!"#$%%&’()$*"$+"3&-.%/".6.2-&-"($"(0$/&"0.7)*8"(0&"/92*.3&":;4$*:
99
A Great War M.B.E. group of three awarded to Deputy Violet Dorothy Agnes Lyon, Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary
Corps
THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 1st type breast badge, silver; BRITISH WAR AND
VICTORY MEDALS (A. Adtr., Q.M.A.A.C.) good very fine and better (3) £200-240
M.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1919. ‘Miss Violet Dorothy Agnes Lyon, Deputy Administrator, Q.M.A.A.C.’.
Violet Dorothy Agnes Lyon was born in Romford, Essex on 31 December 1894, the daughter of Colonel R. H. Lyon. During the Great
War she was appointed an Assistant Administrator in the Q.M.A.A.C. in March 1918 and was advanced to Deputy Administrator in
March 1919. With the Q.M.A.A.C. she served in Boulogne, France. In October 1918, the Q.M.A.A.C. Controller-in-Chief Florence
Leach undertook an inspection of the Corps in France. She recorded her assessment of Miss Lyon as: ‘Miss Lyon is good clerically. She
has some idea of organisation and arranged the performance for the Controller-in-Chief’s visit very well. She lacks education’. Despite
this lack, Miss Lyon was later awarded the M.B.E. for her services in the Great War. Miss Lyon died in Wimbledon on 28 June 1977.
With copied Birth and Death Certificates, m.i.c. and other research.
100
A rare Great War Kite Balloon Section operations D.S.C. group of six awarded to Major M. Lyon, Royal Air Force, late
Royal Naval Air Service, who was decorated for his gallant spotting work for land batteries and gunboats on the Tigris
1916-17
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1919; 1914-15 STAR (AA. 1028 M. Lyon, A.B., R.N.); BRITISH WAR
AND VICTORY MEDALS, M.I.D. oakleaf (Major M. Lyon, R.A.F.); DEFENCE MEDAL 1939-45; EGYPT, ORDER OF THE NILE, 4th class
breast badge, silver, silver-gilt and enamel, mounted as worn, together with set of related miniature dress medals, the
whole contained in an old Gieves Ltd. red leather case, generally good very fine (12) £2000-2500
D.S.C. London Gazette 17 July 1919:
‘For distinguished services with No. 14 Kite Balloon Section in Mesopotamia from August 1916 to February 1917.’
Mention in despatches London Gazette 15 August 1917 (Mesopotamia) and 3 June 1919 (Mediterranean).
Egyptian Order of the Nile London Gazette 3 June 1924:
‘For valuable services rendered to the King of Egypt.’
Maurice Lyon was born in July 1887, the son of Captain William Lyon of Holme Croft, Edenbridge, Kent. An architectural assistant pre-
war, he entered the Royal Navy as an Able Seaman in March 1915, serving variously at the training establishment H.M.S. President, the
cruiser Bacchante, and the naval base Europa I in Mudros, prior to transferring to the Royal Naval Air Service in October 1915, when
he was commissioned as a Temporary Probationary Flight Sub. Lieutenant - his R.N. rating’s service record is endorsed ‘Land
Operations’ but in exactly what capacity he was so employed remains unknown, although most likely it was during his time aboard
Bacchante, which ship was employed in the Dardanelles.
In January 1916, Lyon was assessed at Roehampton as ‘An efficient officer, a careful and accurate spotter’, a report that led to him
being confirmed in the rank of Flight Sub. Lieutenant and joining No. 14 Kite Balloon Section and the Mesopotamian Expeditionary
Force. Thus ensued a period of active service from August 1916 until February 1917, in which he was recommended for promotion
and awarded the D.S.C., the latter beyond doubt for his gallant work in Drachen Balloons while ‘spotting for land batteries and H.M.
Gunboats on the Tigris’ (TNA AIR 76/311 refers).
Back in the U.K. at Roehampton by April 1917, Lyon would appear to have carried out further patrols over the Channel in Caquot
Balloons, prior to being posted to Malta as a Temporary Acting Flight Commander in early 1918. Once more recommended for
promotion, he was appointed a Major in the newly established Royal Air Force, and transferred to the Unemployed List in April 1919.
His subsequent award of the Egyptian Order of the Nile was awarded for his services as an architect, among other buildings credited to
him being the Egyptian State Telegraphs and Telephones Building in Cairo; also see lot 98 for his brother’s honours and awards.
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