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Major
HERBERT CHARLES DYKES
Royal Engineers

(formerly 1859187 Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor)  

by

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Figure 1.  Major Herbert Charles Dykes, R.E., circa 1947.
(Photograph courtesy of Mr. Guy Vanautgaerden and Mr. J.N.Houterman, via www.unithistories.com )  

1.  INTRODUCTION  

            Numerous references were used in the preparation of this work, all of which are listed in the REFERENCE section at the end of the narrative.  In summary, the primary references included reference books, Army Lists, census returns, family trees, Internet web sites, the London Gazette, medal rolls, The Sapper magazine, The Royal Engineers List, official UK registers and Major Dykes’ service papers.

            Major Dykes’ service papers (Army Form B199A) were obtained from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow and these papers (4 pages) were useful in filling in many gaps in his story; however, a number of errors were noted in these documents that could not be reconciled with other sources.  The service papers appear to have been hastily prepared and much of the information may have been entered from Major Dykes’ memory rather than from official sources.  The reason for this appears to be the fact that the papers were prepared from 1945 to as late as 1954 when Major Dykes was leaving the Army and/or the Army Reserve,[1] with much of the information entered on the forms going as far back as the date of his enlistment in 1919.  In addition, many items of information that should have been readily available when preparing these documents have simply be marked “NIL.”  Because of these anomalies and obvious errors, it is necessary at this point to identify the errors that were encountered so that the reader of this narrative will have a better understanding of why certain facts seem to be out of order or confusing.  The more glaring errors are listed here by page number (see Service Papers in the REFERENCE section for the page number and item numbers.

Page 1.  Next-of-Kin.  Major Dykes’ next-of-kin is listed as E.F. Dykes, Esq., who is shown to be his brother.  Major Dykes had two brothers, one named Edward John and one named Reginald Frank.  It would appear that the E from Edward and the F. from Frank were used to arrive at E.F. Dykes. 

Page 2.  Knowledge of Foreign Countries.  Nowhere in his re record of service postings does it indicate that he served in Palestine for 6 months as indicated in this section; however, it is possible that while he was serving in Egypt he may have been posted to Palestine for a short period.

Page 2.  Campaigns.  NIL has been entered in this block.  Dykes had taken part in Operation Overlord (the invasion at Normandy) and also had taken part in the campaign in North West Europe for which he had received the France and Germany Star medal and a Mention in Despatches.  “NIL” is obviously incorrect. 

Page 2.  There also is a handwritten note on this page stating “Officer Died 4-9-64.”  This incorrect.  Dykes died on 7-9-64. 

Page 3.  The dates of his promotions while serving in the ranks are only shown by year, with no day or month given.  There is a notation under Authority to indicate that the years were obtained from promotion orders held by the Royal Engineers Record Office.  His promotions to officer ranks from 1941 to 1942 are shown with complete dates.  It appears that these papers were prepared during the Second World War period and that little effort was made to obtain accurate details of his service prior to that time.  It may be that Dykes told the clerk preparing this form that these were the years of his promotions and the clerk gave the authority as “R.E. Records Promotion Orders” simply to make the entries more official.  If he had the promotion orders to hand, why did he not include the complete dates?

Page 4.  As with his promotions, Dykes postings from 1920 to 1939 are only given by year and not complete dates.  After his commissioning the entries do show complete dates.  The same reasoning that was used for the promotion entries also may apply here. 

            It will be seen as the reader goes through the narrative of Major Dykes’ service that some of these erroneous or careless entries will result in conflicts, especially as dates are concerned. 

            Despite the shortcomings uncovered in his service papers, every effort has been made to accurately portray the life and military service of Major Dykes.   As previously mentioned, all sources are contained in the REFERENCE section at the end of the narrative and are cited throughout in the ENDNOTES.  Where no citation is provided for a particular event the reader may assume that the information was extracted from Major Dykes' service papers. 

2.  EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION  

            Herbert Charles Dykes was born on the 9th of August 1902 in Ipswich, Suffolk, the fourth child of Charles Edward Dykes (1870-1921) and Emmeline Dykes (née Grimwood) (1873-1915).  Prior to Herbert’s birth the Dykes already had two sons and a daughter: Edward John Dykes (1891-1981), Lillian Lottie Dykes (1893-1976) and Reginald Frank Dykes (1897-1994).  See the Next-of-Kin comment above regarding the name of his brother that was entered into Major Dykes’ military service record.

            The 1911 Census of England and Wales shows the family living at 44 Spring Road in Ipswich, Suffolk.  The table below shows the entries in the 1911 Census:  

1911 Census of England and Wales

  Name and Surname

Relation

Marital Status

Age

Profession or Occupation

Birthplace

Charles Edward Dykes

Head

Married

41

Engineer and Fitter

Ipswich, Suffolk

Emmeline Dykes

Wife

Married

38

 

Ipswich, Suffolk

Edward John Dykes[2]

Son

Single

20

Engineer and Fitter

Ipswich, Suffolk

Reginald Frank Dykes

Son

-

14

Office Boy

Ipswich, Suffolk

Herbert Charles Dykes

Son

-

8

 

Ipswich, Suffolk

Lillian Lottie Dykes

Daughter

Single

18

Servant

Ipswich, Suffolk

 NOTES:

  1. Both Charles and Edward are listed as Workers; that is, they were not self employed but working for a firm, the name of which is unknown.
  2. Lillian also is listed as a Worker, therefore it must be assumed that she was employed as a servant by another household.

Figure 2.  The Dykes Family Residence at 44 Spring Road in Ipswich, Suffolk.
(Image courtesy of Google Earth)

3.  PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

            No physical description of Herbert Charles Dykes is contained in his service papers except for the notation that he was declared “fit for general service” on the 4th of November 1940 by the Senior Medical Officer of No. 6 Training Battalion, Royal Engineers.  The photograph of Major Dykes in Figure 1 shows a man of stocky build, although it is difficult to estimate his height.  He appears rather tall when compared with the height of the doorway behind him.  His service papers indicate that he suffered no wounds or injuries during his time in service, although without his medical documents any references to illnesses he may have suffered are not available.

4.  ENLISTMENT AND TRAINING  

            Herbert Charles Dykes enlisted in the Royal Engineers as a Sapper (Army Number 1859187) on the 25th of August 1919.  His service papers contain some information from his 1919 enlistment.  The information included in the papers indicates that he and his father and mother were “English.”[3]  His religious denomination is shown as Church of England.  As already mentioned, one of his brothers was listed as his next-of-kin.

