He was approximately 32 years old, and a
private in the
19th Regiment of Foot (later The Yorkshire Regiment - Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own),
British Army, during the
Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 10 June 1855 at
Sebastopol, in the
Crimean Peninsula, Private Lyons picked up a live shell which had fallen among the guard of the trenches, and threw it over the parapet, thus saving many lives. ==Later life==