. That fall Seaman entered technical school in Moose Jaw and began playing hockey with the Moose Jaw Canucks. Shortly after beginning school, however, Seaman became ill and returned to Rouleau, dropping out of school. In the fall of 1940 Seaman began an engineering degree at the University of Saskatchewan, but in February 1941 left school after enlisting in the military. Because of his high marks in math and physics, the recruiter suggested that Seaman enlist in the Air Force. The first phase of Seaman\'s military training took place in Brandon, Manitoba, and following that he was transferred to Regina, Saskatchewan. Being selected as a pilot, he was then sent to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) at RCAF Virden for flight instruction, first flying in September 1941. That November he was transferred to RCAF Brandon, and on 12 March 1942 was granted his Wings.\n', '

Shortly after finishing his training, Seaman was sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he spent his twentieth birthday. On 1 May 1942, Seaman set sail for Great Britain on the MS Batory, arriving in Glasgow on 12 May. Upon arrival he traveled to Bournemouth, where he spent a short time before transferring to Cornwall, back to Bournemouth, then to Kirmington, and finally to Harrogate. During this time Seaman underwent additional training, flying in Airspeed Oxfords. By that fall Seaman\'s initial training was complete, and he was sent to Silloth and assigned to a Lockheed Hudson as part of a four-man crew. From November 1942 to January 1943 the crew practiced navigation and bombing, the final phase of training.\n', '

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