IT'S PROBABLY the most infamous action in British military history, not least because of the epic poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

The Charge of The Light Brigade took place 150 years ago in October - and Dorset relatives and descendants of the "Noble six hundred" are being sought, to see if they would like to attend a commemorative event at the National Army Museum.

Event organiser Terry Brighton, assistant curator of the Queen's Royal Lancers Museum, in Belvoir, hopes that descendants will be able to help him learn more about those who took part in the infamous charge.

"Those who survived were welcomed home as heroes and it was said that a Light Brigade Medal and a good story about the charge were worth a free quart of ale at any hostelry in England," he says.

More than 100 men perished when Lord Raglan gave the order for the 658 officers and cavalrymen of the Light Brigade - so called because it was only equipped with swords and bayonets - to charge up a narrow valley after the Russian Army in the Crimea, on the Black Sea, to prevent them capturing British canons.

"It was a ridiculous thing to ask them to do because, once they'd ridden up this mile-long valley, fired on from all sides by the Russians - they had to ride back and do it all over again.

"But, astonishingly, not many more than 100 died."

Mr Brighton is trying to trace the descendants of two Bournemouth men connected with the Charge.

"I'm interested in the family of Hugh Massey, who was a regimental surgeon who treated the wounded before they were taken to Florence Nightingale's hospital at Scutari.

"Another of the men whose family I'd like to trace, was George Goad."

Goad, explained Mr Brighton, was one of three brothers who were with the cavalry at the time.

"We know that one brother, Captain Thomas Goad, died in the charge because he is the subject of a letter, written a few days after the charge, to his brother, Cornet Charles Goad."

Charles was also in receipt of a letter from Cornet George Goad of the 13th Light Dragoons.

From this, historians have learned, George probably did not take part in the charge, having been injured when his horse fell on him after being hit by a shell fragment earlier that day, although there is, says Terry Brighton, no record to the Light Brigade being under attack at that time.

What Mr Brighton does know is that George Goad settled in Bournemouth at the address of "Fair Lea" and was buried in Wimborne Cemetery after dying in January 1894.

"As the last survivors of the Charge died in the 1920s, I wonder if anyone remembers hearing about these local heroes from parents or grandparents."

If you are related to these two men, or would like to know more, Terry Brighton can be contacted on 01476 576017 or at terrybrighton@btopenworld.com.