He was employed as an engine driver by Messrs Mahon and Headley, Brewers, cordial manufacturers and malsters, Wagga. 

Lyall had over two years’ previous military experience in the 16th Battery Australian Field Artillery at Wagga.

He was a member of Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows.

Enlisting at Cootamundra, Lyall was selected for the ANZAC Mounted Division due to his riding skills and equine knowledge.

On October 12, 1915, his unit embarked from Sydney, bound for Egypt and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.

Lyall joined the 1st Light Horse Regiment at el-Bahnasa on March 19, 1916, forming part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) tasked with the task of defending the Suez Canal.

The first major conflict in which he was involved in was the Battle of Romani (August 4 and 5, 1916).

This battle saw the 1st Light Horse heavily outnumbered trying to remove the threat of the Ottoman Empire on the canal.

Initially forced to fall back, the arrival of reinforcements allowed the Australians to hold their position and gradually advance on foot with bayonets drawn. On sight of this, the Turkish lines collapsed.

The harsh conditions and heat of the desert combined with limited water rations often found the mounted divisions exhausted.

On September 10, 1916 Lyall was admitted to 31st General Hospital at Port Said with blurred vision and discharged six days later.

His next injury occurred on February 7, 1917, when he was transferred from the Casualty Clearing Station to the 14th General Hospital at Abbassia, Cairo due to a leg wound caused by a horse kick.

September 11, 1917 saw Lyall transferred to 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance where he was appointed to the rank of driver. This rank described a soldier responsible for two horses in a team of six used to draw a ambulance wagon to collect the wounded. It was considered a very important and often dangerous position.

During this time with the Field Ambulance, his regiment was involved in the Battle of Beersheba where famously the 4th and 12th Light Horse regiments charged the Turkish (Ottoman) defences.

This, along with the battles of Gaza, Mughar Ridge, Jerusalem and Jaffa saw the taking of vital positions by the EEF inside Palestine.

On September 21, 1918, Lyall was permanently transferred as a driver to the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance where he served in the battle of Meggido and Nablus. The EEF gradually reached Damascus and secured the capitulation of the Ottoman Empire in the form of their Armistice on October 30, 1918.

Suffering from malaria, Lyall was repatriated on the ship HMS Kildonan Castle and arrived back in Wagga on May 13, 1919.

Returning to his wife Mary Jane Francis Tilden (nee Cartwright of Cartwrights Hill Estate) and two children, Lyall gained employment as a share farmer at JW Shepherds dairy farm at Gobbagombalin. He and his wife raised five children during this time.

Later, he worked for Cameron (Cam) McLean Robertson (of Robertson Oval fame) at the Kelso Bakery in Baylis Street until his retirement.

While remaining a resident of the Gobbagombalin since his return from the war, Lyall died in 1976 at the age of 93.

Lyall’s name is listed on the Victory Memorial Arch, Wagga.

The exhibition He Belonged to Wagga – Our Anzac Story (1914-19), is now on display at the Museum of the Riverina Botanic Gardens site.