Major-General Right Honourable Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes (1877–1954) was an English statesman and politician. He was Chief of the Air Staff from 13 April1918 to 22 January1919. He was then elected as Member of parliament for Sheffield Hallam from 1922 until 1928 representing the Conservative and Liberal Unionist party. He resigned the seat on 26 June1928 to take up an appointment as Governor of Bombay on 8 December1928, serving in this post until 25 April1931. He was married to Isabel H. Law, the daughter of Andrew Bonar Law. 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English people are an indigenous European ethnic group originating in the lowlands of Great Britain and are drawn from a composite population descended from a combination of Romano-Celts and Angles, Saxons and Jutes. ... Chief of the Air Staff can also refer to the head of the Canadian Forces Air Command. ... 13 April is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Sheffield Hallam is a Parliamentary constituency covering the south west portion of the City of Sheffield, England. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom. ... Members of Parliament of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mumbai (Marathi: मà¥à¤‚बई ) (pronounced in Marathi, and in English), formerly known as Bombay is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with a 2005 estimated population of about 18 million. ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Right Honourable Andrew Bonar Law (September 16, 1858 - October 30, 1923) was a Conservative British statesman and Prime Minister. ...
References
Ash, Eric (1999). Sir Frederick Sykes and the air revolution, 1912-1918. Publisher: London ; Portland, OR : Frank Cass. ISBN 0714648280 (cloth) ISBN 0714643823 (paperback)
Sykes pointed out that future wars might well begin as surprise air attacks, without preliminary declarations of war or detectable mobilizations, and, moreover, that Britain was more vulnerable than any other state to such a strike because of the concentration of population and industry in and around London, so close to the French coast.
Sykes painted a picture of future airpower in which strategic bombing, and defense against it, was predominant, in which an independent air force could take over certain functions from the navy, and in which any ground-attack role in support of the army was a secondary or even tertiary concern.
Sykes and the other airpower enthusiasts of the time were quite wrong about the new nature of war, as we shall see, but their mistakes are much more understandable considering the geopolitical environment in which they were made.
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