LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer James Henry Scott LYON DFC

Service No: 408658
Born: Sale VIC, 27 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1941
Unit: No. 11 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Westcott, Buckinghamshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 10 December 1943
Died: Aircraft Accident (No.11 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft LN660), 15 March 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Lennel Old Churchyard, Coldstream, Berwickshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Muriel Emma Lyon, of Woodside, Victoria, Australia; husband of Margaret Lyon, of Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

DFC Citation: “Flying Officer Lyon has completed, in various capacities, many successful operations against the enemy, in which he has displayed high skill, fortitude and devotion to duty.” (Gazetted 10 December 1943)

On 15 March 1944 Wellington LN660 took off from RAF Westcott for a night cross country training exercise. The aircraft crashed at 2235 hours to the east of Quainton, 6 miles north west from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, after flying into Stirling EH989 of No. 90 Squadron RAF. All on board LN660 and EH989 were killed.

The crew members of LN660 were:

Sergeant Reginald Dennis Barlow (1807428) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Donald Victor Roy Francis (41158) (RNZAF) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Gerald Harman Gilbert (429029) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Frederick Goold (414873) (RNZAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George Hudson (1080378) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Reginald Kemp (1397621) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer James Henry Scott Lyon DFC (408658) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Rennie Taylor (152830) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)

The crew members of EH989 were:

Sergeant John Henry Bone (1449499) (RAFVR)
Sergeant William Bruce (551988) (RAF)
Sergeant George Edward Collins (1186834) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Arthur Henry Estcourte (1176109) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Thomas Raymond Hewitt (1549452) (RAFVR)
Sergeant William Halkett Ramsay (1570005) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Joseph Vernon Spring (1477332) (RAFVR) (Pilot)

References:

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 5 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1944, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1997
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/25/127

Bibliography:

Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982

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