Frank Richards- born Francis Philip Woodruff- (June 1883 – September 1961) was a World War I soldier and author.

Frank Richards was orphaned at the age of nine in 1892 and went to live with an uncle and aunt in Blaina, then a busy and bustling industrial community. It was a happy and enjoyable childhood and he later claimed to have been taught Welsh as a child but, in his adult life, soon forgot the skill.

Detesting school, Richards often played truant and left formal education as soon as he was able – in those days at the age of 12. He worked in a variety of jobs, starting as the door boy in a local colliery. Then, in April 1901, under the combined influence of his adopted brother and the news of the Boer War in South Africa, he joined the army, enlisting in the ranks of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Richards served in India and Burma, finally being discharged into the Reserve in 1912. When World War I broke out on 4 August 1914, he was working as a timberman in the mines around Blaina but was immediately called back to the colours. By 7 August, he was en route to Dorchester and 3 days later, he sailed for France with other members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).

Richards served continuously on the Western Front, taking part in almost every major campaign of the war. He was at Mons during the famous British retreat, fought at all of the Ypres battles and was still serving as a ranker when the Germans launched their final offensive in the mist-filled days of March 1918. He never rose above the rank of private, despite being offered promotion on a number of occasions.

He did not want to move up the ranks, did not want authority. He was content simply to do his job as a signalman and to do it well. Robert Graves, who knew him between 1915 and 1917, described him as the best signalman in the regiment.

Richards won both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and the Military Medal but resolutely denied any particular element of bravery in his character. He was, he said, simply doing his job.

Frank Richards was never seriously wounded during the war but the conditions in damp, unhealthy trenches did affect his health. Returning to work in the mines was out of the question. For several years after his discharge from the army he was forced to rely on a variety of temporary jobs and eventually wound up clerking in the local labour exchange.

He began writing his remarkable story – all the more impressive because he was not a particularly well educated man – in the 1930s. He would write in the evenings and into the middle of the night, often throwing away or burning whole passages because he was unhappy with them.

Somewhere around 1933, Frank wrote to his old officer, the renowned poet Robert Graves, asking him for advice. Immediately impressed by what he saw and read, Graves worked on the manuscript and eventually found a home for it with Faber and Faber. It was an immediate success.

At the urging of Robert Graves, Frank wrote another book, this time about his service life in India and Burma. It was called 'Old Soldier Sahib'.

Like its predecessor, it was a remarkable and fascinating account of the life led by ordinary British soldiers, this time during the high point of the Raj.

Frank died in September 1961 at the age of 78. His 2 books lauded as excellent accounts of solders lives in a time and place that now seem very far away. The final words, really, should be Frank's, simple, unadorned by purple prose but heartfelt in sentiment and purpose: