Lyall Garnett Ellers was born on 7 September 1923 in Claremont, Western Australia. His father, Fred Ellers, along with his two uncles served in and survived World War 1. Fred served in the artillery as well as a dispatch rider in France. After the war, Fred Ellers worked in the mines in Kalgoorlie before opening a general store in Dalkeith in southern Perth which sustained the family through the Depression in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. Lyall was the third of four children, Frederick born in 1920, John born in 1922 and Laura born in 1925. Growing up in Dalkeith, he went to the Claremont Demonstration School which he left at age 15 to take up employment as a general clerk and bookkeeper in an insurance company. Lyall watched his eldest brother Fred join the RAAF in 1940. Ironically, despite Fred having obtained a civilian pilot’s licence, he was selected as a wireless operator/air gunner and saw service with RAF units in Africa and India before being killed serving with No 34 Squadron (RAF) in the crash of RAF Bristol Blenheim V5528 at Allahabad, India, in July 1942. He was buried at Delhi War Cemetery, India.

Lyall’s second oldest brother, John Henry Ellers joined at the same time as Lyall as an aircrew trainee and completed basic flying training with him. Graduating as a pilot, John Ellers served as a flying instructor with No 8 Service Flying Training School and No 4 Service Flying Training School before seeing service in the Dutch East indies with No 93 Squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters. Her survived a crash in August 1945 when the 93SQN Beaufighter he was flying A8-129 (SK-X) stalled and crashed 300 yards short of the Labuan airstrip resulting in fractured ribs and lacerations to leg and face for John Ellers.

Lyall Ellers enlisted in the RAAF at No 4 Recruiting Centre of 26 April 1942 aged only 18 years old on the same day as his brother John. He attended No 5 Initial Training School at Perth, from 26 April to 20 September 1942. He then completed No 9 Elementary Flying Training School at Cunderdin from 21 September to 22 November 1942 learning to fly on DH-82 Tiger Moths.

He then completed No 7 Service Flying Training School at Deniliquin from 23 November 1942 to 13 March 1943. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 11 March 1943 and awarded his Wings / Flying Badge on 12 March 1943. He recalls Deniliquin as being a very hot, dry and dusty place where the landing strip was simply in a farmer’s paddock.

The constant churn of aircraft mixed with dry conditions meant the landing strip would invariably routinely turn into just dirt and become unusable requiring it to be relocated to another grassed area. At Deniliquin, he was involved in a forced crash landing on a night navigation exercise between Deniliquin to Euchuca and back when he became disoriented and with minimal fuel, had to crash land the aircraft near Kerang about 100km southwest of Deniliquin. Investigations later revealed his compass was faulty resulting in Lyall flying off course and thus, he was not scrubbed from pilot training.

Graduating from pilots’ course, Lyall saw three options for his first posting 1) staff pilot 2) Army Cooperation Pilot or 2) fighter pilot. He did not want to go into a staff pilots’ position as that would mean being posted to an aircrew school flying Ansons or Fairey battles as a Sergeant. He recalls wanting to become an Army Cooperation Pilot as they were commissioned straight away to be able to work with Army officers. Thus, Lyall nominated to and was selected for Army cooperation pilot. Lyall then completed Army support training at the School of Army Cooperation from 1 April to 29 April 1943 at Canberra where he undertook training on reconnaissance, close air support and message dropping flying Wirraway aircraft.

Finally, after a year of training, Lyall was posted to his first unit, No 5 Squadron, on 30 April 1943. Following a brief period in the 1930’s when it was tasked with fleet cooperation, 5SQN was reformed in January 1941 as an Army Cooperation squadron. The unit was busy conducting photographic reconnaissance, surveys, Army cooperation,cooperation with anti-aircraft defences, and tactical reconnaissance roles. It operated with Army units including United States Army 41st Division, 1st Armoured Division, and the 2nd Australian Corps.

Initially arriving at Kingaroy, Lyall flew Wirraway and Tiger Moth aircraft in the army co-operation role with 5 SQN. In May, the unit was relocated to Mareeba in the AthertonTablelands and Lyall ferried one of the units Tiger Moths up to the new base. For Lyall, te trip was dogged with several incidents including being involved in a collision with another aircraft at Mackay on the airstrip and flying into a telephone cable across the Johnstone River at Innisfail.

Between June and September, the squadron was re-equipped with the Boomerang and Lyall converted on to the Australian designed and manufactured aircraft. During this period, he was promoted to Flying Officer on 11 September 1943. He recalls the Boomerang as being a relatively good aircraft. It was quite comfortable with a large cockpit, good firepower and good performance at low altitude that just lacked performance at high altitude.

