OLD GUILDFORDIANS
In 1962 , with three sons at Scotch College and not wanting to disrupt their education by taking promotions in regional WA or in the eastern states , John resigned from the Commonwealth Bank and joined stockbroking firm Saw , Cambridge and Brannelly . He subsequently became a partner and was elected to the committee of the
Perth Stock Exchange . He retired in 1986 .
In 1971 Helen lost a long battle with cancer . In the early 1980s John met Muriel Gadsdon and formed a partnership which lasted more than 30 years until her death in 2015 .
John kept in touch with his fellow escapees after the war . Tom Comins was a RAAF flight-lieutenant and became one of Sydney ’ s leading specialist surgeons . Allan Beecroft was a warrant officer class one with the 2 / 12th Battalion and became a chief dyer for woollen mills in Tasmania .
John passed away in September 2021 at the age of 103 . He was one of Australia ’ s longest-lived Rats of Tobruk . There are only 17 known still alive .
John Lyall 13 September 1923 – 25 October 2021
Born in Subiaco to William ‘ Bill ’ and Gwendolyn Lyall in 1923 , John Lyall ( Prep / Henn ’ s 1932-1936 & 1938-1939 ) spent his early years in the Gascoyne region , firstly on Calijidi station , and then on Lyndon and Minilya stations , where his father was the manager . It was a true outback lifestyle and John ’ s playmates were the children of the Aboriginal stockmen .
Schooled by governesses until going down to Perth in 1932 at the age of eight , John boarded at Guildford Grammar Preparatory School and later in Henn ’ s House . After his parents moved to Perth , John spent several terms at Hale School in 1937 . When his family left for Kalgoorlie , John returned to Guildford Grammar School and remained there until 1939 .
Later joining his family in Kalgoorlie , John spent a short time working in a clerical role at South Kalgoorlie Consolidated Mine .
John ’ s father was a former member of the 10th Light Horse Regiment , serving in Gallipoli and then the Sinai during World War I . With the world at war again , it seemed inevitable that John would follow his father ’ s footsteps and enlist . On 7 December 1941 , at the tender age of 18 , John joined the Royal Australian Air Force . Having completed training and now a sergeant , John embarked on a troopship from Melbourne across the Pacific to San Francisco , then Boston by train , and on to New York . Here he boarded the Queen Elizabeth I , which had been converted to a troop ship , and crossed the Atlantic to arrive in Gourock on the Clyde in Scotland .
Between 1943 and 1945 , John saw service at several air bases in England . He was seconded to the Royal Air Force ’ s 214 Squadron as part of Bomber Command based at Oulton . From September 1943 until November 1944 he served as a rear-turret gunner on Short Stirlings and sometimes as a waist-gunner on B-17 Flying Fortresses , both four-engined heavy bombers .
As a rear-turret gunner , John wore a leather flying helmet with intercom connections to the cockpit . It was the loudest position in the aircraft , due to engine noise . The flying suit was electrically wired for warmth and John was bitterly cold when it once failed . While the unpressurised aircraft ’ s rear turret had a perspex dome roof , few gunners flew with
John Lyall
it intact as there was better vision without it . The rear turret was uncomfortable , and John often sat in an immobile position for nine hours when on a raid . He wore an oxygen mask and once sustained frostbite when he removed the mask . He also suffered back injuries when the aircraft was shot at in combat , resulting in two engines being shut down and a subsequent emergency landing . Landing heavily at an airfield in Essex , the plane split in two with 217 heavy machinegun holes in the fuselage .
John was the only Australian in his crew , with five Englishmen and one German-speaking Canadian . His squadron was put into a special duties group for radio counter-measures , flying B-17 Fortresses tuned into the German ground stations controlling their night fighters . The squadron jammed transmission and , in John ’ s words , “ causing havoc ” with communications .
After Victory in Europe Day , John was based at Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire , instructing and later joining RAAF ’ s 467 Squadron doing training missions in Lancaster Bombers for a planned deployment across Europe and the East to China , for eventual raids on Japan . The plan was abandoned after the USA atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war in the Pacific .
In total , John went on 35 bombing sorties over occupied Europe , four of which were abandoned . In 2015 , some 70 years after his wartime service , John received the French Legion of Honour for his part in the liberation of France .
In the midst of war , love blossomed . While based at Oulton , John met and fell in love with a member of the Women ’ s Auxiliary Air Force , Cynthia Farman . Having come from a British naval family , Cynthia was now stationed on an adjoining base . John and Cynthia were engaged on Cynthia ’ s 21st birthday , 5 July 1944 , and married on
12 December 1944 . A year later , John had to leave a pregnant Cynthia in the UK and return to Fremantle aboard the troopship ‘ Aquatania ’. Cynthia stayed behind for the birth of Sandra in February 1946 , then waited four months before being allowed to sail on the war brides ’ ship ‘ SS Orbita ’ for a six-week journey to Fremantle .
John returned to Kalgoorlie with Cynthia and baby Sandra . He resumed work at South Kalgoorlie Consolidated Mine and attended Kalgoorlie School of Mines at night to study accountancy . Their second daughter , Jennifer , was born in December 1947 . Life was very different for Cynthia but she adjusted well and threw herself into socialising with the many friends they made . They had lots of fun partying at Menangina Station , home of Stephen ‘ John ’ Tonkin ( He 1938-1942 ) and wife , Maxine . John was best man at John and Maxine Tonkin ’ s wedding at the School Chapel in August 1951 , with Bruce Eassie ( St 1934-1939 ) as a groomsman .
Having moved to Perth , John became a volunteer and office bearer with the Lions Club of Manning , later being made a Life Member . In 1978 , he was appointed Honorary Secretary of the newly established Lions Save Sight Foundation . John was instrumental in coordinating and running the Save Sight country eye-screenings program , with lots of hands-on help from Cynthia . In 1995 , after several years of assisting with the planning and building the new Lions Eye Institute in Nedlands , John was appointed building services manager , a position he held for 10 years until he retired in 2005 at the age of 82 . John was held in high esteem by all he worked with at Lions and , for his work , received the Melvin Jones Award , the highest accolade of excellence from Lions International .
John and Cynthia were tremendous partners in life . Cynthia sadly passed away in December 2020 , one week before their 76th wedding anniversary .
At the age of 98 and having led a life filled with adventure and service to country and community , John passed away in October 2021 . As a lovely show of respect for John and his father Bill , the 10th Light Horse were at John ’ s funeral and a new horse at the regiment has been named ‘ Johnny Boy ’.
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