LYON, ERNEST RUSSELL Rank:Flying OfficerService No:131529Date of Death:27/07/1944Age:21Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 234 Sqdn. Grave Reference:Row 6. Grave 33.Cemetery:GUIDEL COMMUNAL CEMETERYAdditional Information:Son of Ernest Hutcheon Lyon and Elizabeth Wright Lyon, of Balerno, Midlothian. N.B. Please note that the headstone on this casualty's grave is currently to that of an unknown Airman and will be changed shortly. His previous commemoration on the Runnymede Memorial will be removed when the appropriate panel is next replaced. CWGC have just informed me of this development.
The following from RAF Fighter Command Losses Vol.3 - N L R. Franks 27 July 1944 234 Squadron Spitfire Vb AR343 Rhubarb to Kerlin Bastard during the evening. Engaged by flak and crashed in flames near Lorient. F/O. E R. Lyon + Rhubarb - low-level strike operation mounted in cloudy condition against enemy targets in Occupied Countries
Delighted to read that the headstone will be changed. I met his nephew at a family wedding earlier this year, who told me all about him and how he was trying to get the headstone changed. I'm very pleased to see that he has succeeded.
I have just come across the postings above so if anyone is interested I (the nephew of F/O Ernest Russell Lyon) have written a book telling the story of this brave young Spitfire Pilot, the discovery of the Spitfire crash in Southern Brittany in 2003 and the efforts needed over several years to get Russell's name on to the CWGC gravestone at Guidel Communal Cemetery in Southern Brittany, where a re-dedication ceremony took place in 2015. Along the way we argued that the MoD Standard of Proof for the identification of War Graves which was "Beyond all Reasonable Doubt" was unreasonably high, it was changed in September 2011 to be "By clear and convincing evidence". The book is titled Finding the 'Ring of Truth'. It is co-authored with one of the French researchers who contributed so much to the project. A copy of the reviews and the foreword is attached: