While at Cambridge University, Pyke convinced the editor of the London Daily Chronicle to make him the paper's correspondent in Berlin during World War I. Pyke was captured and sent to Ruhleben with about 4,000 other foreign prisoners.
While at Cambridge University, Pyke secured a position as the London Daily Chronicle's correspondent in Berlin during World War I. He was subsequently captured and imprisoned at Ruhleben, a prison camp for foreign prisoners of war, along with approximately 4,000 other individuals.