Able Seaman P/JX 364268 John Cunliffe

Family details:
Son of Jesse and Lily Cunliffe, of St. Helens, Lancashire.

Census details:
1939 Register. John and three other members of the household are redacted. Father Jesse Cunliffe born 17/01/1900 a Motor Lorry Driver, Mother Lily Cunliffe born 31/05/1899 an Unpaid Domestic and brothers Thomas Cunliffe born 27/11/1922 a Gauger Glass Bottle Works, Harry Cunliffe born 20/04/1929 At School are living at 15 Union Street, St Helens.

HMS [i]Bluebell[/i] (K80) HMS Bluebell was a [i]Flower[/i] Class Corvette commissioned on the 19th of July 1940. She served in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Arctic, escorting several convoys to Russia, and also took park in the invasions of Sicily and France. After further convoy defence and interception duties, on 2 February 1945 she was attached to the escort for Russian Convoy JW 64. After arriving at Kola Inlet she took part in anti-submarine operations against U-boats known to be gathering to carry out attacks on the return convoy. On 17 February, as Convoy RA 64 was assembling off Murmansk, [i]Bluebell[/i] was hit in the stern by an acoustic homing torpedo fired by U-711, which caused her depth charges to explode. She sank in less than 30 seconds. There was only one survivor from her crew of 86. [pic]http://www.sirmarfittings.com/wpimages/wpa63e4c09_05_06.jpg[/pic] [caption](HMS BLUEBELL) (Researched by Jeff Keenan)[/caption] [pic]imgs/S1PWHYAOTV/PJX_364268_John_Cunliffe_zps91c4516d.jpg[/pic][caption]The panel on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial bearing the name of Able Seaman John Cunliffe[/caption]