Library of Wales: Old Soldier Sahib

Frank Richards was born in 1883 in Monmouthshire. Orphaned at nine years old, he was brought up by his aunt and uncle in the industrial Blaina area, and went on to work as a coal miner throughout the 1890s before joining the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1901. A veteran soldier who served in British India and many areas of the Western Front, he wrote his seminal account of the Great War from the standpoint of the common soldier, Old Soldiers Never Die, in 1933. This was followed by Old Soldier Sahib, a memoir of his time serving in British India, in 1936. He died in 1961.

‘...a remarkable and fascinating account...’ --Phil Carradice, BBCFrom the author of the celebrated Great War memoir , Old Soldier Sahib is Frank Richards' account of his experiences as a private in the Royal Welch Fusiliers in India at the dawn of the 20th century.