‘Redan’ Massy’s sword and medal

Although born in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, William Godfrey Dunham Massy (1838–1906) belonged to a prominent County Tipperary family and entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1854. He abandoned his studies, however, to volunteer for service in the Crimean War. Despite being aged just sixteen, Massy was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 19th Foot and came to notice during the final assault on the Redan on 8 September 1855. The Redan was a fortified Russian position outside Sevastopol that had already withstood several previous attacks. At the beginning of the attack, Massy was noticed standing in the midst of a hail of fire, encouraging his men forward. He then took command of his company when all the other officers had been killed or wounded and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he was also wounded, being hit in both legs. As the Russians withdrew, they detonated their gunpowder stores in the Redan, and Massy and the other wounded lay out overnight as the stores exploded around them. The survivors later testified how he crawled from one to the other, checking on their condition and trying to boost the spirits of these wounded men who had been left lying between the lines.