Private John Lyons VC

John Lyons was born in 1823 in Carlow, Ireland. He and his brother Edward enlisted in the 19th Regiment on 11 July 1842. He served in Malta, Corfu, Barbados, St Vincent and Canada until the regiment returned to the UK in 1851. In England they were posted to Winchester, Weymouth, Gosport and the Tower of London. In May 1854 the regiment sailed to Varna and then onto Calamita Bay on the Crimean peninsula in September. He took part in the Battle of Alma and Inkerman. It was in the siege of Sebastopol, on 10 June 1855, that John Lyons brought honour to his regiment with an act of courage. A live shell came into the trench where he and his comrades were on guard. He picked it up without concern for his life, and threw it over the parapet, thus saving many lives. The regiment returned to England in 1856 and the award of the Victoria Cross was gazetted on 24 Feb 1857. On 26 June that year there was a parade in Hyde Park where Queen Victoria handed out the medals, to Lyons and 61 other recipients. A month later he was on his way to India with the 19th to help quell the Mutiny. But in 1861 he fell sick and had to be shipped back to Britain. He was too sick to return to duty so was discharged from the army on 6 Dec 1862 aged 39. He spent some time at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea and was released as an out-pensioner on 14 Jul 1863. He went back to Ireland and later moved from Carlow to Naas, co. Kildare. He died on 20 April 1867 at the age of 44. The photo was taken after his death. His tunic has stripes on the right arm which shows that he reached the rank of corporal. His medals include the French Legion d’Honneur. His family sold the medals in 1897 at Sothebys for 55 pounds. They were bought by an ex-officer of the regiment who presented them to the 19th so that they can be seen in the regimental museum.

Regimental Details | Soldiers