Lyle was born on 29 November 1917 to Samuel and Emerien Ellis. He had two brothers, Samuel and Hal who both served in the U.S. armed forces during the war. His attestation papers say he was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but in reality, it was in Prineville, Oregon.

Living in the US, Lyle completed his high schooling followed by two years at San Jose State College, California after which he was employed as a bank clerk. He was working for the American News Company, a wholesale distribution company in Redwood, California just before he enlisted into the Canadian armed forces on 4 May 1940 at Victoria, British Colombia.

He trained and served in Canada with the Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant, embarking for Hong Kong on 27 October 1941 as part of Force C.

Under two months later, on the 25 December 1941, Lyle was taken prisoner by Imperial Japanese forces when Hong Kong fell and was held in local internment camps. On 19 January 1943, he was transported to Japan on the Tatsuta Maru, arriving at Nagasaki three days later. He was then interned in Tokyo 3D Tsurumi Prisoner of War Camp between Yokohama and Tokyo where the prisoners worked mainly in the local shipbuilding industries.

Lyle died in captivity of undernourishment and pneumonia on 17 March 1944. He was 26 years old.

Post war, his remains were recovered and finally laid to rest on 2 January 1947 at CWGC Yokohama War Cemetery in the Canadian Section, plot A.B.2. Lyle is also remembered on a marker in the Santa Cruz Memorial Park, California, USA.