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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Tra La La on Wednesday 04 June 14 00:26 BST (UK)
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Please could fellow users of Rootschat Yorkshire help. Yorkshiremen Ernest Sykes V.C was awarded the Victoria Cross for a series of heroic deeds near Arras, on Easter Monday the 9th of April 1917, BUT the vast majority of records/books/websites list his heroic deeds as occuring on the 19th of April 1917, when infact the 27th battalion was "at rest."
I am contacting websites to inform them where their information is wrong, but could do with some assistance. If you come across a Victoria Cross website that lists his deed as the 19th, please would you send me the link to that particular website - there are plenty of them! Of course they cannot be made to change their records, but the evidence is solid. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
TraLaLa
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Looking at some sites I can see the discrepancy. On 9th April 1917 four Divisions of the Canadian Corps captured the 60 metre high Vimy Ridge. In a supporting role Ernest was in the vicinity that day.
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You have the opportunity to help with the information about Ernest posted at Lives of the First World War. So far only seed information and one external link has been attached to his Life. My on line colleague Trevor created the V.C. community but could use some help with individual records. I'm following along with the Canadian V.C.'s and would be glad of help as well .
Here is Eric's "life" to date.... you need only sign in to contribute.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/4341321
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Hello there,
What level of detail do you require?
Tra La La
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Thank you for your interest.... Anything you feel adds to the Life , for example copying and pasting the citation as a story with date of the citation will add it to the time line. A photo , a personal recollection whatever you would like to share.
Just as an example here is how I have chosen to add to the story of a Canadian V.C. recipient.
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/5934518
Naturally I hope that eventually a more personal remembrance might also be contributed.
Liz
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I see his medals have been sold twice, the seccond time being May this year. I wonder who has them now?
Regards
Malky
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I would like to think his campaign medals were bought by the regimental museum, to sit alongside his VC at Alnwick Castle.
Many thanks for the guidance.
There is a super photograph of him on the Tameside Council website, showing him on his return to Mossley Railway station with his wife and two oldest children. The 'Mayor and Corporation' are in the photo. What struck me was the look in his eyes.
Spread the word to get his records corrected - "it was Easter Monday, the 9th of April, and it was snowing...."
Tra La La
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A photo of the steam locomotive bearing his name http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrnsh346.htm
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Many thanks for the link to the photograph. Last year the 'sign' from the locomotive was on display at the August Bank Holiday Steam Fair at Blandford Forum.
If the opportunity arises, please challenge or correct the incorrect date of his heroic actions. The correct date was Easter Monday, the 9th of April 1917, but so many websites and books claim that his bravery occurred on the 19th (when the batallion was away from the front). The government have accepted the 9th as the correct date, but dialogue with TNA and various authors and publishers continues.
Many thanks for your assistance.
Tra La La
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Yes Barryd, Ernest was with the 27th (service) battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, Tyneside Irish, just north of Rocklincourt. His earlier service was with the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment. He was injured at Gallipoli, and returned to the uk for surgery to his foot.
Tra La La
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There is a short article about Ernest Sykes, V.C., in the Journal of the London & North Western Railway Society - Vol 1, No 8, September 1995, pp239-240. This is because L&NWR locomotive No 2035, built in March 1920, was given the name "Private E. Sykes V.C." in February 1922, he having been an L&NWR employee. The article carries a photograph of Ernest Sykes receiving his medal from King George V on 21st July 1917, and one showing the engine 2035 in Stalybridge station with Sykes - then a railway guard - on the footplate alongside the engine driver and fireman. (This was an earlier engine than the one in the photo, No 5537, posted by Geoff-E, which was built in 1933 and took the same name.)
Some biographical details are given in the article, but unfortunately the date of his heroic actions is given as 19th April.
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There is a bit of an update to the locomotive saga so I felt somebody had to get the ball rolling at Lives and I added a short story . You'll find it at
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/4341321.
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this is a link to the cited article at http://www.lms-patriot.org.uk/locomotives-named-after-victoria-cross-recipients. The date of his V.C. is stated correctly and the whole site is worth looking at.
Liz
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Hello Henry7,
Is there a chance that you could contact the publisher of the article, and alert them to the error? If not I am happy to do so. Grateful thanks for the information. I had previously wondered if there were two locomotives, but railways are not my area of knowledge.
Tra La La
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Tra La La -
No problem. I shall correct this strange error in the date.
Actually three successive locomotives bore nameplates lettered PRIVATE E. SYKES V.C. - No. 2035 from 1922 to 1926, then No. 6015 from 1926 to 1933; both were the same type of engine. From 1933 a new and different type of engine, No. 5537, was so named until it was scrapped in 1962. A nameplate from 5537 is at Alnwick; it is curved in shape, but I believe one of the earlier type of straight nameplates from Nos. 2035/6015 has also been preserved. (You can see that we railway-nuts can get a bit obsessive about details!)
Harry.
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Many thanks. I can see I need to learn about locomotives. I have seen one nameplate at the regimental museum, and I was told about one that was on display in 2014 at the Great Dorset Steam Fair.
His medals are another area of interest given that his campaign medals were resold earlier this year, plus there was confusion regarding his VC medal at Alnwick. At one time the museum said they had a replica, but more recently they confirmed that they hold the original. The later information confirms what the Yorkshire grandchildren were told shortly before Ernest's death. It was his decision to have the original medal taken to Alnwick Castle to ensure it was not sold for commercial gain. I will battle on challenging the wrong date of his heroic act, plus correcting a smaller number of birthdate errors. Thanks again.
Tra La La
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Yes, I noticed there were different dates given for Ernest Sykes' birthday, but assumed one must be a simple misprint. No doubt his birth certificate will sort that out easily.
Best of luck with your good work!
Harry.
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I received a copy of his birth certificate from a medals researcher who had written an article for a journal. I shall keep chipping away, but new books about VC holders are being published thick and fast. I do contact the publisher, commissioning editor and if I can get to them, the author. I can hope that when a reprint is commissioned, they will correct their errors. My main focus is the National Archives who continue to make incorrect information available online. This proud yorkshireman deserves to have his information corrected. We continue ...
Tra La La