Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
The 1941 Jurors List shows him as:
| c | * | Lyon, David | Mercantile Assistant, Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ld. | 303 The Peak. |
He fought in December 1941 with the Volunteers, and was killed on 25th December.
Mentioned in the list of casualties:
| HKVDC | Lyon D | Gunner | DR151 | 1941-12-25 | killed |
Comments
David Lyon
The first reference I can find for David Lyon is on a shipping record, leaving Liverpool aboard The Blue Funnel Line ship "Aeneas" on 4 January 1930, aged 26. His occupation is listed as Mercantile Assistant, his last address in the UK is given as 17 Marchmont Road, Edinburgh, and his last place of permanent residence is also given as Scotland. He has contracted to land in HK for this trip, though it says his proposed place of permanent residence is China.
The next shipping record I find for him is arriving in London on 5 June 1936, with his wife, Agnes Jane Lyon (aged 26), aboard the P&O ship "Carthage", aged 33. His occupation is listed as Mercantile Assistant, his proposed address in the UK is 13 East Preston Street, Edinburgh, and his last place of permanent residence is China.
The last shipping record I find is David (33), Mercantile Assistant and Agnes Lyon (26) departing London, again aboard "Carthage, on 1 January 1937. Their last address in the UK is c/o P&OSN Co. Leadenhall St, EC3. They have contracted to land in Shanghai.
From various cross-references, I am confident that his wife was Agnes Jane Anderson, daughter of John Edgar Anderson of the Anderson Music Company HK, and his wife Agnes Eliza Anderson (née Smith), both originally from Dumfries in Scotland. I have not found a marriage certificate, but both David Lyon and John Edgar Anderson give their address as 17 Humphreys Building, Kowloon in the 1940 Jury lists.
Just going by his age in the shipping records, it would suggest that David Lyon was born (probably in Scotland) sometime between 5 January 1903 and 5 June 1903. However, his tombstone at the Stanley Military Cemetery gives his age as 39 when he was killed in action on Christmas Day 1941 which, if correct, would suggest he was born in 1902.
Following his tragic death, David's widow Agnes was interned at Stanley Camp. It was here that she met her second husband, Francis Sidney Bertram Chisholm, who was born 1918 in Newport, Isle of Wight.
The UK Commonwealth War Graves list David's death as follows: "LYON, Gnr. DAVID, DR/15. Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. 25th December 194. Husband of A.J. Lyon, of Cowes, Isle of Wight. 4.E.18."
David's probate reads "LYON David of 303 The Peak Hong Kong China died 25 December 1941 at Stanley Hong Kong Probate London 19 September to Norman Leslie Howand [sic] Railton shipping manager. Effects 1090 pounds in England."