Happy 100th Birthday Lyall

Today, 7 September 2023, we celebrate the 100th birthday of Service Member Lyall Ellers. Lyall has been an active member of the Brighton RSL Sub-Branch and Brighton Bowling Club over many years.

Lyall was born in Perth, WA against the backdrop of the Great Depression, going to school and doing all the things typical of Australian youth at the time. Lyall’s father was a veteran in the First World War. After the war he worked in the mines in Kalgoorlie before opening a general store in Perth. He would have also certainly worried about his children when he saw another war on the way.

When the time came, Lyall tried to enlist in the army, however, his civilian employer thwarted those efforts. Lyall’s reaction to that was “well, if I can’t be in the army, I’ll join the Air Force!”… and he did! He enlisted in the Air Training Corps at age 17, for entry into the RAAF at age 18 in 1941 along with elder brother John.

Frederick, Lyall’s oldest brother, was killed in an accident in India just as he and John came out of training, ready to play their part. The brothers began their training, and both were selected as pilots, with Lyall chosen to go into fighter aircraft and his brother John as a bomber pilot. Lyall trained on Tiger Moths in Cunderdin WA and Wirraways in Kingaroy Qld. All the while the war was raging, and Australian troops were confronting the Japanese in Papua New Guinea. Lyall saw his first combat in New Guinea, providing air support in the Battle for Shaggy Ridge. His service in 78 Squadron continued through to 1945, by which time he was stationed in Borneo. The war ended in August of that year, and Lyall was home in short order, demobilized and on leave until he returned to work in the insurance industry.

His brother John married not long after the war, and Lyall ended up marrying Patricia in 1947, the sister of his brother’s wife – two sisters for two brothers!

In 2021, Lyall participated in a Radio Adelaide series called Service Voices. Lyall’s interview was undertaken by his daughter Christine.

In January 2023, Lyall took part in the Crestwood Oral History Project. Crestwood is a school in Toronto, Canada.

On behalf of all of the members of the Brighton Bowling Club and Brighton RSL Sub-Branch, we wish you a very happy birthday Lyall.