Robert John Cliffel was born November 1, 1918 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, the youngest child of Alois Frederick Cliffel and Catherine Mary O’Connell. His father was born in Germany, immigrated to the US in 1889, and became a naturalized citizen in 1898. His mother was born in Indiana. He had five brothers and two sisters. The family lived in Cuyahoga county, where his father owned a retail bakery.

Robert registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. At that time he was a college student, attending John Carroll University in Cuyahoga county. Having two years of college education, He entered the US Naval Reserve on March 15, 1941 at Ft. Hayes, Columbus, Ohio.

Commissioned as an Ensign, he was stationed at Rosneath naval base, constructed on the Rosneath peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. In August 1943, the base was reactivated by the United States Navy, to act as the main receiving station for personnel who needed to be assigned to a specific vessel or location. Ensign Robert J. Cliffel reported aboard LCF 31. The Landing Craft Flak (LCF) was a conversion of the LCT that was intended to give anti-aircraft support to the landing.

LCF 31 took part in Operation Neptune, the naval component of Operation Overlord. It began in the early hours of June 6, 1944 D-Day, and involved huge naval forces, including 6,939 vessels: 1,213 naval combat ships, 4,126 landing ships and landing craft, 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels.

From another ship log: “0530, accompanied invasion barges into shore under severe shelling attacks and with mines going up all around us. 0730, LCF-31 hit by shell 800 yards off shore, sinking immediately.”

All crew, including Ensign Robert J. Cliffel, were listed as “missing in action,” and later declared dead.

His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

A memorial mass was held in July 1944 at Holy Cross Church, Cleveland, Ohio.

References:

1920; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 24, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 458

1930; Census Place: Euclid, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0608

1940; Census Place: Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Page: 61A; Enumeration District: 92-631

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

Ancestry.com. U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_craft#Landing_Craft_Flak

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/60-coast-guard-cutters-saved-400-men-d-day.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosneath_naval_base

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/204576959/robert-john-cliffel

The Sandusky Register, Sandusky, OH: July 7, 1944, p.6

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Fold3.

Robert J Cliffel