Philip Smith (VC)

He crossed open ground under fire to rescue the wounded men.

Philip Smith was born at Lurgan near Virginia, County Cavan, on 5 October 1825. A labourer, he enlisted in the 17th Regiment in 1842 and served at Gibraltar before the Crimean War. He became a corporal in December 1854.

After the failed assault on the Great Redan at Sevastopol on 18 June 1855, Smith repeatedly went beyond the advanced trenches under heavy fire. He brought wounded soldiers back after the attacking column had withdrawn. These rescues earned the Victoria Cross, presented at Montreal in August 1857.

Smith served in Canada, briefly attaining lance sergeant before reduction to private in 1858. He transferred to the Royal Canadian Rifles in 1861 and left service at his own request in September 1868. Returning to Ireland, he eventually died at Harold’s Cross Hospice, Dublin, on 16 January 1906 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.