            Immediately following his enlistment he proceeded to the Royal Engineers Training Battalion at the School of Military Engineering (S.M.E.) in Chatham, Kent where he underwent his preliminary training as an engineer soldier.  His period of training at the S.M.E. would have lasted for about a year.  In 1920, probably while he still was at Chatham, he was awarded a 3rd Class Certificate of Education.  The third-class certificate specified the standard for promotion to the rank of corporal: the candidate was to read aloud and to write from dictation passages from an easy narrative, and to work examples in the four compound rules of arithmetic and the reduction of money.[4]   

5.  ASSIGNMENTS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Cork, Ireland (1920-1924)

            Sometime in 1920, following his recruit training, Sapper Dykes was posted to Ireland; initially to Belfast and then to Cork.  His service papers do not specify to which unit he was posted, but he probably was posted to the 33rd Field Company, R.E., part of the 6th Division, at Cork.  His papers then show that he was with this company from 1922 to 1923 on Spike Island and from 1923 to 1925 at Queenstown, Ireland.[5]

            From 1920 to 1921 he probably found himself right in the midst of the Irish War of Independence, which had begun in 1919 and lasted until 1921.  During the course of the war, two British divisions, the 5th and the 6th, were based in Ireland with their respective headquarters in the Curragh and Cork.  By July 1921 there were 50,000 British troops based in Ireland.  This conflict was followed by the Irish Civil War, which took place between June 1922 and May 1923. This war resulted in the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.  The conflict was waged between two opposing groups of Irish nationalists: the forces of the new Irish Free State, who supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty under which the state was established, and the republican opposition, for whom the treaty represented a betrayal of the Irish Republic.  Dykes was serving on Spike Island during this period.

             Spike Island is an island of 103 acres in Cork Harbour, Ireland. Originally the site of a monastic settlement, the island was (and still is) dominated by an 18th-century star-shaped fort named Fort Mitchel. The island's strategic location within the harbour meant it was used at times for defence and as a prison.  The 24 acre star-shaped Fort Mitchel is one of the largest in the world and it was the cutting edge of military technology when it was completed around 1850.  The design replaced the old straight walled design of Norman castles, which were big and impressive but an easy target for ever-improving cannon fire.  The star element emerged around the 1500's in Italy and it was used in cities like Pisa and by Michelangelo in his defences of Florence.  The points of the star shape meant that defenders could arc fire over all parts of the island, making the whole island one effective kill zone.  Should anyone get close enough to the fort, flanking galleries made for ideal sniper positions hovering over enemy troops.  The whole fort was set down in such a way that it could barely be seen by enemy troops, making it almost impossible to target.  The Royal Engineers shaved over 25 feet off the top of the island in order to accomplish this low profile. 

            The fort was designed and built by General Vallency, a great character of his time who was an excellent engineer and early Irish historian.  He had 4 wives and 14 children!  Sapper Dykes surely became very familiar with Fort Mitchel during his time there with the 33rd Field Company, the duties of the company being the maintenance of the fort.  He also may have been involved in guarding prisoners from one of the aforementioned conflicts.

Figure 3.  Spike Island in Cork Harbour.
(Image courtesy of the Spike Island web site)  

            The 33rd Field Company left Spike Island in 1923 and returned to the mainland.  Sapper Dykes left the company in late 1923 and returned to Ipswich where he married Evelyn Gertrude Parsons on the 24th of December 1923.  Evelyn’s address at the time was 31 Handford Road in Ipswich.[6]    

Christchurch, Dorset (1924)

            Sapper Dykes was posted to the Experimental Bridging Company in Christchurch for a short period in mid- to late- 1924.  This company ultimately developed into the Experimental Bridging Establishment in 1925 under an officer of the Royal Engineers as its superintendent.  Since his stay with this unit was so short, he probably was posted to the company for training purposes.

            In July of 1924 Sapper Dykes was awarded a 2nd Class Certificate of Education.[7]  A second-class certificate, necessary for promotion to sergeant, entailed writing and dictation from a more difficult work, familiarity with all forms of regimental accounting, and facility with proportions and interest, fractions and averages.[8]  Late in this same year he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.

Gosport, Hampshire (1924-1928)

            Lance Corporal Dykes was posted to the School of Electric Lighting at Gosport on the 6th of December 1924.[9]  Training at this school consisted primarily in the employment and maintenance of searchlights for anti-aircraft use and for harbor defences.  On the 7th of January 1926 he was promoted to the rank of Corporal.

Catterick, North Yorkshire (1928-1930) 

            In 1928 (exact date unknown) Corporal Dykes was posted to the 59th Field Company at Catterick.  He served with the company for about two years and was promoted to the rank of Lance Sergeant (18 August 1929) while serving with this unit.  The 59th Field Company, like most field companies of the Royal Engineers during this period, went through annual training exercises and worked on various construction projects.  For example, from September to October of 1928 the company was at Bellerby Moor Camp where it undertook earthwork and concrete work on the firing ranges at the camp.  The photograph below shows the ranges at Bellerby as they look today.  Some of the concrete work on this range may have been work done by the 59th Field Company as far back as 1928.

Figure 4.  Bellerby Moor Camp Weapons Training Range at Catterick, c. 2020.
(Image courtesy of ThinkDefence)  

Bombay, India (1930-1932)

            Lance Sergeant Dykes was posted to India sometime in 1930 and was assigned to the Defence Electric Light Section in Bombay.  The section was part of the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners and it was commanded by Lieutenant B.J. Daly, R.E.[10]  Five additional officers were attached to the section at this time.  The five included:

Lieutenant A.S. Barton, R.E.[11]

Lieutenant B.M. Archibald, R.E.[12]

Lieutenant P.G. Hatch, R.E.[13]

Lieutenant H.W. Kitson, R.E.[14]

Lieutenant E.S. Barkham, R.E.[15]

            The officers who served in this section all became prominent officers in the Royal Engineers rising to ranks from Major to Brigadier.

            The primary mission of the Defence Electric Light Section at Bombay was to provide lighting to illuminate potential enemy naval vessels attempting to enter the harbor.  The section also could supply searchlight illumination of enemy aircraft, if necessary.  The Bombay section may have had as many as five searchlights, each under the command of an officer or non-commissioned officer.  Dykes probably would have been assigned to one of these searchlights. 

            During his time in India Dykes completed his initial 12 years of service with the Colours in 1931.  He extended to complete 21 years of service while he was there.

Figure 5.  A Typical Royal Engineers Searchlight Section.
(Image from the author’s collection)  

Moascar, Egypt (1932-1935)  

            Dykes service papers are unclear as to when he was posted from India to Egypt.  His papers do show that in 1932 he attended the Small Arms Course at the School of Musketry in Hythe, Kent.  What is unclear is whether he was serving in a unit in the UK when he attended the course or whether he simply returned to the UK for a short period in 1932, attended the course and proceeded directly to Egypt. 

            The School of Musketry was intended for special training of officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned officers of all branches of the service to qualify them as instructors.  Preliminary drills such as those that they would teach to recruits, occupied 8 days of training followed by an extended course of practice, including field-firing and practice with the revolver.  Drill and practice with various rifle-caliber machine guns also was taught.  Night firing and judging distance by night was carried out and a final examination was given in (1) firing exercises, (2) judging distance, (3) stadiometer (height measurement), (4) range finders, (5) musketry returns, (6) theoretical principles, (7) care of arms and (8) machine guns.  Lance Sergeant Dykes successfully completed the course of instruction and was issued a certificate indicating that he was a qualified instructor.

