James was particularly interested in wireless, in the days of its infancy. Because of this, and through his father’s kindness, Norman House possessed the first wireless set seen in the School! In 1939 he was serving in the Far East as an engineer with the Shell Oil Company. On the outbreak of war he returned to England and tried to join the RAF but realising he would never be able to fly he was commissioned as Sub-Lieutenant (E) in the RNVR.

For a short time he was attached to work at Harland and Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast, but eventually went to the USA where he joined the newly acquired ship HMS Avenger. The vessel was a Royal Navy escort aircraft carrier initially laid down as the merchant ship ‘Rio-Hudson’ in Chester, Pennsylvania, USA. Launched on 27^th November 1940, she was converted to an escort carrier and transferred under the lend lease agreement to the Royal Navy, subsequently commissioned on 2^nd March 1942.

In November 1942 she took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, where she suffered engine problems. While leaving North Africa to start the journey home HMS Avenger was sunk by the German submarine U-155 on Sunday 15^th November 1942 at 03:20 hrs GMT, 9 hours after leaving Gibraltar for Britain, with heavy loss of life among her crew. James was aged 30 and is commemorated on the Liverpool Naval Memorial.

Only son of Alfred Herbert Connell.

A copy of this story can be downloaded here.

See also the Commonwealth War Graves Commission permanent digital memorial, ‘Evermore: Stories of the fallen’ relating to:-
Acting Sub-Lieutenant James Lowden CONNELL