Frederick Sykes

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For the American college president (1863–1917), see Frederick Henry Sykes. For the English organist and composer, see Frederick William Sykes. For fictional Deputy US Marshal, see The Fugitive (1993 film) § Cast.

Sir Frederick Sykes
Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class
(Japan)
Other workStatesman, politician

CMG
(23 July 1877 – 30 September 1954) was a British military officer and politician.

Sykes was a junior officer in the 15th Hussars before becoming interested in military aviation. He was the first Officer Commanding the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps before the First World War, and later served as the Flying Corps' Chief of Staff in France in 1914 and 1915. Later in the war, he served in the Royal Naval Air Service in the Eastern Mediterranean before returning to Great Britain where he worked to organise the Machine Gun Corps and manpower planning. In late 1917 and early 1918, Sykes was the deputy to General Wilson on the Supreme War Council and from April 1918 to early 1919 he served as the second Chief of the Air Staff.

After the war, Sykes was appointed the Controller of Civil Aviation and he continued in this role until 1922 when he entered politics, becoming the Conservative MP for

Second World War, Sykes was an MP once more, this time for Central Nottingham
. He lost his seat in 1945 and he died nine years later.

Military career

Sykes was the son of Henry Sykes and Margaret Sykes (née Sykes), and nephew of the artist

Ceylon,[1] Sykes enlisted as a trooper in the Imperial Yeomanry Scouts regiment of the British Army at the start of the Second Boer War.[2] Following capture, Sykes was forcibly marched across South Africa but was later abandoned and returned to the British forces.[1] In 1900 he was commissioned into Lord Roberts' Bodyguard but suffered a serious wound to the chest which resulted in his being invalided back to Great Britain.[1] On 2 October 1901 he was granted a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the 15th Hussars.[3] He was posted to the West African Regiment and granted the local rank of lieutenant on 7 March 1903.[4] He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant on 29 July 1903.[5]

In 1904, Sykes's interest in aviation was first demonstrated when he obtained a

ballooning certificate whilst being attached to the Balloon Section of the Royal Engineers.[1] He was restored to the establishment of the 15th Hussars on 22 September 1904.[6] He joined the Intelligence Staff at Simla in India in 1905 before attending Staff College, Quetta in Autumn 1908.[2] He was promoted to captain on 1 October 1908.[7] In 1910 Sykes commenced flying lessons at Brooklands which led to him being awarded Royal Aero Club certificate No. 96 in June 1911.[8] On 25 February 1911 Sykes was posted as a staff officer to the Directorate of Military Operations at the War Office.[9] As a firm believer in the importance of wartime aerial reconnaissance, he was chosen to join the sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence which was given the task of investigating the use of aircraft.[10]

Sykes in 1913 with some of his fellow officers

On 13 May 1912 Sykes was appointed Officer Commanding the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps with the temporary rank of major.[11] His duties included the recruitment and training of pilots.[10] While in command, Sykes solicited suggestions for a new motto for the Corps: Sykes approved J S Yule's suggestion, Per Ardua ad Astra, and it was this phrase which was subsequently adopted by the Royal Air Force as its motto.[12] On 9 July 1913 his role was restyled as Commandant of the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps and he was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel.[13]

With the outbreak of the

Admiralty.[2]

Sykes visited the

mentioned in despatches on 16 March 1916.[22]

Sykes was made assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general of the 4th Mounted Division in March 1916

Order of St Vladimir, 4th Class on 12 April 1916,[23] he was appointed assistant adjutant-general at the War Office with responsibility for organising the Machine Gun Corps and manpower planning on 9 June 1916.[24] He was made Deputy Director of Organisation at the War Office and granted the temporary rank of brigadier general on 8 February 1917.[25] On 27 November 1917 he became Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at the War Office[26] in which role he served on the British section of the Allied War Council in the Palace of Versailles under General Sir Henry Wilson.[2]

Sykes's military career culminated in his appointment as

major general with effect from 31 March 1919.[31]

Sykes was appointed a Commander of the Belgian

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire on 26 August 1919[34] and appointed an officer of the French Legion of Honour on 18 November 1919.[35]

The British Air Section at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919

From 1919 to 1922, Sykes was the Controller of Civil Aviation.[2] He was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class on 4 January 1921[36] and in 1922 he published Aviation in War and Peace, a history of aviation in three chapters which covered pre-War flight, aviation during World War I and both military and civil aviation in peace time.[37]

Political career

Sir Frederick Sykes circa 1940

Sykes entered political life at the

Privy Council on 20 November 1928[44] and served in Bombay until 8 November 1933.[45]

Sykes returned to Great Britain in 1933 and for the next six years he held various directorships and official committee posts including with the Miners' Welfare Commission and the

Knight of Justice of the Order of St John on 19 June 1936.[48]

With the outbreak of war in 1939 Sykes offered his services to the British Government but he was not required, and so he stood for Parliament once more. After the death in May 1940 of Terence O'Connor, the Solicitor General and MP for Nottingham Central, Sykes was returned unopposed in the resulting by-election.[49] He sat as Nottingham Central MP until defeated at the 1945 general election.[2]

Personal life

In 1920 Sykes married Isabel Harrington Law, the elder daughter of Bonar Law, the Conservative Party leader who two years later became Prime Minister. Frederick and Isabel Sykes had one son, Bonar Sykes.[1]

Sykes bought the 18th-century

Conock Manor, near Devizes in Wiltshire, in 1945 and the associated Manor Farm in 1948.[50] Lord Blake, who knew Sykes personally, stayed at Conock while writing his biography of Bonar Law.[51]