            Upon his arrival in Egypt, Dykes was assigned to the 42nd Field Company at Moascar Camp in the Cairo District of Abbassiah.  The company was commanded by Major E. Rait- Kerr, MC, R.E.[16]  Other officers in the company included:

Captain J.H.R. Le Sueur, R.E. (2nd in Command) [17]

Lieutenant H.P. Drayson, R.E.[18]

Lieutenant A.W.G. Dobbie, R.E.[19]

            Dykes was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on the 21st of September 1932 and in June of 1933 he passed the Qualified Instructor (Q.I.) examination[20] while he and the company were working on the construction of a Store Shed at Moascar for the Hopkins bridge.  The Hopkins bridge was a Warren-type truss bridge that consisted of longitudinal members joined only by angled cross-members, forming alternately inverted equilateral triangle-shaped spaces along its length. This resulted in a pure truss with each individual strut, beam, or tie only subject to tension or compression forces.  There were no bending or torsional forces on the structural members.  Loads on the diagonals alternated between compression and tension (approaching the center), with no vertical elements, while elements near the center supported both tension and compression in response to live loads. This configuration combined strength with economy of materials and therefore was relatively light. The girders being of equal length, it was ideal for use in prefabricated modular bridges such as those required by the Royal Engineers.

Figure 6.  A Hopkins Truss Bridge.
(Image courtesy of ThinkDefence web site)  

Figure 7.  The Sweet Water Canal.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

            Also during 1932 the company built a bridge over the Abbassiah Sweet Water Canal and constructed a new road connecting Port Tewfik and Port Sudan.  The Sweet Water Canal, also known as Fresh Water Canal and later known as the Ismailia Canal, is a canal which was dug by thousands of Egyptian fellahin to facilitate the construction of the Suez Canal. The canal travels east-west across Ismailia Governorate.  It was dug to provide fresh water to the arid area, from Lake Timsah to Suez and Port Said.  The canal facilitated the growth of agriculture settlements along the Suez Canal, and it is particularly important for supplying water to the city of Port Said.

            In April of 1934 the 42nd Field Company was tasked with constructing a jetty at the United Services Club in Ismailia.  This job required driving of piles to support the jetty.  Pile drivers were not items of equipment organic to a field company, so the equipment had to be borrowed and company personnel had to be trained in its use.[21]

            The company moved to the Gebel Mariam bridging camp on the Suez south of Ismailia in December of 1934 for additional bridging training.  In February 1935 the company ferried a 15-ton tank across the Canal, an exercise that drew much attention from the military command in Cairo as well as civilians, both British and Egyptian.  By this time there had been almost a complete change in company officers.  Major R.D.B. Perrott, R.E. was the officer commanding at this time and he had with him the following officers:

Captain H.G. Pottle, R.E.[22]

Captain L.G. Thomas, R.E.

Lieutenant H.H.C. Sugden, R.E.[23]

            Also during February of 1935 the company moved to Genelfa, taking part in tactical exercises and demolitions training along the way and it then proceeded to Helwan to take part in a brigade training exercise.  The company returned to Moascar Camp on the 12th of March 1935.  

Kingston, Greater London (1935-1939)

            Sergeant Dykes returned home in 1935 and was posted to the 30th Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion at Kingston in the Greater London Area.  The battalion had its origins in independent Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Companies of the Royal Engineers formed in the Territorial Army (TA) during 1924. Those in Surrey were grouped as follows:

Surrey Group Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Companies

            In 1935 the Surrey Group had been redesignated 30th (Surrey) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers (TA). By then an additional company (323 (Surrey) AA Company) had been formed at Ewell, later based at Lower Ham Road in Kingston. The battalion was subordinated to 27th (Home Counties) Anti-Aircraft Group (later termed a Brigade) based at RAF Kenley in Surrey, forming part of 1st AA Division.

            As a member of the Regular Army Dykes, was posted to the battalion as a member of the Permanent Staff.  In this role he may have been assigned to the battalion HQ or to 316 Company or the newly formed 323 (Surrey) AA Company as an advisor since his service record indicates that he was posted to Kingston.  This posting assuredly was the result of his training at the School of Electric Lighting back in 1924 and also the result of him becoming a Qualified Instructor.  Sergeant Dykes address is shown as 17 Union Road,[24] Frimley, Surrey in the 1936 Electoral Register.  The distance from Frimley to Kingston is only about 25 miles, so it would have been an easy journey for Dykes to make each day while serving with this unit.

            Just prior to World War 2 the War Office greatly expanded the number of Royal Engineers Anti-Aircraft Searchlight units by converting a number of Territorial Army infantry battalions.  The 30th AA Searchlight Battalion was one such unit.  It had been formed from the 4th Battalion, Queen’s Surrey Regiment T.A.  The infantry battalions that were converted in this manner were able to carry the colours of the infantry regiment when on parade.  They officers and men wore the cap badges of the original infantry regiment, but they wore the seven-flame grenade collar badges of the Royal Engineers.   

            By 1940 the searchlight commitment within the Corps of Royal Engineers had become considerable and began to conflict operationally with the role of the Royal Artillery and Royal Air Force.  Additionally, the Anti-Aircraft Searchlight work distracted the Corps from its true role of military engineering.  Just as the Royal Flying Corps, the Tanks, the Royal Corps of Signals and others had in due course gone their own way after being formed by the Corps of Royal Engineers, so did the anti-aircraft searchlight mission.  Pressures from the Royal Artillery to take over the entire anti-aircraft searchlight role in 1940 were not resisted by the Royal Engineers, except by units that did not relish being converted once again to another corps.  However, the conversion of 27 Anti-Aircraft Battalions of the Royal Engineers into Searchlight Regiments of the Royal Artillery was completed by early 1941, at which point the enormously important and successful story of the A.A. Searchlights in the Royal Engineers came to an end.  Sergeant Dykes left the 30th Battalion before this all came to pass. 

            Dykes became eligible for the award of the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal where serving at Kingston.  The medal, in the author’s collection, is named to him in the rank of Sergeant.  In 1939 he was promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major Instructor (CSMI) and was posted to No. 6 Training Battalion Royal Engineers.

Elgin, Scotland (1939-1941)

            On the 10th of November 1939 CSMI Dykes attended the Field Engineering Course at Chatham, Kent.  He completed the course satisfactorily on the 9th of December 1939 and received a certificate for his attendance.  Within a year after promotion to the rank of CSMI he was promoted Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor (QMSI).  His service record does not indicate his specialty; that is, the field of military engineering that he was qualified to instruct.  Dykes had been trained in many fields, including field engineering, military bridging and electric lighting.  In 1940 he also completed 21 years of service with the colours and appears to have been looked upon as a considerable asset to the Army and to the Corps of Royal Engineers, as he was permitted to serve beyond 21 years. 

