Orders, Decorations and Medals

Pair: Private G. Sprey, 32nd Foot

Punjab 1848-49, 2 clasps, Mooltan, Goojerat (Geo. Spray, 32nd Foot), lacking suspension rod; India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, North West Frontier (2433 Pte. G. Sprey, 32nd Foot), note different spellings of surname, slight edge bruising, very fine and better (2) £450-500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of Brigadier Brian Parritt, C.B.E..

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Private George Sprey, 32nd Foot, served with the regiment in the 2nd Sikh War, being present at the hard fought siege and storm of Mooltan and the battle of Goojerat, for which he received the medal and two clasps. With the regiment he then served in the Ranizai, and Shakot and Dargai Expeditions under Brigadier-General Sir Colin Campbell, March and May 1852, for which he was awarded the I.G.S. Medal and clasp. The clasp for ‘North West Frontier’ was not authorised until 1869 and the original roll gives 15 officers and 78 men. However as the medal could be claimed up to the year 1900, the final total could be as high as 119. George Sprey claimed his medal (the roll lists him as a ‘Pensioner’), which was authorised and posted to him in November 1876. With some 600 men of the 32nd being present in the expedition, the reason so few claimed the medal and clasp was due to the heavy casualties the regiment suffered during the intervening Indian Mutiny.

Sold with extracts from the medal rolls confirming the award of the medals and clasps; the original O.H.M.S. envelope address label for the I.G.S. Medal, addressed to ‘Mr Geo. Sprey, late 32nd Foot, Mount Street, New Basford, Nottingham’; a letter concerning Private Sprey from the Light Infantry Office, dated 9 February 1971, and other copied research.