The AIF Project

John LYELL

Regimental number6095
Place of birthFifeshire, Scotland
SchoolLadybank School, Fifeshire, Scotland
Other trainingGold mines
Age on arrival in Australia23
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationRailway employee
AddressBrisbane, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation36
Height5' 10.5"
Weight160 lbs
Next of kinBrother, W Lyell, Graceville, Queensland
Previous military serviceServed for 7 years in the Royal Scots Regiment; 5 years in the Reserves, British Army.
Enlistment date9 September 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll16 September 1915
Place of enlistmentEnoggera, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentSapper
Unit name6th Field Company Engineers, Reinforcement 3
AWM Embarkation Roll number14/25/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A40 Runic
Rank from Nominal RollSapper
Unit from Nominal Roll15th Field Company Engineers
FateKilled in Action 20 July 1916
Place of burialRue-Du-Bois Military Cemetery (Plot II, Row A, Grave No. I), Fleurbaix, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
24
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: David and Isabella LYELL. Native of Fifeshire, Scotland
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked Alexandria, 27 February 1916.

Taken on strength, 15th Field Company Engineers, Tel el Kebir, 18 March 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 18 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 29 June 1916.

Reported wounded, and taken to hospital, 20 July 1916.

Record amended, 28 July 1916, to read 'Killed in Action, 20 July 1916'.

Statement, Red Cross File No 1650116, 264 Pte H.L. CULLING, Engineers, 28 August 1916: 'I knew Lyell ... and he was killed at Fleurbaix on the 19th July last and was buried the next day in the Cemetery opposite Rifle Villa with 15 others. I saw his grave with a cross on it and his name on the cross. There was only one Lyell in the 15th. and he was killed outright.'

Second statement, 5446 Sapper K.B. NELSON, 15th Field Company Engineers (patient, Horton County of London War Hospital, England), 9 September 1916: 'Informant states that on 20th July 1916 at Fleurbaix at the mouth of the V.C. sap he saw Lyell killed, shot through the head.'

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, LYELL John
Red Cross File No 1650116

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