            His training, even at this point in his career, was not over.  On the 21st of August 1940 he was sent to the Inglis Bridging Mk. III Course at Cambridge, which he completed in the following month.  The Inglis Bridge Mk. III was a through-type Warren truss with tubular members connected in equilateral triangles of 12-foot sides and was designed to be capable of carrying any military load of the period over spans ranging from 36 feet to 192 feet.  For long spans and heavy loads the trusses could be double- or triple-tubed.  The depth of the trusses could be doubled by building them in two stories or various combinations of these arrangements could be used, such as a single-tubed truss with double-tubed center bays, a double-tubed truss with single-tubed second story, as well as other combinations.  Experiments were carried out in the use of this bridge as a tank-assault bridge and also, with floating piers, as the superstructure of a ponton bridge.  The tubular components of this bridge were much lighter and easier to manhandle than the structural components of the older Hopkins Truss Bridge.

Figure 8.  An Inglis Mk. III Bridge Under Construction.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

            On the 7th of October 1940 QMSI Dykes began a Demolitions Course at Loch Ailort, Scotland, which he completed on the 10th of October.  With the Second World War well underway by this time, he and many other officers, warrant officers and men of the Royal Engineers were receiving extensive training in preparation for their deployment with units to the theater(s) of the war.  On the 4th of November 1940 Dykes presented himself before the Senior Medical Officer of No. 6 Training Battalion and received a physical examination, which found him “fit” for General Service.

Blandford, Dorset (1941-1944)

Figure 9.  Shoulder Flash of the 3rd Infantry Division Worn by Men of Dykes’ Company.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            On the 17th of January 1941 QMSI Dykes was posted to the HQ 3rd Division Engineers at Blandford.  After reporting to the Commander Royal Engineers of the division he was posted to the headquarters of 210 Infantry Brigade and attached to the 246th Field Company, R.E.  On the 17th of February 1941 he was granted a Regular Army Emergency Commission as a Lieutenant (Army No. 167764).[25]  He ceased to be attached to the 246th Field Company on the 26th of February once he received his commission and appears to have been posted back to the HQ 3rd Division Engineers.  On the 14th of July 1941 he was posted to the 3rd Division’s 15th Field Park Company, R.E.  Since Dykes was to go to war with this company, an explanation of the organization and duties of a field park company during World War 2 is warranted here.

            The field park company provided the workshop and stores elements of the engineer provision for an infantry division during the Second World War, with its equivalent in an armoured division being a field park squadron. Each infantry division had one Royal Engineers field park company on its establishment, which provided the heavy equipment, workshop and stores provision for the division as a whole. War Establishment II/195/2, issued in January 1944, determined the structure and personnel within a field park company during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945. It remained consistent throughout the campaign.

            A Major commanded each field company, with a Captain as his second-in-command. There was a small company headquarters, including the company sergeant major and company quartermaster sergeant. Each company or squadron comprised three platoons; each platoon consisting of a headquarters and four sections commanded by a subaltern. Each section had a corporal or lance sergeant as the commander, and eleven other sappers.

            The nature of the trades held by the sappers within each section was variable and was determined according to the tasks to which they were allocated. Each section was issued with one Bren gun, one Sten gun (usually carried by the section commander), and ten Lee-Enfield rifles.  The strength of the company was 111 men, all ranks.

            Once he was assigned to the 15th Field Park Company, promotions came very quickly for Dykes.  He was appointed a Temporary Captain on the 14th of October 1941[26] and an Acting Major on the 25th of April 1942.[27]  At this point it must be assumed that he became the officer commanding 15th Field Park Company.  His position as the O.C. of the company was further solidified by his promotion to War Substantive Captain on the 25th of July 1942 and his appointment as a Temporary Major on this same date.[28]

            At this point it is necessary to discuss the significance of Dykes’ posting as the O.C. of a company of Royal Engineers of the Regular Army.  In the 40 plus years that I have been conducting research on the service of officers and men of the Royal Engineers of the Great War and Second World War periods, this is the first time I have come across a man from the ranks receiving a commission and then being given command of a Regular Army unit during a time of war.  Quartermaster Sergeants, if commissioned, normally were made Quartermasters (QM) or Inspectors of Royal Engineers Machinery (IREM).  Administrative, logistical or maintenance duties were those to which they normally were posted.  Dykes appointment as the commander of a field park company in a Regular Army infantry division was truly unusual.  Perhaps it can be explained by the fact that he was well-trained in so many aspects of military engineering, that he was proficient enough in his duties to be designated an Instructor and that his performance of these duties was exemplary.  At the time that he was commissioned had served for 21 years.  When he took command of the 15th Field Park Company he had been with the unit for about a year and with his multi-facetted military engineering experience he probably was the logical choice for this command.

            Major Dykes was selected to attend the Commander Royal Engineers Planning Course at the Combined Training Center (CTC) in Dundonald, Scotland.  He began the course on the 25th of March 1943 and completed it on the 30th of March.  The CTC was located on the remote shores of Loch Fyne in Scotland. Its contribution to the war effort cannot be overstated. Its prime purpose was to train army and navy service personnel in the use of minor landing craft for landing assault troops, supplies, ammunition and weaponry onto heavily defended enemy occupied beaches, with RAF support as required.  By attending this course Dykes was being prepared for two things: 1) having the potential to become the C.R.E. of the 3rd Infantry Division, if necessary, and 2) preparing for the amphibious assault of the coast of France. 

            When Major Dykes completed the course at the CTC he returned to his company and on the 7th of June 1943 he was attached to the HQ Royal Engineers, 3rd Division.  One may assume that he temporarily acted as the C.R.E. for the division pending the assignment of a new C.R.E.  By the time that Operation Overload was ready to go, Dykes had returned to his company.  He embarked for the invasion of France on the 3rd of June 1944.

France and Germany (1944-1945)

            On the 6th of June 1944 (D-Day) the 3rd Division landed on SWORD Beach at Ouistreham with the objective of capturing Caen.  The 3rd Infantry Division was commanded by Major General Thomas (“Tom”) Gordon Rennie during the invasion.  The Commander Royal Engineers on D-Day was Lieutenant Colonel R.W. (“Tiger” Urquhart and his command consisted of the following units:

17th Field Company (Major Willson, R.E.)

246th Field Company (Major R.M.S. Maude, R.E.)[29]

253rd Field Company (Major J.P. Asher, R.E.)[30]

15th Field Park Company (Major H.C.Dykes, R.E.)  

