MB ChB Manch 1927; FFARCS 1948; DA Eng 1935.
Sykes was born on 29 January 1899 in Bolsover, Derbyshire, and studied medicine at the University of Manchester. After qualifying, Sykes was house surgeon at MRI. From 1929, he was anaesthetist to a number of hospitals in Manchester, including Park Hospital, Ancoats Hospital, MRI, Holt Radium Institute and Withington Hospital, promoted to consultant in 1948.During the second world war, Sykes served in the RAMC in England, France and Belgium, becoming adviser in anaesthetics to the Eastern Command in India. Alongside his hospital work, Sykes was also clinical tutor in anaesthetics at the University of Manchester from 1948 to 1961. Sykes retired in 1961. He was president of Manchester Medical Society in 1959, and of the Manchester Medico-Ethical Society in 1954. He was also a member of the councils of the Royal Society of Medicine Section of Anaesthetics and the Association of Anaesthetists. Sykes died on 23 February 1978.