James Scully (GC)

James Patrick Scully, GC (20 October 1909 – December 1974) was born the son of Thomas and Bridget Scully (née O’Shaughnessy) in Crumlin, a suburb in Dublin. He had two brothers and five sisters. After a basic education in Dublin, he decided to seek work in England, and moved to London at the age of 16 in 1925. He gained employment as a labourer and worked all over London prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. He enlisted as a member of the Royal Pioneer Corps and climbed the ranks to Acting Corporal. For the valour he displayed on the night of 12–13 March 1941 in Birkenhead, Merseyside during the Liverpool Blitz, he was directly awarded the George Cross when he rescued 2 people from a bomb damaged building.

Pioneer Corps
When World War 2 erupted, James Patrick Scully enlisted in the Pioneer Corps in Belfast in January of 1941 for the 256th Company, Pioneer Corps. The 256th Company was dragged into the carnage almost immediately on Carnforth Street, Birkenhead, on the night of 13–14 March 1941. Liverpool-Birkenhead suffered one of the biggest raids of the U.K. that night, aircraft from Luftflotte 3 dropping 58 tonnes of H.E. and over 4,000 incendiaries - this on the back of a larger raid on the 12 March, when 264 people in Birkenhead were killed. This time would be known in the future as the Liverpool Blitz. Scully continued work through the Blitz, earning him the George Cross. The outstanding ‘Liverpool Blitz’ George Cross group of three was awarded to Corporal James Scully, who shielded a trapped couple from debris for an entire night. In the end, all of them were saved after seven hours of frantic work by the rescue team. Scully remains the most highly decorated member of his Corps. He was discharged in May 1943 after ceasing to fulfill the Army Physical Requirements Para. 390 (xvi) of the King's Regulations 1940; being the result of great bravery he was awarded the George Cross (his discharge certificate refers).

His Heroic Deed
The citation was published in the London Gazette on 8 March, 1941 describes the incident in Birkenhead best. It reads:

"George VI of the United Kingdom has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the GEORGE CROSS, to:-

No. 13039555 Acting Corporal James Patrick Scully, Pioneer Corps. (Crunslin, (sic) Co. Dublin.)

Awarded the George Medal.

Lieutenant Charles Cummins Chittenden (163280), Pioneer Corps.

When houses were demolished by enemy action, a rescue party under the direction of Lieutenant Chittenden went to the incident and a search was made for trapped people.

Corporal Scully located a man and a woman, and with great difficulty, he managed to penetrate the debris and get to where they were buried. Lieutenant Chittenden followed him. Wood was obtained to use as props to shore up the debris, but there was no means of cutting it into proper lengths.

A rescue party then arrived with tools to cut some wood into more suitable lengths for shoring. All available help was mustered and the men worked tremendously hard in their efforts to clear away the wreckage. Corporal Scully remained with the trapped persons and prevented any more debris falling on them. A long plank was inserted to take most of the weight but as the result of further falls the props began to sway out of position. There was then a very real danger of the mass of debris falling down and burying the injured persons. Realising this, Corporal Scully placed his back under the plank to try to prevent the props from giving way completely. He steadied them for a time but gradually the weight increased until the props slipped. This left Corporal Scully holding one end of the plank and Lieutenant Chittenden supporting the other. Corporal Scully could have got away at this stage, but he knew that if he did so the debris would fall and probably kill the trapped persons, so he stayed under the plank. Gradually the weight increased and forced Corporal Scully down until he lay across the trapped man. Lieutenant Chittenden who was still holding one end of the plank reached over and supported Corporal Scully's head to prevent him from being suffocated by having his head pressed into the debris. He managed to keep Corporal Scully's face clear, but he was fast becoming exhausted. Despite this, he kept up his spirits and continued to talk encouragingly to the woman. The man was unconscious nearly all this time. Corporal Scully remained in this position throughout the night until, more than seven hours later, the rescue party were able to rescue him and the casualties.

When they first entered the house. Lieutenant Chittenden and Corporal Scully knew there was a grave risk of injury or death as the high walls nearby appeared about to collapse at any moment. Had this collapse occurred, they would have been buried under many tons of debris. Corporal Scully risked his life to save the two people and, though the position looked hopeless, Lieutenant Chittenden stayed with him." Lieutenant C. C. Chittenden was awarded the George Medal for his role in the same event and as a result of his gallantry.

Medals and awards


Scully was recommended for his George Cross by the Chief Constable and the Mayor of Birkenhead. It was officially announced on July 8th 1941 in the London Gazette that he would in fact receive the award. When the Commanding Officer of 46 Group, Pioneer Corps, Temple Gray learned of the approval of the award from the G.O.C. Western Command he quickly leapt into action, as recounted in Marion Hebblethwaite's One Step Further - The George Cross: ‘I then heard that Scully was to be presented to the King so I arranged for him to be fitted out by a skilled tailor. He was taken by a Sergeant to Liverpool and put on a train to London.

There he was met by an R.S.M. from the Brigade of Guards who took him to the War Office. Here he was quizzed by a number of Generals before being taken into a room and fitted with a new outfit supervised by two tailors.

The R.S.M. then gave him a light lunch in a Whitehall restaurant with no alcohol and they were driven to Buck House. He was taken up to see King George VI, who asked him to sit down, was very kind, listened to his story and pinned the George Cross on him remarking that it was only the second one to be awarded. With his escort he then had an enormous high tea and was taken to a cinema; after a few drinks he was put on the train to Liverpool thoroughly bewildered by his crowded day. Warned by a message of his E.T.A., an escort of a Sergeant and four men was arranged to meet him, as it was thought his "Irish temperament" might have caused trouble but on arrival he was sound asleep. James Scully was the first Catholic recipient of a George Cross. He was commemorated by a sculpture at Simpson Barracks, Northamptonshire. A troop of the Royal Logistic Corps is named after him.

Scully was one of the 409 George Cross recipients which has been awarded to 394 men and 12 women. He was the only member of the Pioneer Corps to be awarded the George Cross (although 13 George Medals and many other lesser awards have been won by Corps members.). No members of the Pioneer Corps have won the Victoria Cross while serving with the corps, although Francis George Miles served with the corps in World War II after winning the Victoria Cross while serving with the Gloucestershire Regiment in World War I. After his death, in 1975, Scullys’ medals were donated to the Royal Logistic Corps Museum in Camberley, Surrey by his five daughters.

Corporal Scully's medal group including the George Cross was sold at auction in London on 5 July 2011 for £72,000 ($118,560.52 in 2022). The medals were sold with a quantity of documents, including his Soldier's Service and Pay Book; Buckingham Palace Coronation Medal 1953 as well as the certificate; membership certificate for the Royal Society of St George; 2 or 3 portrait photographs, and the cover feature of The Hornet of January 1967, featuring the recipient's George Cross-winning exploits. The auction was held by the auction house Dix Noonan Webb.

Later Life and Death
After the War, Scully became a painter and decorator, and raised a large family with his wife Mary, namely a son, Tony, as well as five daughters who gave him a total of 17 grandchildren. It is said that he was blessed with a wicked sense of humour and adored by his children. Scully died suddenly on 28 December 1974, while visiting his nephew Brendan Foster the famous Olympic runner and BBC commentator. He collapsed in Hebburn-on-Tyne, specifically at Foster's home in South Shields, England. After his death, Scullys’ body was returned to London, where he was buried in Streatham Cemetery in Tooting, London Borough of Wandsworth, Greater London, England along with his wife Mary, who had pre-deceased him on the 13th of December, 1971.