Figure 10.  Major General Thomas Gordon Rennie.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            Detachments of the 15th Field Park Company went ashore at Sword Beach, but not in the assault wave.  The chief task of 3rd Division R.E. and other units under command after the landing at Normandy was the clearance and improvement of forward routes for the Division. Among the jobs scheduled for most early attention was the building of two Class 40 tidal pontoon bridges over the Orne to replace those at Benouville and Ranville if these were not captured intact, or as relief bridges if the existing bridges were still available. Responsibility for the work was placed on the O.C. 17th Field Company who would have, besides his own unit, 71st Field Company and the necessary detachments of 15th Field Park Company and 106th Bridge Company R.A.S.C. The two officers of 17th Field Company in charge of reconnaissance and bridge construction arrived at the site of the bridge over the canal at 1300 hours on D-Day after running the gauntlet of numerous snipers on their way from the beach. Thereafter for a time everything went to disorganize the work. By 2130 hours the Company had lost its O.C. and both reconnaissance officers, and during the night Lieut.-Colonel Urquhart, C.R.E. 3rd Division, had his jeep blown up by a mine while reconnoitering routes for vehicles.  Luckily he was not badly hurt, but he was knocked out for a time. The next morning, 7th June, the second-in-command of the company and one of the field engineers of H.Q. R.E. 3rd Division were killed.  In consequence of these casualties, which were similarly heavy in the rank and file of the 7th Field Company, direction of the work had to be taken over by the O.C. 71st Field Company. To make matters worse, Major Dykes, O.C. of the 15th Field Park Company, who was to be responsible for much of the stores programme, was landed twenty-four hours late, and the stores section of 18th G.H.Q. Troops R.E. was forty-eight hours behind time.[31]  Although most of the 15th Field Park Company went ashore on D-Day, Major Dykes was not with them until D+1.

            By the 11th of June 3rd Division Engineers were advancing inland from the beaches and took part in the capture of Caen between the 7th and 9th of July 1944.  From the 18th to the 23rd of July the 3rd Division was engaged in Operation GOODWOOD on Bourguebus Ridge and elements of the division arrived at Mount Pincon near Vire on the 30th of July where the division remained until the 9th of August.[32]  On the 23rd of August 1944 the 15th Field Park Company suffered its only fatality following the Normandy landing.  He was 1869327 Driver Leonard Tilley, age 32.[33]

            During the 17th to the 27th of September 1944 the 3rd Division Engineers took part in the advance to Arnhem, passing through Lille St. Hubert and crossing the River Nederriyn.  By October the division engineers were in the Nijmegen Bridgehead. 

            From the 8th of February to the 10th of March 1945 the 3rd Division engineers took part in the Rhineland Offensive, crossed the River Wesel, were at Rees an Aalten, and crossed the River Aa.  The crossing of the River Rhine was accomplished between the 23rd of March and the 1st of April, following which the 3rd Division engineers took part in the capture of Bremen.

            Major Dykes’ war ended with the surrender of the Germans in May of 1945, but he remained on the continent until July.  Presumably he moved back into France with his unit and on the 29th of July 1945 he disembarked in the U.K.  Two days later he was on leave at his home address at 31 Handford Road in Ipswich.  He returned to duty on the 7th of October 1945 for one day, simply to process out of the Army.  He was released from active service on the 8th of October and was struck off the strength of the British Army of the Rhine on the 21st of that month, when he reverted to War Office control.  On the 8th of November 1945 he was mentioned in despatches for Gallant and Distinguished Service in North West Europe.

            Dykes apparently retained his commission after the war, probably as a member of the Reserve of Officers.  He relinquished his commission on the 15th of March 1954 and was granted the honorary rank of Major.[34]

__________________________________________________________________________

            The following sections are presented in tabular form to summarize Dykes’ promotions, appointments, military training and qualifications and the medals that he was awarded during his time in the Army.  They are provided to give the reader easy access to these aspects of his military career.  The tables are followed by sections dealing with his marriage, personal information and post-service life.

__________________________________________________________________________

6.  PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

            Herbert Charles Dykes received the following promotions during his time in service:

Date of Promotion or Appointment

 

Rank or Position

25 August 1919

Sapper upon enlistment in the Royal Engineers.

1924

Promoted Lance Corporal.

7 January 1926

Promoted Corporal.

18 August 1929

Promoted Lance Sergeant.

21 September 1932

Promoted Sergeant.

1939

Promoted Company Sergeant Major Instructor

1940

Promoted Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor.

17 February 1941

Commissioned Lieutenant (Army Number 167764). Regular Army Emergency Commission.

14 October 1941

Appointed Temporary Captain.

25 July 1942

Promoted War Substantive Captain and appointed Temporary Major.

NOTES:

Where specific dates for promotion are given, these were obtained from various issues of The Sapper magazine.  Where only years are shown, these were obtained from entries in his rather sketchy service papers.

7.      MILITARY TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS  

Military Training: Dykes received the following military training during his time in service:

Dates

Course of Training

1919-1920

Recruit training at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham, Kent.

1932

Small Arms training at the School of Musketry, Hythe, Kent completed with Satisfactory results.

10 Nov – 9 Dec 1939

Field Engineering training at Chatham, Kent completed with Satisfactory results.

21 Aug – Sep 1940

Inglis Bridge (Mk III) training at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire completed with Satisfactory results.

7-10 Oct 1940

Demolitions training at Loch Ailort, Scotland completed with Satisfactory results.

25-30 Mar 1943

C.R.E. Planning Course at Dundonald, County Down, Ireland completed with Satisfactory results.

 Qualifications:  Dykes earned the following qualifications during his time in service.

Dates

Qualification

1920

Awarded Third Class Certificate of Education.

July 1924

Awarded Second Class Certificate of Education.

June 1933

Qualified Instructor.

 8.      MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

            Major Dykes is believed to have received the following medals, awards and decorations during his time in service, although there is some controversy with regard to two of the medals:[35]

Medal or Award

1939 – 45 Star Medal

Africa Star Medal with bar [8TH ARMY] (unverified)

Italy Star (unverified)

France and Germany Star

Defence Medal

War Medal with Mention in Despatches

Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (GVIR)

   

Figure 11.  The Medals of Major Herbert Charles Dykes, R.E.
(From the author’s collection)  

            Dykes’ service papers (see image below) clearly show that he was awarded five of the medals shown in the table above.  They do not show the award of the “unverified” medals.  Some discussion of these two medals is warranted here to try to determine whether their award to Major Dykes can be validated.

Figure 12.  Entry in Dykes Service Papers Showing Medal Awards.
(Image from the author’s collection)

The Africa Star 

            The award of the Africa Star required one or more days of service in North Africa between the 10th of June 1940 and the 12th of May 1943, both dates inclusive.  The bar inscribed 8th ARMY was awarded in conjunction with the star for an individual who served in that unit.  The unaccounted for periods in Dykes service papers during the dates shown above are approximately as follows:[36]

·         10 December 1939 – 20 August 1940:          284 days

·         11 October 1940 – 17 January 1941:                98 days

·         15 July 1941 -  24 March 1943:                     1 year and 8 months

            This last period of time is right after his appointment to the rank of Temporary Captain.  It is possible that he may have been posted temporarily to a unit in the British 8th Army during this period in order to provide training in one of the many subjects for which he was qualified.  If this was so, he would have been eligible to receive the Africa Star, but there is no way to be certain of this.  

The Italy Star

            The award of the Italy Star was for operational service in Sicily or Italy from the 11th of June 1943 to the 8th of May 1945.  During this period Dykes definitely was serving with the 3rd Division in the UK, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.  There is no way, based on the entries in his service papers, that he could have been eligible for this service medal. 