Frederick Sykes died at Beaumont Street, London on 30 September 1954,[1] and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.[52] Geoffrey de Havilland wrote to Isabel after the cremation: "I was deeply touched by your husband's wish that I should scatter the ashes over Salisbury Plain. I will, of course, do so... I always had admiration and affection for your husband and will always remember his kindness and help in the early days at Farnborough."[51] Isabel died in 1969.[50]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36393. Retrieved 5 August 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Sykes". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. ^ "No. 27360". The London Gazette. 1 October 1901. p. 6397.
  4. ^ "No. 27537". The London Gazette. 24 March 1903. p. 1985.
  5. ^ "No. 27595". The London Gazette. 8 September 1903. p. 5598.
  6. ^ "No. 27745". The London Gazette. 20 December 1904. p. 8720.
  7. ^ "No. 28193". The London Gazette. 6 November 1908. p. 8028.
  8. ^ "Aviators' Certificates". Flight International. 1911. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  9. ^ "No. 28471". The London Gazette. 3 March 1911. p. 1636.
  10. ^ a b c d e Probert, p. 5
  11. ^ "No. 28609". The London Gazette. 17 May 1912. p. 3583.
  12. ^ "Per Ardua ad Astra". New English Review. January 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  13. ^ "No. 28735". The London Gazette. 8 July 1913. p. 4870.
  14. ^ "No. 28879". The London Gazette. 25 August 1914. p. 6685.
  15. ^ "No. 30359". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 October 1917. p. 11252.
  16. ^ "No. 29054". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 January 1915. p. 990.
  17. ^ "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1687.
  18. ^ "No. 29304". The London Gazette. 21 September 1915. pp. 9323–9324.
  19. ^ "No. 29304". The London Gazette. 21 September 1915. p. 9324.
  20. ^ "Milestones of Flight: British Military Aviation in 1915". RAF Museum. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  21. ^ "No. 29507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 March 1916. p. 2869.
  22. ^ "No. 29507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 March 1916. p. 2867.
  23. ^ "No. 29547". The London Gazette. 14 April 1916. p. 3915.
  24. ^ "No. 29699". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 August 1916. p. 7860.
  25. ^ "No. 30087". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 May 1917. p. 5037.
  26. ^ "No. 30528". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 February 1918. p. 2130.
  27. ^ "No. 30640". The London Gazette. 19 April 1918. p. 4743.
  28. ^ Ash, pp. 175–177
  29. ^ Boyle, pp. 325–328
  30. ^ "No. 31098". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 91.
  31. ^ "No. 31348". The London Gazette. 20 May 1919. p. 6249.
  32. ^ "No. 31457". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 July 1919. p. 8987.
  33. ^ "No. 31457". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 July 1919. p. 8986.
  34. ^ "No. 31522". The London Gazette. 26 August 1919. p. 10753.
  35. ^ "No. 31519". The London Gazette. 22 August 1919. p. 10724.
  36. ^ "No. 32180". The London Gazette. 4 January 1921. p. 62.
  37. ^ Aviation in War and Peace. Amazon Books. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  38. ^ "No. 32775". The London Gazette. 8 December 1922. p. 8709.
  39. ^ "No. 32897". The London Gazette. 11 January 1924. p. 365.
  40. ^ "No. 32996". The London Gazette. 25 November 1924. p. 8531.
  41. ^ "No. 33405". The London Gazette. 20 June 1928. p. 4897.
  42. ^ "No. 33433". The London Gazette. 26 October 1928. p. 6856.
  43. ^ "No. 33436". The London Gazette. 6 November 1928. p. 7205.
  44. ^ "No. 33440". The London Gazette. 20 November 1928. p. 7549.
  45. ^ "No. 33995". The London Gazette. 14 November 1933. p. 7375.
  46. ISBN 9781136315237
    . Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  47. ^ "No. 34020". The London Gazette. 2 February 1934. p. 749.
  48. ^ "No. 34297". The London Gazette. 23 June 1936. p. 4013.
  49. ^ "No. 34903". The London Gazette. 23 July 1940. p. 4529.
  50. ^ a b Baggs, A. P.; Crowley, D. A.; Pugh, Ralph B.; Stevenson, Janet H.; Tomlinson, Margaret (1975). "Parishes: Chirton". In Crittall, Elizabeth (ed.). A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 10. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 60–71. Retrieved 9 May 2022 – via British History Online.
  51. ^ a b Ash, Eric A. (1995). Sir Frederick H. Sykes and the Air Revolution: 1912-1918 (PDF) (D.Phil. dissertation). University of Calgary, Alberta. pp. 1, 20.
  52. ISSN 0140-0460
    .

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick Sykes.
Military offices
Preceded by Officer Commanding the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps
13 May 1912 – 5 August 1914 		Succeeded by
New title
Outbreak of war
 Chief of Staff, Royal Flying Corps in the Field
5 August – 22 November 1914 		Vacant
Title next held by
Himself
Preceded by
Sir David Henderson
 Officer Commanding the Royal Flying Corps in the Field
22 November 1914 – 20 December 1914 		Succeeded by
Sir David Henderson
Vacant
Title last held by
Himself 		Chief of Staff, Royal Flying Corps in the Field
20 December 1914 – 26 May 1915 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Charles Samson
As Officer Commanding No. 3 Wing RNAS
 Officer Commanding RNAS Eastern Mediterranean
July 1915 – February 1916 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Air Staff
1918–1919 		Succeeded by
Sir Hugh Trenchard
Government offices
New title Controller of Civil Aviation
1919–1922 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam
1922–1928 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Nottingham Central
1940–1945 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
Governor of Bombay

1928–1931 		Succeeded by
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