Patricia Scully

Patricia (“Pat”) Scully (maiden name: Ashton) was born on May 27, 1932. Her sister Mary was three years older. She had a happy childhood in Manchester, England (and later in Blackpool, England) with loving and caring parents. In September 1939, war was declared. By January 1940 ration books for food and clothes had been distributed, as well as gas masks. Schools closed and children and teachers were evacuated. For a number of months, all was quiet on the home front. Many children (including Pat) were very homesick, and by May 1940, most of them had returned home, and schools reopened. Nightly air raids began in July 1940. At that time, she and her family lived in a terraced house. Their shelter was a cupboard under the stairs; Mary and Pat slept there “top and tail” on a camp bed. Pat and her family had one close encounter with a German…