King High Remembers William J. Dykes By: Cody Means, Danielle Fillmore, Warren Cromie, and Chelsea Salazar

William J. Dykes  Born November 29 th 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 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 ( ) 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