Frank Richards a.k.a. Francis Philip Woodruff DCM, MM (June 1883 – August 1961) was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

soldier and author. Born in Monmouthshire, he was

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

ed at the age of nine, and was then brought up by his aunt and uncle in the

Blaina Blaina ( cy, Blaenau ) is a small town, situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Brynmawr and Abertillery in the unitary authority of Blaenau Gwent, ancient parish of Aberystruth, preserved county of Gwent and historic county o ...

area of the South Wales Valleys in industrial Monmouthshire. The uncle, his mother's twin brother, and surnamed Richards, adopted Frank who then changed his surname. During the 1890s Frank Richards worked as

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

and joined

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

in 1901, serving in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

forces in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

under the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

from 1902 to 1909, after which he transferred to the reserves. He is best known as the author of one of the most widely acclaimed memoirs of the Great War to be written by a ranker, ''Old Soldiers Never Die''.

Career

Richards, an orphan, was brought up by his aunt and uncle in

, Monmouthshire, where, in the 1890s, he worked as a coal miner. He joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in April 1901 and served in India and Burma from 1902-09 when, having completed eight years with the colours, he transferred to the Army Reserve for the remaining four years of his twelve year enlistment. He extended his reserve service for a further four years in 1912. A reservist soldier when war broke out in August 1914, working as a timber assistant, Richards rejoined the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers, in which he remained for the duration of the war. It was while drinking in the bar of the Castle Hotel at Blaina that he heard the news of the outbreak of war. Remarkably, Richards saw action in virtually all of the major British campaigns on the Western Front without suffering any notable injury. Unable to return to the coal mines following the war because of a physical injury, Richards was obliged to earn his living from numerous temporary jobs. Fifteen years after the close of the Great War, Richards published in 1933 his classic account of the war from the standpoint of the regular soldier. It differs in many ways from memoirs written by officers who joined the army specifically to serve in the war, and has been called "a brilliant insight into the life of a soldier in the early stages of the twentieth century". ''Old Soldiers Never Die'' was written with the unaccredited assistance of fellow Royal Welch Fusilier Robert Graves, who advised on grammar, style and punctuation. It was an instant success and has never been out of print since. Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, another Royal Welch Fusilier, both receive approving mentions in the book, as do other officers. Richards followed up ''Old Soldiers'' with another successful memoir, this time of his service in India, ''Old Soldier Sahib'', in 1936. Richards, who at no point rose above the rank of private during the war, refusing any offer of promotion, was awarded the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

and

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

. He was interviewed by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Career

DCM, MM and books

Books

References

External links