Wilkes was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England the only child of Ellen (Helen), née Malone (1885–1968) and Vincent Joseph Wilkes (1887–1971), an accounts clerk at the estate of the Earl of Dudley.
He grew up in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and was educated at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge.
During his school years he was introduced to amateur radio by his chemistry teacher.

He studied the Mathematical Tripos at St John's College, Cambridge from 1931–34, and in 1936 completed his PhD in physics on the subject of radio propagation of very long radio waves in the ionosphere.
He was appointed to a junior faculty position of the University of Cambridge through which he was involved in the establishment of a computing laboratory.
He was called up for military service during World War II and worked on radar at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), and in operational research.
Wilkes was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England the only child of Ellen (Helen), née Malone (1885–1968) and Vincent Joseph Wilkes (1887–1971), an accounts clerk at the estate of the Earl of Dudley. He grew up in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and was educated at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge. During his school years he was introduced to amateur radio by his chemistry teacher.
He studied the Mathematical Tripos at St John's College, Cambridge from 1931–34, and in 1936 completed his PhD in physics on the subject of radio propagation of very long radio waves in the ionosphere. He was appointed to a junior faculty position of the University of Cambridge through which he was involved in the establishment of a computing laboratory. He was called up for military service during World War II and worked on radar at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), and in operational research.
Maurice Wilkes