Four: Private G. E. Paragreen, Grenadier Guards, who is believed to have fired the first rifle shot at the Battle of Omdurman, 2 September 1898

Queen’s Sudan 1896-98 (6030 Pte G. E. Paragreen 1/Gren: Gds:); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 6 clasps, Belmont, Modder River, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast (6030 Pte. G. E. Paragreen, Gren: Gds:); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (6030 Pte. G. Paragreen.Grenadier Guards.); Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, 1 clasp, Khartoum (Pte. G. E. Paragreen. Gren. Gds.) last with Regimentally impressed naming, minor edge bruising and contact marks, polished, good very fine (4) £600-£800

George Ebenezer Paragreen was born at Blisworth, Northamptonshire, on 21 May 1871, and attested for the Grenadier Guards at Northampton on 5 October 1896. He served with the 1st Battalion in Egypt and the Sudan from 19 July to 7 October 1898, and, taking part in the advance on Khartoum, is believed to have fired the first rifle shot at the Battle of Omdurman, 2 September 1898:

‘At 6:40 a.m. the shouts of the advancing Dervish army became audible, and a few minutes later their flags appeared over the rising ground, forming a semicircle round our left and front faces. The guns of the 32nd Field Battery opened fired at 6:45 am. at a range of 2,800 yards, and the Dervishes, continuing to advance rapidly, delivered their attack with all their accustomed dash and intrepidity. The Battle of Omdurman had finally begun.
The men of Gatacre’s division - on the left-flank - had taken up positions behind a rough fence made of thorn bush. Before the battle had began, these men were ordered to fix bayonets and line the fence in two ranks, the front of which were kneeling while the rear rank remained standing. Captain F. W. Earle, the adjutant of the Warwicks, galloped up to the officers of his regiment and shouted to them: “Get into your places please, Gentlemen, the show is starting!”
As the Ansar advanced on this section of the zariba, Kitchener rode over and positioned himself behind Lyttleton’s 2nd Brigade. From here, he watched the warriors under Ibrahim al-Khali advance to within 2,000 yards of the British line, at which point a single shot rang out from the ranks of the Grenadier Guards. This ranging-shot, believed to have been fired by Private G. E. Paragreen, was then followed by an eruption of rifle fire from the Lee Metfords of the battalion. The rest of the 2nd Brigade then opened up, quickly followed by Wauchope’s 1st Brigade.
Thousands of lethal .303 bullets were now hurtling towards the packed, massed ranks of the Ansar. Soon, the entire zariba, including the Egyptian and Sudanese troops, were pouring rifle and Maxim fire into their oncoming attackers’ (The Sirdar and the Khalifa: Kitchener’s Reconquest of Sudan, by Mark Simner refers).

Paragreen transferred to the Army Reserve on 5 October 1899, but was recalled to the Colours just four days later for service during the Boer War, and served with the 3rd Battalion in South Africa from 21 October 1899 to 21 July 1902. He re-transferred to the Army Reserve on 17 March 1903, and was discharged on 4 October 1908, after 12 years’ service. He died at Daventry on 23 March 1951.

Sold with copied service papers, medal roll extracts, and other research.