Lyon, Robert
Rank: Captain
Regiment: 5th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
Biography: Son of Sir Alexander Lyon, Ex-Lord Provost of Aberdeen ; born Aberdeen, 14 September 1891 ; educated at the Grammar School and University of Aberdeen, where he graduated M.A. (II Econ. Sc.), 1912, and LL.B. (with distinction) in 1914, gaining the Hunter Gold Medal for Roman Law. Thereafter he went to Edinburgh, and with a view to being called to the Bar, spent a year in the office of Messrs. Dalgleish, Dobie & Co. For four years prior to the war he served in the University Company, 4th Gordon Highlanders, retiring as a Sergeant. Lyon received his commission in the 5th Gordons in November 1914, and proceeded to France with his Battalion in May 1915. He was killed at Delville Wood, on the Somme, 30 July 1916. He was a man of great mental distinction, original, resourceful and convincing, with an alert mind and ready speech. In military service he was an energetic disciplinarian, prompt in his work, and unalterable in his decisions and practice where right and duty were concerned. In disposition he was supremely generous, considerate and unselfish. There was a natural charm about him that made him wonderfully attractive and fascinating. He was a radiant youth who loved laughter and sunshine, and clean and happy things. He was marked for high position in life. He meant to go far. He had a dominating spirit and strong will. He was killed storming an enemy's position. So ended a life of great promise and hope. The writer of these lines loved him as a man and a brother, and is one of many who will ever mourn the loss of a brilliant friend, and keep in undying remembrance his strength and daring, his reverence for high things, his gentleness where he loved, and his unswerving fidelity in all the graver issues of life.
Date of Death: 30 July 1916
Burial Details: Name recorded on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face 15 B and 15 C.
Publication: Roll of Service, edited by Mabel Desborough Allardyce. Published 1921.
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