King High Remembers

William J. DykesBy: Cody Means, Danielle Fillmore, Warren Cromie, and Chelsea Salazar

William J. Dykes

Born November 29th 1924 84 years of age Served in the Korean War and World

War 2

Mr. Dykes attended Riverside Poly High School

Graduated in 1943 It was the only good

high school around at the time

After High School…

A few days before Graduation, he was drafted into the army

He trained to become a tail gunner in Texas and in the Gulf of Mexico

Also attended Gunners School in the United States

The Beginning…

During Gunners School, William blew his ear drums out

They fired 50 calibers in the machine guns When the guns jammed, as an instructor he

would walk between the guns (while firing) and that’s when concussion would hit

The Men would used cotton for ear plugs

Training

There was a required Physical every three months

Since Mr. Dykes damaged his hearing, he bluffed his way through most of the physical, saying,“he had a cold.”

He Flew in a B-24 Bomber as the Tail Gunner

His Plane

On the tail of his bomber, there was a capital “D” (it was the 4th group in England)

One one mission every five seconds, 20 flak explosions would over an area of 36 bombers.

Their plane was named Hubert by the pilot

To every plane, there was ten members to a crew

Mr. Dykes was 22 when he first flew in “Hubert”

He was the only tail gunner to his plane

Clothing

Wore four pairs of gloves with a leather glove over them so his fingers would not get frostbite

Next was long johns, uniform, his flying suit, hoodie, scarf and his flight suit and over this he wore a flak suit (30 lbs)

weather

Sometimes while flying weather could get to as low as 40-50 degrees below 0.

There were two different types of wings

Aircrew Wings

Gunner Wings

People on the Plane

There are five gunners on the plane Two in the front, two on the sides and one in the

rear There is the pilot, co-pilot, navigator Normally there were 6 gunners- one below in a ball

turret (but in England they took the ball turret out)

Worst case scenario

Mr. Dykes carried a bullet tied to a piece of string just in case their plane was shot down

He said “it was better to kill yourself than to surrender to those s.s troops’’

Places he flew

He flew most missions over Germany

Belgium London Flying it was much

colder over Germany

Entertaining activities

For fun him and his buddies saw early shows, watch movies, drank

They also threw coal at the MP’s Guard shacks

Mr. Dykes had a bike that he would ride thru the small towns

One day someone stole his bike before going home.

After the war…

Met Mrs. Dykes in high school while he was at RCC

He would sneak out to see her during the day

They are happily married for 62 years

Got his teaching credentials at UCLA

Taught at RCC and a college in the Dessert.

Teaching

He worked at the Coroner for over 31 years The office had dealt with over 50,000 cases Before joining the Coroners office (11-1-1955) he

was a state police officer for 3yrs. He joined the Coroners office as an investigator 17yrs. As chief coroner 7 1/2 yrs. As coroner of

riverside county