FROM THE BOOK: “SOE ASSIGNMENT”
AUTHOR: DONALD HAMILTON HILL
“Another or our distinguished instructors was a tall spare man – who looked like a bishop – with steel-rimmed spectacles, a soft voice and wrists of iron. He was Captain Bill Sykes – formerly of the Shanghai Police – and he taught unarmed combat and quick shooting reactions such as how to kill four people in a room whilst falling down on the ground near the door lintel to make oneself a difficult target. His methods of unarmed combat and silent killing were such that many were able in the years to come to save themselves entirely owing to his instructions. The Germans in 1942 published a pamphlet, which portrayed his methods, and used it in neutral countries to enlist sympathy against the diabolical British. ‘Our man’ in Lisbon picked up one or two and sent them to me for comment with a request for a UK posting, and training with Bill Sykes.”
CAPTAIN PETER MASON, A RETIRED BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, NOW LIVING IN CANADA WRITES:
“So, E.A. Sykes had far more of an interesting career in the Far East, than just being a volunteer special sergeant attached to the sniper squad of the Shanghai Municipal Police! “As to any ‘yarns,’ I only recall two stunts that he performed, and both involved the Government .45 auto. The first was demonstrated with a proved empty Colt’s auto. To illustrate how pushing a prisoner along with a .45 will push back the slide and perhaps disconnect the firing mechanism, should the prisoner know his pistols (!) allowing him to wipe the handgun aside, etc., etc.
“And the other example, which I saw demonstrated, was after we did the combat pistol course, and all were felling rather over-confident with the knock-down power of the issued Colt cartridge, Bill called a greatcoat-clad sergeant over to stand at the fifty-yard target backstop. The ‘target’ stood with feet about thirty inches apart, hands in overcoat pockets, and holding the garment away from his body. A loaded ‘Thompson’ was set at repetition fire mode, and Bill tapped-off single shots that struck the center of the man’s coat. At each shot I saw his coat ‘flick’ and I, like everybody present, assumed that the bullets just hit the multi-layers of cloth and dropped to the earth. Our greatcoats were double breasted heavy woolen material, with a same cloth lining, plus a heavy-weave horse hair-like spacer, so that’s six layers. But to this day I wouldn’t want to try it!
NANCY FORWARD (SOE) (CODE NAME “WHITE MOUSE”) WHO WAS FAMOUS FOR HER WORK WITH THE FRENCH MARQUIS, IS ONE OFTHE FEW SOE AGENTS STILL LIVING. SHE WRITES:
“I have already told you that Sykes was the instructor who taught me ‘silent killing,’ amongst other things. Poor Sykes was forgotten like many other people in Great Britain, and elsewhere. My impression of Sykes was very favorable and I would have liked to have known him better. I was the only female in our class and I remember that whenever he addressed me, or gave me an order, his tone of voice was not so ‘crisp’ – to coin a common old phrase – ‘a thorough gent!’ I have always regretted that I was unable to thank him for all the things he taught me.”
BILL PILKINGTON, WHO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST CLOSE COMBAT INSTRUCTORS TRAINED BY FAIRBAIRN AND SYKES FOR DUTY WITH THE HOME GUARD, STILL LIVING IN ENGLAND, WRITES:
“Of course, we must remember that in 1939-45 there were still some ‘deadheads’ in our forces, officers who had not advanced professionally in civil life, and when called to service life, they were reluctant to acknowledge they were ‘behind’ in knowledge. “This was one of the aspects with both Fairbairn and Sykes; they both openly criticized the Top Brass, for ‘Dog in the Bloody Manger’ attitude. These comments were, in my hearing, openly said to Staff Officers, by both Fairbairn and Sykes. And they were quite right, the ‘Old Guard’ of Whitehall Wafflers who had slept soundly from 1918 to 1939, failed to appreciate how advanced other nations were, compared to Britain, but the worst part was the Old Guard were reluctant to allow others who had kept abreast of the times to circulate their knowledge. Obviously, this was to protect their image. This may well have some bearing on the lack of written work available today, much has been deliberately destroyed out of jealousy.”
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