Excellent story, the kind I love and it is the first time I hear of this particular one. Thank you for posting!
The unmarked grave is actually at Guidel France. Guidel belonged to the Lorient Festung , but is actually 30 minutes away from that city. Many of the Lorient casualties were gathered by the Germans and buried there during the war. After 1945, the American casulaties were taken to bigger cemeteries, but over one hundred casualties stil remain buried in that small place which has a huge Saint George cross . I was there two years ago and took pictures of the graves. There is a Polish grave there too (from 305 Squadron)
Just done a little more research on the event. This was a rodeo operation to Kerlin bastard airfield . While over Lorient Lyon was hit by Flak and crashed in the evening. He flew a Spitfire VB code serial AR343 from 234 Squadron In the mean time one of his buddies (F/Lt W C Walton) flying BM200 also got hit and crashed at Quimperle. Walton (DFC) was taken pow
Have just come across this site and seen the interest on this forum in this story. A month or so ago I created a wikipedia page for my uncle Russell. See:Ernest Russell Lyon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hope this is of interest.
*Bump* for another update. The grave is finally going to be marked with a headstone. "A NAMED headstone will mark the grave of an RAF pilot shot down by German gunners during the Second World War following a decade-long campaign. Flying Officer Ernest Russell Lyon, 21, crashed into a farmer’s field in occupied France in July 1944, and his body was buried two days later at Guidel Communal Cemetery. When the war ended, his grave was marked by a simple headstone inscribed with the words “An Airman of the 1939-45 War, Royal Air Force, 29th July, 1944, Known unto God”. For years, Russell’s nephew, Richard Lyon, from Cambridge, has spearheaded a drive to see this anonymous grave inscribed with the war hero’s name to preserve his memory. Now, after almost ten years, an engraved headstone will be erected at the burial during a ceremony next year. Ernest Russell Lyon, who grew up in Colinton and attended George Heriot’s and George Watson’s College, was 18 years old when he volunteered to join the RAF in 1941. He had served with 234 Squadron for more than a year before being shot down and his boyish good looks had earned him the nickname “Ben Lyon” after the Hollywood actor of the same name. In 2006, Richard decided to track down the body of his fallen uncle – a search that eventually led him to the French grave. But strict rules surrounding identifying graves meant the 66-year-old had to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that the burial pit was Russell’s last resting place – something that proved next to impossible. It was only after the Ministry of Defence was persuaded to overhaul its rules in 2012 to allow for “convincing evidence” that the site was formally accepted." http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/raf-pilot-to-be-remembered-after-ten-year-campaign-1-3615187