            So what can be concluded from this analysis?  These medals were purchased from a reputable dealer in the UK in 1996.  This was the dealer’s catalogue description of the medal group:

Figure 13.  UK Dealer’s Description of Dykes Medal Group.
(Image taken from the dealer’s sales catalogue)  

        As can be seen, the dealer describes the medals as a “DESERT RAT GROUP 6 TO MAJOR H.C. DYKES RE.”  This heading is an eye-grabber and makes the medal group of great interest.  Then, all of the medals, including the Africa Star and Italy Star are listed and the group is classified as RESEARCHABLE.  However, once the research had been undertaken it became clear that based on Dykes’ service papers, that he might have been eligible for the Africa Star but certainly was not eligible for the Italy Star.  So how did these two medals get into the group?  There are a number of possibilities.

·         Dykes added them to his medal group out of vanity (unlikely),

·         A member of Dykes family added the medals to the group to make them more valuable when they were sold to a dealer or to a collector, or they could have mistakenly been added to the group by a family member who thought that he had served in North Africa and Sicily or Italy,

·         A previous collector/owner of the group added the two medals to increase the value of the medals, if and when it was decided to sell them,

·         The medal dealer from whom the medals were purchased by the author added the medals, again to increase the value, again unlikely, as the dealer was known to the author to be a reputable firm, or 

·         A previous collector/owner or the dealer may have done some in-depth research and became convinced that Dykes was indeed eligible for the two medals.  If this information exists it has not been uncovered by the author.  

            Until just the last two or three years it has been very difficult to obtain the service papers of officers and men who served in the British Army beyond 1920 without the approval of the man’s next-of-kin.  More recently the rules have been changed so that if it can be proven that the individual has been deceased for 25 years or more, no next-of-kin approval is required.  This was the case with Herbert Charles Dykes.  The author was able to obtain his records from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow and his medal eligibility was verified as shown in Figure 11 above.  Since the Africa Star and the Italy Star were purchased with the group, and since they are mounted with the other medals in the group, they will remain that way.  However, it is the author’s opinion that Dykes was not eligible to receive these medals!  Should information be uncovered in the future to verify his eligibility for the two stars, then this research will be amended accordingly.

            While on the subject of medal eligibility it is interesting to note that Dykes missed out on two medals during his very interesting service career.  He served in India in 1930 with the Defence Electric Light Section in Bombay; however, he was not eligible to receive the India General Service Medal 1908-1935.  This medal was awarded to many British soldiers in India at the time, but only to those who saw active service in the campaigns on the North West Frontier from the 23rd of April 1930 to the 22nd of March 1931.  Dykes service papers also show that he served in Palestine for six months.  This service probably was with a small detachment of the 42nd Field Company from Egypt sometime between 1932 and 1935 when he was serving there.  The General Service Medal 1918-1964 was awarded to soldiers involved in suppressing the Arab revolt in Palestine between the 19th of April 1936 and the 3rd of September 1939.  Dykes was not there at the right time to receive this medal.   

            Returning now to the medals shown in Figure 10 above, the miniature medal in the photograph is the Normandy D-Day commemorative medal and the medallion below the medals is a Royal Engineers Sword Beach commemorative coin.  These two items were added to the Dykes collection by the author.  Dykes would not have been in possession of them as they have only recently (2019) produced for the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landing.

Figure 14.  Royal Engineers at Sword Beach Medallion.
(Image from the author’s collection)  

9.  MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

            Herbert Charles Dykes married Evelyn Gertrude Parsons (1901-1982) in December of 1923.[37]  Herbert and Evelyn did not have any children.

            Herbert’s mother died in 1915 most likely in Ipswich, Suffolk where apparently she had lived her entire life.   His father died on the 3rd of March 1921, also in Ipswich.[38] 

            Herbert’s brother, Edward John Dykes, married Annie Kate Cassell (1886-1951) on the 12th of April 1913.  He enlisted in the Royal Horse Artillery as a Driver on the 9th of June 1915 and subsequently transferred to the Army Service Corps (Motor Transport) as a Private, Regimental Number DM2/097479.[39]

Figure 15.  The Great War Medal Index Card of Edward John Dykes.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)  

            Edward’s Medal Index Card shows that he was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.  The card shows that he went to France on the 26th of September 1915 and that he also was awarded the Silver War Badge (SWB).  The Silver War Badge roll shows that he was discharged from the Army on the 1st of January 1917 due to sickness.  His badge number was 107252.

            Edward and Annie had four children, all born in Ipswich:  Ruby Ena Dykes (1913-1952), Derrick E. Dykes (1915-1959), Kenneth Charles Dykes (1920-2001) and Doreen Edna Dykes (1923-1969).[40]

            Dykes sister, Lillian Lottie Dykes, died in Hampstead, Greater London in April of 1976.  Apparently she had never married.  His brother, Edward John Dykes, died in Gipping, Suffolk in March of 1981.  His brother, Reginald Frank (aka Frederick) Dykes died on the 17th of April 1994.  It appears that during his life Reginald had also used the middle name Frederick for reasons that could not be discovered during this research.  Reginald lived in Islington for most of his life and made business (or holiday) trips to Durban, South Africa in 1947, 1955 and 196.[41]

                                    10.  RELEASE FROM SERVICE

            Major Dykes was released from service on the 8th of October 1945.  He served in the Reserve of Officers until the 15th of March 1954.  His total service was reckoned as shown in the tables below:

Location

Period of Service(1)

Chatham, Kent

1919-1920

Cork, Ireland(2)

1920-1924

Christchurch, Dorset

1924

Gosport, Hampshire

1924-1928

Catterick, North Yorkshire

1928-1930

Bombay, India

1930-1932

Moascar, Egypt

1932-1935

Kingston, Great London

1935-1939

Elgin, Scotland

1939-1941

Blandford, Dorset

1941-1944

France and Germany

1944-1945

 

Location

Period of Active Service

Home

20 years

Abroad

6 years

Total Active Service:

26 years, 1 month and 13 days(3)

Reserve of Officers:

8 years, 5 months and 6 days(4)

Total Service, Active and Reserve:

34 years, 6 months and 19 days

NOTES:

(1)   Due to the vague nature of Dykes’ service papers and the entries shown for his posting to each location, the periods of service can only be shown in years rather than specific dates.

(2)   His service in Ireland has been considered to be Home Service.

(3)   His total active service was from 25 August 1919 to 8 October 1945.

(4)   His total reserve service was from 9 October 1945 to 15 March 1954.

11.  POST SERVICE LIFE  

            Not much is known about the life of Herbert Charles Dykes after he left the Army.  A postcard provided by Mr. Guy Vanautgaerden indicates that Dykes may have been in Bierbeek, Belgium at the end of the war and that he was residing at 31 Handford Road in Ipswich when he returned home.  The postcard may have been sent to him in 1945 or 1946 by a Belgian citizen who knew him during the war when Dykes may have been in or near Bierbeek.  Bierbeek is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality today comprises the towns of Bierbeek proper, Korbeek-Lo, Lovenjoel and Opvelp.

            The address at 31 Handford Road today appears to be a large parking lot for what may be an adjoining apartment building.   

