Lewis was born on 23 May 1913 in Sunderland, County Durham to Soloman and Elizabeth nee Williams and he was of six children who survived past childhood. The family lived in Hackney, London and moved for a short while to Sunderland where Lewis was born. Soloman ran an upholstery manufacturers and in 1939 Lewis was listed as working there as an upholsterer. He married Rene Cohen in 1942 and their son John was born the following year.

Lewis was a craftsman at the 6 Tank Brigade workshops based between Lenham and Charing in Kent whilst waiting for departure for Normandy. Early on 24th June, a V1 rocket was attacked by the RAF. The Brigade workshops, between Lenham and Charing were in the area known as ‘Doodlebug Alley’ and here many of these flying bombs were shot down by anti-aircraft batteries and by the air force.
This particular missile was disabled in mid-flight and it bounced off the flat roof of the riding school and landed amongst the Nissen huts, 7 of which were destroyed, along with damage to 14 vehicles and 16 motorcycles. Casualties: 46 killed and 6 died of wounds; 1 officer and 20 other ranks seriously wounded.

Orders were given to conduct an active service burial of the dead for reasons of security and a mass grave was dug in Lenham village cemetery during daylight hours. The burial of the dead was conducted at night by lantern light – Captain Cliff Gough (Second in Command) and WO1 (ASM) Humm recorded the exact placement of the bodies on a plan, a copy of which was sealed in a bottle and placed under a wooden cross after the grave had been filled in.