Local Heroes WW1
LYALL, Louis Henry
- Details
- Last Updated: Sunday, 10 May 2015 22:29
- Hits: 6499

(L Cpl) Louis Henry Lyall
Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Louis Henry Lyall 4817, a winchman from Semaphore, South Australia, prior to enlistment, he embarked as a Private (Pte) with the 15th Reinforcements of the 10th Battalion from Adelaide on 9 March 1916 aboard RMS Mongolia for Suez.
On 20 May 1916 he was transferred to the 50th Battalion which relocated to the Western Front, France, during June 1916. Pte Lyall was wounded in action near Noreuil on 2 April 1917 and was evacuated to Boulogne for treatment before rejoining his unit later that month. Pte Lyall was appointed Lance Corporal on 5 November 1917. He was wounded in action on the 2nd occasion near Dernancourt on 5 April 1918 but, was able to remain on duty. L Cpl Lyall was killed in action at Blangy-Tronville on 25 April 1918. He has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. He was aged 29 years.
Regimental number | 4817 |
Religion | Church of England |
Occupation | Winchman |
Address | Basil Street, Semaphore, South Australia |
Marital status | Single |
Age at embarkation | 27 |
Next of kin | Sister, Miss C Wilton, Wallaroo Mines, Wallaroo, South Australia |
Enlistment date | 29-Dec-15 |
Rank on enlistment | Private |
Unit name | 10th Battalion, 15th Reinforcement |
AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/27/4 |
Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board RMS Mongolia on 9 March 1916 |
Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
Unit from Nominal Roll | 50th Battalion |
Fate | Killed in Action 25 April 1918 |
Place of burial | No known grave |
Commemoration details | Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France |
Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy. | |
The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra. | |
On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours. | |
After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns. | |
Panel number, Roll of Honour, | 150 |
Australian War Memorial | |
Other details | War service: Western Front |
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal |
NCOs of the 50th Battalion Belgium: Western Front (Belgium), Ypres Area, Locre
ID number E01744
Collection Photograph
Object type Black & white - Glass original whole plate negative
Maker Unknown Australian Official Photographer (Photographer)
Place made Belgium: Western Front (Belgium), Ypres Area, Locre
Date made 7 March 1918Description
Group portrait of the NCOs of the 50th Battalion. Left to right, back row: 4135 Corporal (Cpl) A. A. Boothey; 4181 Cpl C. T. Gray (slightly lower that rest of row); 2217 Lance Corporal (LCpl) A. W. Millar; 1650 Cpl G. D. Butler; 3385 LCpl Ceasarowiez; 4506 Cpl Routlidge; 4560 Cpl W. G. Austin; 4151 Cpl D. Briggs; 2230 Sergeant (Sgt) C. Bradford; 2789 Sgt Stephenson; 2859 Pte A. G. Eldridge; 2239 Cpl O'Connor; 1720 Sgt A. McKinnon; 1703 Cpl A. G. Lehmann; 1651 Cpl R. G. Butler; 2449 Sgt A. E. McCoy; 6357 Cpl W. P. Ayliffe; Cpl R. R. Swift; 3482 Sgt F. T. Slade; 2445 Sgt T. Smith; 3532 Sgt H. O. Wilksch; 2138 LCpl T. W. Dixon; 3769 LCpl W. Brady; 1936 Cpl A. N. Howel; 2660 Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) Murphy; 6526 Cpl W. E. Pyne; 2303 LCpl Robertson; 581 LCpl E. Hanson; 3552 Cpl H. Preston; 2839 Sgt H. W. Dodridge. Third row: 273 LCpl G. Carmichael; unidentified; unidentified; LCpl W. J. R. Conroy; 1746 Sgt T. H. Middleton; 1523 Sgt N. N. Dodd; 4253 Sgt F. C. Pritchard; 1434 Cpl O. Winter; Sgt Mitchell; 3974 Sgt R. L. Dick MM; 2382 Sgt J. C. Jensen VC; 2051 Sgt T. W. Tapp; 2239 Sgt W. Winter; 540 Sgt V. C. Bence; 3505 Sgt J. M. Thompson; 3222 Sgt G. K. McPhail; 1029 Sgt E. F. Huselius; 16 Sgt T. Massey DCM; 435 Sgt S. Pendle MM; 78 Sgt S. G. Mortimer DCM; 180 Sgt C. H. Mollet; 3460 Sgt C. P. Rufus; 32 Cpl C. E. Annis; 48 