Family unveil roundabout tribute to city Spitfire hero

Published on Tuesday 11 November 2008 08:44

THE family of a young Edinburgh Spitfire pilot shot down more than 60 years ago have travelled to France to unveil a roundabout named in his honour.

His propeller hub has been put on display in the new roundabout in Larmor-Plage, Brittany, in honour of former George Heriot's and George Watson's pupil Russell Lyon.

The 21-year-old pilot, who was born in Colinton, crashed on July 27, 1944, but historians only discovered the wreckage of his plane in April last year.

Mr Lyon's nephew, Richard Lyon, 60, an architect who lives in Cambridge, helped unveil the memorial at the weekend.

He said: "I gave a speech of thanks on behalf of the Lyon family in French and English. I think it was appreciated.

"The mayor of Larmor-Plage, Victor Tonnerre, and I unveiled it. It was covered by the two country's flags and he pulled away the French flag while I pulled away the Union Jack. Everybody stood back and there was a minute's silence followed by the national anthems of France and Britain."

Representatives from RAF Cranwell and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission were among those in attendance.

The family took Scottish heather from Aberdeenshire – where Russell Lyon enjoyed childhood holidays – which local children planted at the site.

Richard Lyon's son Charles, 22, whose birthday falls on the anniversary of the crash, read out a biography of his great uncle.

Richard Lyon added: "We didn't realise it was Remembrance weekend until we put the date in our diaries and realised the significance. It is very appropriate.

"After the formal ceremony, the mayor hosted a champagne reception. There were probably 200-300 people there. The whole weekend was marvellous."

Ernest Russell Lyon was born in Colinton on December 19, 1922, and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve soon after his 18th birthday. He trained pilots in the US and Canada during the early part of the war and in 1943 joined 234 Squadron, flying a Spitfire in the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

His plane was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and fell 6000ft where it lay undiscovered until French aviation enthusiasts found the wreckage last year. The story attracted has so much attention since that the local authority in Larmor-Plage decided to dedicate the roundabout in his memory.

The French council also decided to erect the original propeller hub from his plane next to the new roundabout, between the towns of Ploemeur and Kernevel.

Russell Lyon was one of nearly 400 former pupils of George Watson's College in Edinburgh who joined the RAF between 1939 and 1945. More than 20 per cent of them did not survive the war.