The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Cyprus Army fireball survivor Duncan Lyon, 86
Duncan Lyon, who survived a disaster that claimed the lives of 13 fellow Gordon Highlanders, has died aged 86.
He was serving with the regiment in Cyprus in 1956 when a forest fire in the Troodos mountains killed 22 British soldiers.
Duncan, a lance corporal on national service, only survived a fireball when he was pulled to safety after being thrown from an exploding lorry.
Among the Gordon Highlanders killed was Harry Gerrard, one of Duncan’s neighbours from Kemnay.
Duncan, who suffered 70% burns to his back, returned to the north east and farmed into his 80s but he never forgot his lost comrades.
He would place a remembrance notice in The Press and Journal each year, honouring them.
Duncan’s son, Alan, said that like many of his generation he did not speak much about the tragedy but he was sure it had a profound impact on him.
In an interview with The Press and Journal in 2016 to mark the 60th anniversary of the disaster, Duncan said: “I was in the lorry when the fire broke out. It landed in flames, exploded and we were all scattered.
“I only survived because I landed on the top of a bank and someone pulled my leg and I fell to safety.
“The man who pulled me out died shortly afterwards. I came back to hospital in Aldershot and I was there for a fortnight.”
At his funeral, the Gordon Highlanders were represented by Major Granville Irvine-Fortescue and Duncan’s coffin was draped with the Gordon Highlanders’ flag, with his medals on top.
Duncan Lyon was born and educated around Kemnay. He was the only son and one of five children of Duncan and Hilda Lyon.
When he was a youngster the family moved to farm at Leschangie, just outside Kemnay. After leaving school, Duncan worked with his father on the farm and, at 18 was called up for national service with the Gordon Highlanders and passed out as the top recruit from the barracks at Bridge of Don.
After his return to civilian life, Duncan worked on farms around Kemnay and Laurencekirk.
He had met his future wife, Ethel, in Kemnay before he joined the Army and the couple married in August 1959. They went on to have two children – Alan and Yvonne.
Duncan returned to Leschangie in 1974 where he established a thriving agricultural contracting business employing about a dozen people. When his father died in 1983, Duncan took over the farm.
Duncan was working until about four years ago when he went into the care of the Grove nursing home in Kemnay. He is survived by Ethel, Alan and Yvonne, and grandchildren Teresa, Gareth and Gavin.