On 29 November 1943, he was posted to No 4 Squadron where he saw service in New Guinea flying Boomerang and Wirraway aircraft in the close air support role. During this period, the squadron was an integral element of the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions operations in the Huon Peninsula campaign along the northern coastline of New Guinea. Initially, deployed to Port Moresby, the unit sent detachments forward to Gusap in the Ramu Valley, Nadzab, and then Cape Gloucester on New Britain.

Supporting the Australian forces on the ground, Lyall routinely flew in the morning conducting reconnaissance sorties and patrols strafing enemy forces embedded in the mountains or along the shoreline. The flying was at low altitude and risky given the mountainous terrain and continuous threat of enemy air and ground-based defences reflected in the squadron losing a number of aircraft and pilots during the period. During this period, he flew many missions in support of Australian troops fighting along the famous Shaggy Ridge in the Finisterre Ranges.

During his 4SQN posting he completed 47 operational strike missions, 71 other operational sorties (which included transport over enemy lines and search and rescue) and 30 training sorties.

From 5 May to 4 September 1944, he was posted to No 85 Squadron in Western Australia where he flew 85 hours on Boomerangs. Although based in Perth, the squadron regularly deployed detachments around Western Australia conducting patrols and defending key areas where tasked.

From September to December 1944, he attended No 8 Operational Training Unit at Mildura and No 2 Operational Training Unit at Parkes converting onto Kittyhawk aircraft and training in fighter and ground attack tactics.

On 6 December 1944, he was posted to No 78 Squadron seeing action in the Dutch East Indies including Noemfoor, Morotai, Tarakan and Balikpapan. He flew combat missions armed with two 250lb bombs and six .50-inch machine guns which made it very good for ground attack. It was a busy period for the squadron. In January 1945, 78 Squadron The squadron flew 267 sorties firing 77,000 rounds and dropping 153,630 pounds (69,690 kg) of bombs.

He largely flew A29-545 which he nicknamed “The Westerner” with appropriate nose art. He recalls the Kittyhawk was not as roomy in the cockpit and that his head hit the top of the cockpit canopy. Realising that the issue was that he effectively sat not just on the seat but also a parachute, dinghy and 2-inch piece of rubber, he removed the centre of the seat of his aircraft allowing the parachute, dinghy and rubber to sit lower within the seat.

Lyall was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 11 March 1945. He was then appointed the Flight Commander of A Flight in May 1945 which contained Len Waters, the RAAF’s only Aboriginal fighter pilot. Indeed, the book The Missing Man suggests Len Waters actually approached the squadron’s Commanding Officer to have Ellers appointed A Flight Commander in preference to another pilot; the reasons are unknown for Waters preference for Lyall.

Completing his fourth operational posting in the Southwest Pacific Area, Ellers returned to Perth in late September 1945 where he was posted to Geraldton in November 1945 to oversee the demobilisation of the unit now operating with limited staffing.

Lyall was discharged from the RAAF in February 1946. He was awarded the 1939 – 1945 Star, the Pacific Star, the War Medal 1939 – 1945, and the Australian Service Medal 1939 – 1945. Following the war, Lyall returned to his position with the insurance company.

In 1954, Lyall and his family moved to South Australia to work with his brother, who owned a car dealership, and has since called Adelaide home. In his later years, Mr Ellers dabbled in hobbies such as golf, bowling, and cutting/polishing opal in his home garage. He joined the Brighton RSL and Bowling Club in 1962, where he continues to play bowls twice a week.

In continuing his legacy, Lyall’s son, Grant, completed more than 30 years as a RAAF Air Traffic Controller and his daughter, Christine, and son, Alan, were recreational pilots at Aldinga. Lyall is a proud veteran and still takes pride marching in at least some of the Adelaide’s ANZAC Day March. He participated in the Air Force Centenary events in South Australia including the commemorative service at Mallala.

Lyall Ellers turned 100 on 7 September 2023 where members of the Air Force Association (South Australia) and RAAF Edinburgh joined him to celebrate his milestone with his family over morning tea. The RAAF Edinburgh contingent comprised several junior aviators and a senior officer who presented Lyall with a Chief of Air Force Letter of Congratulations, a 100 Squadron Presento comprising a framed printed of a Wirraway and an 100SQN Coin. His birthday cake had a RAAF Badge with the number 100 on it.

Greg Weller

Vice President

Air Force Association (SA)

October 2023