Figure 16.  A Postcard Showing Dykes Address After World War 2.
(Postcard courtesy of Mr. Guy Vanautgaerden)  

            Herbert Charles Dykes died suddenly on the 4th of September 1964 at the age of 61 years.  His address at the time was “Halcyon” on High Street in Long Melford, Suffolk.[42]  From his death certificate it is known that he worked as a Warehouseman at a Home Office Depot and the London Gazette of 22 September 1964 lists him as a Civil Servant.  The death certificate also indicates that he was a Life Member of the Bramford British Legion.  The Royal British Legion Club at 71-73, The Street in Bramford apparently was turned into a very active social club and pub years after Dykes was a member.  It became so popular that a law suit was filed against it by some local residence because of the noise coming from the building.[43]   

Figure 17.  The Royal British Legion Building in Bramford, Suffolk.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)  

            Dykes apparently was not in good health in his later years.  According to John A.B. Stewart, M.B. who certified his death, Dykes died of acute myocardial infarction complicated by coronary atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus.  His wife was the informant of his death.  His death was registered on the 7th of September 1964 by D.V. Norton, the Sudbury sub-district Registrar in West Suffolk.[44] 

            A funeral service was held for Major Dykes on the 8th of September 1964 at the Ipswich Crematorium at 11:30am.  Mrs. Dykes requested that all flowers be sent to a residential address at 22 Chevallier Street in Ipswich.[45]  In the Ipswich Evening Star of 10 September 1964 the following Acknowledgment was published:

“Mrs. H.C. Dykes of Halcyon, High Street, Long Melford wishes to thank all the relatives and kind friends for their letters of love and sympathy and for the beautiful floral tributes sent in her sudden bereavement on the death of the husband, Major H.C. Dykes, R.E. (Retd.).  A special thanks must be given to the Bramford British Legion for their tribute to an old comrade, a Life Member, who passed on.”           

Figure 18.  Ipswich Crematorium.
(Photograph courtesy of Ipswich Cemeteries and Crematoriums)  

            Dykes will was probated in Ipswich on the 6th of October 1964 with effects assigned to Lloyds Bank Limited.[46]  His effects amounted to £7,794 (about $212,300 US in 2019 currency).  It must be assumed that Lloyds Bank would act as the executor of his will for disbursement of his effects to those listed therein.

Figure 19.  The Building (red brick) at 22 Chevallier Street in Ipswich where Mrs. Dykes Requested that Flowers be Sent.
(Image courtesy of Google Earth)  

            What relationship the address at 22 Chevallier Street had to the Dykes family is not known.           

            Herbert Charles Dykes wife, Evelyn Gertrude Dykes, died on the 26th of October 1982 at the age of 81.[47]


ADDENDUM NO. 1  

        With regard to the validity of Dykes being awarded the Africa Star and the Italy Star it is worth considering the information below that was found on a web site entitled “British Army Officers 1939-1945 at: https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_D03.html.  

Dykes,
Herbert Charles

Son (with two brothers and two sisters) of Charles Henry Dykes (1870-), and Emmeline Grimwood (1872-1915).
Married ((12?).1923, Ipswich district, Suffolk) Evelyn Gertrude Parsons (28.08.1901 - 26.10.1982).

(12?).1902
Ipswich, Suffolk
-
04.09.1964
Long Melford, Sudbury district, Suffolk

Spr.

? [1859187]

Cpl.

07.01.1926

L/Sgt.

18.08.1929

Sgt.

21.09.1932

QM Sgt. I

?

Lt.

17.01.1941 [167764]

WS/Capt.

25.07.1942 (reld > 07.1945, < 10.1945)

T/Maj.

25.07.1942-(07.1945)

Hon. Maj.

> 07.1945, < 10.1945

 

1939-1945 Star

39|45 St

-

-

Africa Star

Afr St

-

& clasp 8th Army

Italy Star

It St

-

-

Fr&G St

-

-

Defence Medal

Def M

-

-

War Medal 1939-1945

WM 39|45

-

-

Mention in Despatches

MID

08.11.1945

NW Europe

Long Service Good Conduct Medal

LSGCM

-

-

17.01.1941

 

 

commissioned, Corps of Royal Engineers [emergency commission]

1942

-

1943

served with the British 8th Army in North Africa

1943

-

1944

served Sicily & Italy

1944

-

1945

Officer Commanding, 15th Field Park Company RE (NW Europe) (despatches)

Civil servant.

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        The information above pre-dates the research presented by the author and it shows that Dykes was entitled to both of these stars; however, no references are cited to justify this information. The information and dates shown in the right-hand column do not agree with the information from Dykes’s service papers, so unless the creator of this web site has additional information that has not been uncovered by the author, the mystery surrounding these two medals still exists.  Coordination with the web site’s creator will be attempted to verify the validity of the information presented.


ADDENDUM NO. 2

 DEDICATED

To the Memory

of

 1869327 Driver

LEONARD TILLEY  

15th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers

Who died on 23 August 1944, age 32  

Leonard Tilley.jpg

Figure A2.  Driver Leonard Tilley, R.E.
(Image courtesy of BBC Home web site)
 

Son of Charles and Agnes Tilley; husband of Lily Jennings Tilley,

of Swadlincote, Derbyshire


REFERENCES

Army Lists

The Army List, 1946, p. 628g.

Books

  1. JONES, T.K.  Sword Beach: 3rd British Division.
  2. London County Council Record of War Service, p.43.
  3. PAKENHAM-WALSH, R.P.  History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume IX, 1938-1948.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, 1958, Chatham, Kent.
  4. SKELLEY, A.R.  The Victorian Army At Home: The Recruitment and Terms and Conditions of the British Regular, 1859-1899.  McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, 1977, pp. 94, 95 and 311.

Census Data  

  1. 1891 Census of England and Wales.
  2. 1911 Census of England and Wales.

Documents  

     1.   Postcard addressed to Major H. Dykes, possibly sent by a Belgian after the end of World War 2 (Postcard courtesy of Mr. Guy Vanautgaerden).
  2.     
Gase, Stuart.  Company Moves of Royal Engineer Units from the Victorian Period to the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II.  A study made of the movements of R.E. companies from the service papers of serving soldiers.  West Drayton, 2007.

 

Family Trees

 

  1. Rebekah Milne

    https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/153201641/person/312059158302/facts
  1. mikehillier167

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/50633525/person/27341372220/facts  

  1. charlesrowe51

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/26857566/person/12672398355/facts

Internet Web Sites

 

  1. Ancestry. 

https://www.ancestry.com/  

  1. 3rd Infantry Division

https://www.unithistories.com/units_british/3InfDiv.html  

  1. British Army Officers, 1939-1945.

https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_D03.html  

  1. The British Friends of Normandy: 3rd Infantry Division.

http://britishfriendsofnormandy.org.uk/normandy-campaign-history/divisional-order-of-the-battle/order-of-battle-3rd-infantry-division/  

  1. Fallen Heroes of Normandy.

http://www.fallenheroesphotos.org/Servicemen/Regiment/73?page=4  

  1. Military History:15 Squadron RE.

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/15_Squadron_RE  

  1. Sword Beach: British Troops.

http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/sword/en_page.php?page=3  

  1. WikiTree: Edward John Dykes.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dykes-231  

  1. Ipswich Cemeteries and Crematoriums.  https://www.ipswichcemetery.co.uk/crematorium/
  1. Spike Island

            https://www.spikeislandcork.ie/  

11.  ThinkDefence

https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2011/12/uk-military-bridging-equipment-pre-wwii-equipment-bridging/callender-hamilton-bridge-02/

London Gazette

 

  1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 6 May 1941, p. 2574.
  2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 8 November 1945, p. 5440.
  3. The London Gazette, 22 September 1964, p. 8082.

