Lieutenant Colonel William Ernest Sykes, 9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, was born on 21st December 1872. He lived at Stone House, Forest Row and enlisted on 14th January 1915 in Brighton. He was died from a gunshot on 8th January 1915 at Bhurtpore Barracks, Tidworth., age 41 and is buried in Colemans Hatch (Holy Trinity) Churchyard; Grave A. 3 A.
He was the son of Major General H. P. Sykes (Bombay Lancers), and Mrs. M. A. Sykes. He was married to Olive Beryl (Bellairs) Sykes and has a son called Hugh B Sykes (1915). He was a pre-war Regular Soldier initially commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into The York and Lancaster Regiment. He was Promoted as a Lieutenant in to the Lancashire Fusiliers on the 10th August 1900. He was attached to the 5th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment on the outbreak of the First World War as a Major and was given temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel on appointment to command the 9th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment from 1914 to January 1915.
Listed on the War Memorial in Forest Row.
