8th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.

Awarded the Military Medal in the London Gazette of 9 July 1917.

Cunliffe was a native of Brierfield, Lancashire.

The Nelson Leader of 15 June 1917 reported, Brierfield Medallist. Pte. Wm. Ellis Cunliffe, of Brierfield, who is 21 years of age, has been awarded the Military Medal. His mother who resides at 3, Carlton Street, Brierfield, has just received the official intimation, which states that it was awarded "for gallantry in the field from 9 April to the 12 April 1917." Prior to enlisting Pte. Cunliffe was employed in the warehouse of the Brierfield Mills Company Ltd. He enlisted into the 8th East Lancashire Regiment in December 1914, and was sent to France in July 1915, when he was put on duty as a sniper. He was slightly wounded in the knee on April 28th, and after a spell in hospital at Lincoln he came home on ten days furlough, rejoining his regiment on June 11th.

The Burnley Express of 23 June 1917 adds in a similar article, Military Medallist, Honour for Brierfield Soldier. "Two of his comrades who have visited his mother at 3, Oxford Street, Brierfield, who have been eye-witnesses of many of his brave deeds, speak most highly of his heroism. Private Cunliffe is a genial, happy lad, with many friends who esteem him greatly. He is an old St. Luke's Brigade boy".