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Ernest Russell Lyon (19 December 1922 – 27 July 1944) was a Flying Officer in 234 Squadron of the Royal Air Force during part of World War 2. He was known as Russell. Volunteering to join the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve just three months after his 18th birthday he undertook pilot training in the USA, after which he became a pilot instructor in the USA and Canada. He later asked to be posted to an operational squadron and was posted to RAF 234 Squadron, joining them in autumn 1943, where he acquired the nickname "Ben" after the American TV and radio personality Ben Lyon. Russell undertook a variety of missions with the Squadron, flying from various airfields in the UK. At the time of D-Day the Squadron was based at RAF Deanland. Soon afterwards 234 Squadron was moved to RAF Predannack, on the Lizard Peninsula, where they flew further missions over northern and western France. At 19.00hrs on the evening of Thursday 27 July 1944 Russell piloted Supermarine Spitfire MkVb AR343, flying with seven other Spitfires, on a mission over Lorient in southern Brittany. At about 19.54 hrs. his Spitfire was hit by flak at 6000 ft. over the Lorient area and was seen to crash in flames near Ploemeur.〔The National Archives Kew, UK, 234 Squadron Operations Record Book AIR 27/1440〕 A second 234 Squadron Spitfire BM200 piloted by the mission leader, F/Lt. W. Walton DFC, was also hit, at around the same time, at 0 feet, but Walton managed to pilot the Spitfire to sufficient height where he was able to parachute out.〔 Walton landed safely and eluded capture for a short while but was then taken prisoner the same evening by the Germans. F/O Russell Lyon was reported as missing in action near Lorient 〔The Scotsman 25 November 1944〕 and later he was reported as presumed dead.〔''The Scotsman'', 30 June 1945〕 In 2001 a Spitfire crash site was found by local history enthusiasts near Ploemeur, and through further research the crash site was identified as the crash location of Spitfire AR343 piloted by F/O Russell Lyon. The local French researchers also found a grave in the nearby Commonwealth War Graves Commission 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=CWGC - Cemetery Details )〕 Cemetery at Guidel which is marked Unknown RAF Airman and where the contemporary Cemetery Register records that the burial of an unknown English casualty took place on Saturday 29 July 1944. ==Early life== The son of Ernest H. Lyon and Elizabeth W. Pealling, Ernest Russell Lyon was born in Colinton, Edinburgh, Scotland on 19 December 1922. He had an older step brother, Stanley, and a younger brother James (Jimmy). Russell's mother Elizabeth was the second wife of E.H. Lyon, whose first wife Helen died in 1919 from Bright's Disease. His middle name Russell derived, in the Scottish naming tradition, from the maiden name of his maternal grandmother, Jane Russell, whose family originally came from Dumfries-shire, Scotland. His father was born in Kincardine-shire Scotland, with earlier antecedents coming from the Buchan area of NE Aberdeenshire, and Banffshire, Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries. Russell's early school years were spent firstly at Gillespies〔http://www.jamesgillespiesps.ik.org/p_Our_History.ikml〕 and then at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He entered Heriot's on 23 September 1930. In July 1932, he left George Heriot's School and started his next phase of education on 22 September 1932 at George Watson's School, also in Edinburgh. The George Watson's school record shows that " He got the bronze medal for swimming in fourth year and by the time he was in sixth year he was in the rugby First XV where he gained his colours. He did English, French, physics and chemistry in sixth year, was a patrol leader in the Scouts and was also in the Army Training Corps and played tennis and cricket. He was also a prefect". On 15 October 1935, when Russell was approaching his 13th birthday, his mother Elizabeth died following a sudden and severe stroke. As he was growing up Russell often holidayed with his family in and around Braemar and Deeside, Aberdeenshire, where one of his uncles, George Melvin Rennie (1874–1953), a landscape artist, had a summer studio. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ernest Russell Lyon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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