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Lot

№ 820

.

12 December 2013

Hammer Price:
£1,300

Crimea 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Serjt. M. Devitt. 1st Bn. Rifle Bde.) officially impressed naming, minor edge bruises, otherwise good very fine £1000-1200

Sergeant Michael Devitt was killed at Sebastopol on 12 April 1855.

‘On April 9, fire was reopened and kept up till the 12th, and on the 13th volunteers were called for to man the rifle pits in front of No. 7 battery. Lieutenant the Hon. A. Anson [awarded the V.C.] and eighteen men of the 1st Battalion volunteered for the duty. They occupied the pits from daylight until dark; but suffered a heavy loss, Sergeant Devitt and four men being killed. These pits were afterwards connected and formed the fourth parallel.’ (Cope’s
History of the Rifle Brigade refers).