Thomas Duffy (VC)

He saved a massive gun from capture under fierce enemy fire.

Thomas Duffy came from the Athlone area of County Westmeath in Ireland. Recent research into his East India Company attestation and pension records places his birth about 1823 or 1824, rather than the much earlier year repeated in older accounts. He enlisted in the 1st Madras European Fusiliers in January 1841 and sailed for India aboard Justina that April. By 1857 he had spent many years in the Company's army.

During the first relief of Lucknow, Duffy served near the Moti Mahal palace. On 26 September 1857 British troops remained under pressure while guarding wounded men and trying to bring artillery into safety. A 24-pounder that had been used during the previous day's advance lay exposed to enemy fire. Recovery attempts were dangerous, and leaving it where it stood risked handing a substantial gun to the opposing forces.

After dark, Duffy went out under the direction of Captain William Olpherts and helped attach drag ropes to the piece. The ropes enabled the gun to be drawn away by bullocks. His official citation recognizes the composure and practical skill by which the gun was saved, rather than claiming that he carried the weapon or defeated its defenders alone. The notice was based on Major General James Outram's divisional orders of 16 October 1857 and appeared in the London Gazette on 18 June 1858, p 2958 (https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/1054/Thomas-DUFFY).

Duffy received the Victoria Cross in India and later returned to Ireland on pension in 1861. His pension documentation identifies his death at Athlone on 23 December 1868. The location of his grave remains unresolved.

For many years an impressive memorial in Glasnevin Cemetery was treated as his burial place. The more recent investigation showed that it belonged to a different Thomas Duffy, a Dublin businessman who appears in directories during years when the soldier was serving in India. Correcting that mistaken identity restores the outline of Duffy's actual life: an Irish recruit who made a long career in India, returned to his home district and died there, rather than the unrelated merchant whose memorial had been attributed to him.

Official Victoria Cross citation

For his cool intrepidity and daring skill, whereby a 24-pounder gun was saved from falling into the hands of the enemy. (Extract from Divisional Orders of Major-General Sir James Outram, G.C.B., dated 16th October, 1857.)

The London Gazette of 18 June 1858, Numb. 22154, p. 2958