Medal Rolls

 

  1. Medical Index Card of Private Edward John Dykes, A.S.C.
  2. British War Medal and Victory Medal Roll, Private E.J. Dykes, A.S.C., dated 13 June 1920.
  3. Silver War Badge Roll, Driver Edward John Dykes, A.S.C., dated 16 December 1916.

Periodicals  

       1. The Sapper, June 1929, p. 316.
2.     
The Sapper, October 1928, p. 72.
3.     
The Sapper, November 1928, p 106.
4.     
The Sapper, December 1928, p. 135.
5.     
The Sapper, December 1930, p. 143.
6.     
The Sapper, June 1932, p. 292.
7.     
The Sapper, October 1932, p. 115.
8.     
The Sapper, July 1933, p. 332.
9.     
The Sapper, May 1934, pp. 268 and 283.
10. 
The Sapper, January 1935, p. 493.
11. 
The Sapper, March 1935, p. 547.
12. 
The Sapper, April 1935, pp. 574 and 575.
13. 
The Sapper. May 1935, p. 602.
14. 
The Sapper, September 1942, p. 18.
15. 
Evening Star (Ipswich), 5 September 1964, p. 11, Column 1.
16. 
Evening Star (Ipswich), 10 September 1964, p. 18, Column 1.
17. 
The Telegraph, 17 November 2019.  

Registers  

1.   Births Registered in October, November and December 1902, p. 163.
2.     
Electoral Register, Parish of Frimley, 1936, p. 10.
3.     
National Probate Calendar, 1964, p. 448.
4.     
National Probate Calendar, 1982, p. 2722.  

Royal Engineers Lists  

         1.   Royal Engineers List, April 1932, p. xxiii.
2.     
Royal Engineers List, July 1933, p. xxv.
3.     
Royal Engineers List, 1943, p. xlviii.

Service Papers (Army Form B199A)  

NOTE: The sections shown on the following pages are only those where entries have been made on the forms.  

Page 1

         1.   Personal Information
2.     
Education
3.     
Family and Religion Information
4.     
Next of Kin
5.     
Marriage Information
6.     
Schools and Course of Instruction

 Page 2

         1.   Knowledge of Foreign Countries
2.     
Campaigns
3.     
Wounds and Nature
4.     
Honours and Rewards
5.     
Dates of Gazette or Other Authority  

Page 3

 1.      Promotions
 2.     
Findings of Medical Boards  

Page 4  

         1.   Appointments
2.     
Postings  

War Diaries (15th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers)  

1. WO 166/3563 15 Field Park Company. 1940 July - 1941 December.
2.  WO 166/8054 15 Field Park Company. 1942 January – 1942 December.
3.  WO 166/12014 15 Field Park Company. 1943 January – 1943 December
4.  WO 171/1516 15 Company. 1944 January – 1944 December
5.  WO 171/5428 15 Company. 1945 January – 1945 September
6.  WO 169/20207 15 Field Park Company. 1945 February, November, December.


ENDNOTES


[1] Entries in the service papers also were made in 1941, 1945 and 1949.

[2] Major Dykes’ service papers show E.F. Dykes, Esq., as his next of kin, living at 8 Kitchener Road in Ipswich at about 1919, the time of enlistment in the Army.   His mother had died in 1915 and his father in 1921.

[3] An interesting aside is that the word “British” had originally been written on the line showing the Officer’s nationality.  That word was crossed out and “English” written over it.  One might assume that either Dykes or the clerk filling in the form was a staunch Englishman.

[4] Skelley, 1977.

[5] Gase.

[6] Marriage Register and mikehillier167 family tree.

[7] The Sapper magazine, July 1924.

[8] Skelley, 1977.

[9] The Sapper magazine, January 1925.  His name is mentioned in Station News in the magazine but it is misspelled as Dikes.

[10] Later Lieutenant Colonel.

[11] Later Major Andrew Synge Barton, deceased 12 December 2000.

[12] Later Brigadier Brian Mortimer Archibald, CBE/DSO (1906-1983).

[13] Later Lieutenant Colonel Philip George Hatch.

[14] Later Brigadier H.W. Kitson, CBE, deceased 28 July 1988.

[15] Later Lieutenant Colonel E.S. Barkham, OBE, deceased 9 December 1962.

[16] Later Brigadier Edmund Rait-Kerr, MC, deceased 22 June 1988.  He also was a recipient of the U.S. Bronze Star Medal.  The 42nd Field Company may have been commanded by Major A.P.A. Lewis, R.E. for a short period while Dykes was in the company.

[17] Later Lieutenant Colonel J.H.R. Le Sueur, deceased June 1940.

[18] Later Brigadier H.P. Drayson, CBE, deceased 20 December 1993.

[19] Later Major A.W.G. Dobbie.

[20] The Sapper, July 1933, p. 332.

[21] The Sapper, May 1934, p. 268.

[22] Later Lieutenant Colonel, OBE, MC.

[23] Later Major General, KBE, CB, DSO.

[24] The house presently located at this address is too modern to be the structure that existed there in 1936.

[25] London Gazette, 6 May 1941.

[26] Army List, April 1942.

[27] Service papers.

[28] London Gazette, 6 May 1941 and service papers.

[29] Later Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Michael Sandwith Maude, R.E.

[30] Later Lieutenant John Patrick Asher, MBE, R.E.

[31] History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume VIII, p. 355.  No reason has been found for Dykes late arrival on the beach.

[32] R.E. Corps History, Volume IX, p. 356 and The British Friends of Normandy: 3rd Infantry Division.

[33] Tilley was buried at Bayeux War Cemetery, XXV, D, 18.

[34] London Gazette, 16 April 1954.

[35] These medals are in the author’s collection.

[36] By “unaccounted” the author cannot account for the date that Dykes left his previous unit and reported to his new unit.  The service papers are too vague in this regard.

[37] Family Tree: mikehillier167.

[38] Rebekah Milne Family Tree.

[39] London County Council Record of War Service.

[40] charlesrowe51 family tree.

[41] Ancestry.com

[42] The High Street in Long Melford is the longest (2.5 miles) in England.

[43] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9174103/Villages-British-Legion-bingo-nights-could-be-forced-to-stop-after-86-years.html

[44] Death certificate.

[45] The Evening Star, 5 September 1964.

[46] Probate Calendar, 1964.

[47] mikehillier167 Family Tree.