Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

01/07/1915

Date of Discharge

30/01/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

24/11/1895

Place of Birth

Auburn, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon

School(s) Attended

Wesley College, Melbourne

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Harold T. Trelevan (father), Fitzroy, Victoria

Final Rank

Captain

Final Unit

26 Battalion AIF

Lanyon entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 9 March 1913 and was graduated early on 28 June 1915. He left Australia as a Lieutenant with the 29th Battalion in November 1915 but transferred to the 22nd Battalion in Egypt. He arrived in France in April 1916 and entered the battle at Pozières on the night of 26 July 1916. On the night of 4 August 1916 the 22nd Battalion moved through Pozières to attack the German OG1 line north of the village. After attaining their goal the Germans laid down a barrage of shell fire upon the position during which Lanyon was buried alive. He survived and was promoted to Captain a few days later. Not long afterwards he was hospitalised and sent to England suffering haematemesis.

However, the experience of being buried alive probably took a severe toll upon him. It took until November the following year for Lanyon to rejoin his battalion in Belgium. By the following April, when his battalion was on the Somme, Lanyon was court martialled. According to the battalion commanding officer, on the evening of 7 April 1918 Lanyon was examined by the Medical Officer and found fit for duty, but "failed to carry out definite orders issued to him and instead of accompanying the other Officers to the front line, he remained in his dugout." Found guilty, Lanyon was only reprimanded. His CO also found that Lanyon was incompetent and incapable of satisfactorily performing the duties of his rank. His lack of leadership "and his general conduct under fire has been such as to have a bad effect on his men" he wrote. Lanyon was transferred to the 26th Battalion but a few months later his new commanding officer reported that Lanyon lacked initiative and the power to supervise under conditions above normal. "His capacity as leader is limited, and I would not care to exchange him for any of my present Platoon Commanders." Lanyon was sent home and his appointment terminated. He later completed a Commerce degree at university, married and by 1938 was living in London as a representative of Bushells.

Description 0 height 5 feet 6 inches, weight 132 pounds, chest 35 inches, Church of England.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. III, p.691n, p702n)
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Argus (Melbourne) - 5 September 1938