Spitfire Association Logo

FLGOFF Dr Roderick Lyall 409160

MiD

Squadron/s453 SQN
Rank On Discharge/Death Flying Officer (FLGOFF)
NicknameFroggy
Date of Birth02 Apr 1922
Date of Enlistment19 Jul 1941
Date of Death26 Jan 2004
Contributing Author/sFred Cowpe, Bruce Read and Paul Carter
Updated by Vince Conant
The Spitfire Association
February 2015

Froggy was born on the 2nd of April 1922 in Geelong Victoria. He enlisted on the 19th of July 1941 and did his ITS training at Somers Vic., where he met his lifelong friend, fellow member Fred Cowpe. The two went to Rhodesia to complete their pilot training, stuck together again for their O.T.U. Training at Rednal in the U.K., before finding themselves in the same place Perranporth with 453 Squadron, Christmas 1943.

'Froggy' Lyall had a busy time with 453 Squadron with their Mk 1X Spitfires, flying countless missions with Number 125 Wing from the U.K. and their cross channel bases. 453 recorded 22 destroyed EE against one loss in a two and a half month period in France alone. On the 12th of July 1944, 'Froggy' was shot down and became a POW, but made his escape, rejoining his squadron 5 weeks later and in the following month shot down a Me 109.

Soon after the Squadron returned to the U.K., and was re-equipped with Mk XV1's and began attacking V2 launching sites in Holland 'Froggy' was blown out of bed by one of these missiles whilst on leave in London. With the end of the war in sight, 'Froggy' was mentioned in Dispatches and granted his commission.

Discharged in 1946, he did dentistry and practised his profession in Melbourne until he retired.

Dr. Lyall, of East Brighton Vic., died on 26/01/04.



Learn more about the squadron/s in which Roderick served.

We do our very best to make sure the information in the stories we share is correct. These stories are maintained to show our respect for the pilots, ground crew, design engineers and all who were involved with the Spitfire. In many cases, the information has been collected from the personal interactions between our members and the pilots and crew featured, and on many occasions, this process happened much later in the veterans' lives. If you believe anything on our site is not historically accurate, we welcome the additional stories, records and photos needed to help us correct the record. We thank you for your understanding.