Captain Ronald Sykes was a World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 credited with six aerial victories.

World War I service

Sykes joined the Royal Naval Air Service

Royal Naval Air Service

The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

 in April 1917. In September, he joined 9 Naval Squadron to fly a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 in Roy Brown's flight. On the 20th, he shot down an Albatros D.III

Albatros D.III

The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...

 out of control, and was in turn shot down by Paul Baumer

Paul Bäumer

Paul Wilhelm Bäumer was a German fighter ace in World War I.-Involvement in World War 1:Bäumer learned to fly before the war but joined the infantry and was wounded in the leg in 1915. He transferred to the air service as a dental assistant before being accepted for military pilot training...

. Sykes evaded capture by the Germans and swam the Yser River to return to friendly forces. In March 1918, he joined Raymond Collishaw

Raymond Collishaw

Air Vice Marshal Raymond Collishaw CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, DSC, DFC, RAF was a distinguished Canadian fighter pilot, squadron leader, and commanding officer who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and later the Royal Air Force. He was the highest scoring RNAS flying ace and the second highest...

 in 3 Naval Squadron. On 30 May, he scored again, driving down a Fokker Dr.I

Fokker Dr.I

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

 triplane. In early August 1918, he moved to 201 Squadron as a flight commander. On the 12th, he teamed with Robert McLaughlin

Robert McLaughlin

Robert McLaughlin was a Canadian industrialist and businessman. He founded the McLaughlin Carriage and McLaughlin Motor Car companies which later became part of General Motors....

 and H. R. de Wilde to destroy two Fokker D.VII

Fokker D.VII

The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...

s. Sykes would destroy another D.VII on 2 September, and drive one down on 9 November 1918.

Postwar service

In 1919, Sykes served in northern Russia. His Camel's tension wires snapped, dropping him behind Russian lines. He was repatriated in 1920. He left the Royal Air Force and became an engineer.

Honors and awards

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

"Lieut. (A./Capt.) Ronald Sykes, 201 Squadron. (FRANCE)

An excellent patrol leader, who displayed marked gallantry on 27 September. While engaged in dropping bombs on enemy infantry in a sunken road he was attacked by four enemy aeroplanes. Out-manoeuvring them, he retired west. As soon as the hostile aeroplanes had withdrawn, he returned and fired a number of rounds into the infantry at 200 feet, causing many casualties. He then dived on another party of fifteen, who became so demoralised that they surrendered to one of our men."

Reference

Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0-948817-19-4, 9780948817199.