AN historian is appealing for help from Star readers in his search for the family of a St Helens war hero.

Don Dykes is researching 792 war graves in Brittany.

He is trying to trace relatives of ordnance artificer John Connolly, who died on October 18, 1944, aged 33.

His parents were Edward and Elizabeth Connolly, of St Helens, and his wife was Anne Connolly, of Eccleston.

Mr Dykes said: “I believe he was on a landing craft and that his body was found in the Bay of Biscay by a French trawler, brought back to France and buried in Servel churchyard.

“I seem to remember a long time ago that he had a brother who traced him to France.

“Another theory is that he was on a landing craft ferrying tanks to France, and they ran into a storm and a lot of other craft were also sunk with loss of life.”

Mr Dykes reassures relatives he is only collating information for his own personal use, not for publication.

He has already traced the families and details of more than 300 military personnel, mainly sailors and airmen. He is now trying to establish the details of soldiers from the British West Indies, who died in 1916/17.

Anyone with information about John Connolly can email d.dykes@btinternet.com, or write to Don Dykes at 6 Fenland Village, Osborne Road, Wisbech PE13 3JR .