Lance Corporal Edward Lyttle
Edward Lyttle was born on 9 July 1896 at 127 Agincourt Avenue, Belfast, the fifth of six children of draughtsman (later shipyard manager) Thomas William Lyttle and his Aberdeen-born wife Louisa (née Burness). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 5 Glastonbury Avenue, Belfast, with his parents and three surviving siblings.
Lyttle enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 1 September 1914 (No.1072 – later Corps of Hussars No.71224). On 1 May 1915 he embarked for France with D Squadron, which at the time was serving as divisional cavalry to the 51st Division.
In May 1916 D Squadron came together with A and E Squadrons to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps until February-March 1918, when the regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
Lyttle remained with the regiment throughout the war. On 21 January 1919 he was discharged, being 'surplus to military requirements, not having suffered impairment since entry into the service' (paragraph 392 xxv(a), King's Regulations). He was then employed in the engineering works of the shipbuilding firm Workman, Clark & Co.
Both of Lyttle's parents died within months of his discharge from the army (see article below from the Northern Whig, 17 March 1919).