Cpl A. W. Gurr; 1129 Sgt C. R. Davey; 3257 Cpl H. B. Slee; 564 Cpl F. Mosele; 2200 Sgt W. J. Mulroney; 2160 Cpl T. Gregory; 776 Sgt P. Brokenshire; 3299 Cpl G. R. Dunstan. Second row: 4794 LCpl J. E. Harper; 3062 Sgt K. J. McEwin; 332 Sgt A. E. Oliver; 1102 Sgt F. Offler; 3851 Sgt E. Irvin; 3531 Sgt F. T. Watson; 4730 Sgt A. R. Baker; 4178 Sgt J. S. Glasson; 4738 Sgt H. Brakenridge; Lieutenant (Lt) S. Sampson; 2217 CQMS Sandercock; 247 CQMS B. MacKiernan; 2608 Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) R. R. Foulkes; 81 Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) T. W. Marriot; 647 CSM R. S. Francis; 3211 CSM M. S. Noble; 2895 Sgt R. S. Clarke; 1340 Quartermaster Sergeant (QMS) H. L. Gardiner; 1113 Staff Sergeant (SSgt) C. M. Kemp; 2726 Sgt S. Patten; 274 SSgt W. Thorne; 2919 Sgt H. B. Rawnsley; 4864 Sgt C. Shield; Lt J. F. Smith; 3542 Sgt L. S. Sedgewick; 3305 Sgt E. J. Farndell;2615 Sgt D. L. Shakes; 2163 LCpl C. A. Daniels; 2707 Sgt R. M. Hawkes; Lt A. E. Seary. Front row: unidentified; 6549 Pte W. W. G. Allanson; 3444 Cpl H. V. Pike; 4817 LCpl L. H. Lyall; Cpl Beatton; Cpl Hanaman; 983 Sgt P. F. Mossop; Lt Cornish; 3764 LCpl C. Bawden (Died of wounds 16 September 1918); unidentified; 2614 Cpl R. A. J. Sinclair; 2523 Sgt C. Bruce; LCpl Woolfitt; LCpl Phillips; 683 LCpl A. L. Link; 2180 Sgt E. W. C. Gray; 4825 Cpl E. W. Moeller; unidentified; unidentified; 1898 LCpl C. E. Daniels; 2380 Pte E. R. C. Halliday; 3346 Cpl M. Swettenham; 4324 LCpl G. A. Rowe; 73107 Cpl A. F. Holland; unidentified; 4792 LCpl R. Hall; 2963 LCpl W. E. Norton; Lt A. M. Wilson.
Red Cross Report
ID number P09291.385
Collection Photograph
Object type Black & white - Digital print
Photographer Unknown Australian Official Photographer
Place made Western Front: Western Front (Belgium), Ypres Area, Locre
Date made 7 March 1918
Medals of Private Louis Henry Lyall donated by Dave Cossons 25/04/0215.
National Commemoration
Louis Henry Lyall's name is located at panel 150 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
State Commemoration
Louis Henry Lyall's name is commemorated on the large honour rolls lining the walls of the crypt inside the South Australia National War Memorial on North Terrace, which was unveiled by the State Governor on Anzac Day 1931. Inside the crypt, bronze panels contain the names of the 5,511 South Australians who fell in the war.
This foundation stone for the Semaphore War Memorial was laid at the approach to the jetty on 27 April 1924 by Mrs Magnus Wald on behalf the parents of those who fell.
The Semaphore War Memorial on the Esplanade was dedicated in 1925 to honour those who fought in the war. A temporary ‘Memorial Arch’ of wood and iron was first erected at the entrance to the Semaphore Jetty bearing the banner title, ‘For King & Empire’. On 27 April 1924, four foundation stones for the new memorial were laid at the approach to the jetty – one on behalf of the citizens of Port Adelaide district, one for the RSSILA, one on behalf of the parents of the fallen men, and one on behalf of the widows and orphans.
The following year, a granite obelisk was erected on the foundation stones, with an electric ‘turret type’ clock and topped by a marble Angel of Peace with wings outspread. The local newspaper noted, “all the names of those who enlisted from the district or who made the supreme sacrifice cannot be placed on the monument” so it instead bears a simple commemorative plaque.
Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL
For the 2015 commemoration of the Anzac Centenary, the Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL has created a virtual Honour Board listing the names of over 2,000 local men who volunteered to serve in World War 1. Louis Henry Lyall's Medals are Proudly on display at the Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL.
Let those who come after see to it that his name be not forgotten