2/Lt. John J. Lyons was the navigator of B-1742-37950 'Dinah Might'. The bomber was heavily damaged by fighters on the returnflight. Three men bailed out when there was still enough altitude east of the Noordoostpolder at Ossenzijl. Shortly after the B-17 made a crash-landing in the Noordoostpolder, east of Urk. Of the three men that bailed out, two could evade. Among them was Lyons. He was first picked up by Dirk Lenstra and hidden for two days at his farm at the Lageweg in Ossenzijl. According to Lenstra this had been a risky action: ‘I picked him up and transported him so to say under the eyes of the searching “Landeachters”.’ He then was handed over to Jan Poepjes from Kalenberg, who handed Lyons on his turn to J. Tuut from Steenwijk (also known as Jan van Wijk). Lyons remained in his house for four days, before he moved to the house of resistance leader Peter van den Hurk at Weerdstraat 55. From here he and four others S/Sgt. Angelo Gambino (E0286), T/Sgt. Earl S. Lambert (E0289), S/Sgt. John F. Graney (E0287) and T/Sgt. Woodrow W. Tarleton (E0291), were handed over to Joke Folmer who escorted them to Roermond and 'delivered' them to Remko Roosjen at the Boermanstraat 46. Apparently also Maria Teuwen-Boonen and 'Hovenkamp' played a role in this period. Lyons, Graney and Gambino hid here, together with two RAF airmen: F/O. L.F. Bickley (E0221) and F/O. J. H. Jackson (E0222), the pilot and navigator of Mosquito LR499 of 109 Squadron that crashed near Heeswijk-Dinter on 2 December 1943. They remained here for about six weeks. From Roermond the now seven moved probably to Maastricht were the came in the hands of Groep 'Vrij'. In Maastricht they stayed for about a week. After crossing the Meuse River, escorted by Jacques Vrij, they arrived on Belgian soil. After crossing the border they arrived in Liege where they hid in the Singer sewing machine factory, which was closed at the time. Here their ways separated. It’s not clear when and where but eventually Lyons was arrested in Belgium, probably in Antwerp, Brussels or Liège. John Lyons passed away at the relatively young age of 46 on 14 March 1970.
John Jay Lyons passed away on 14 March 1970 at Seattle, King County, Washington, USA at the age of 46. He is buried at Sunset Hills Memorial Park
Bellevue, King County, Washington, USA. |
