Frank Richards a.k.a. Francis Philip Woodruff DCM, MM (7 April 1883 – 26 August 1961) was a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

soldier and author. Born in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, he was

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

ed at the age of nine, and was then brought up by his aunt and uncle in the Blaina 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 In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. During the 1890s Frank Richards worked as

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. 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 extrac ...

and joined

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

in 1901, serving in the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

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 in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

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 maternal uncle in Blaina, Monmouthshire, where, in the 1890s, he worked as a coal miner. His cousin David Thomas Richards (1883-1932) enlisted in the South Wales Borderers on 29 June 1898 and served in the Boer War. He visited his local recruitment sergeant in 1900, and tried to persuade him he was over 18 years old, but was told to come back in 12 months. A year later, he enlisted at Brecon. 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. The conditions in damp, unhealthy trenches had a detrimental effect upon his health. In addition to malaria and rheumatism he had haemorrhoids, aggravated by the trench environment, which necessitated substantial surgery. Unable to return to the coal mines following the war because of this decline in his physical health, 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 Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

, who advised on grammar, style and punctuation. It was an instant success and has never been out of print since. Graves and

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...

, 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 (UK), other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military ...

and

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

. He was interviewed by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

for their classic multi-part documentary of the conflict, The Great War, in 1954. He enjoyed a drink and a bet and married late in life, to Mary James, having one daughter, Margaret. Frank Richards, who continued to correspond regularly with Robert Graves, died in 1961 at the age of 78.

DCM, MM and books

In 1933, he published his memoir ''Old Soldiers Never Die''—with the help of

—about his time on the Western Front, where he was awarded the

and

. He always denied any element of bravery in his character, simply saying that he was doing his job. His account of the Christmas Truce was the first to be published by a soldier who was not an officer. In 1936, he published a second memoir, ''Old Soldier Sahib'', covering his time in the British Army of India. Private Frank Richards aka "Big Dick" features in Captain J. C. Dunn's ''The War The Infantry Knew 1914-1919''.

Books

* *

References

External links

* *
Spoken version of Frank Richards' account of Christmas Truce
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Frank 1883 births 1961 deaths 20th-century British historians British Army personnel of World War I Welsh writers People from Blaina Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal Recipients of the Military Medal Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers Military personnel from Blaenau Gwent