cooky Posted 19 January , 2014 Share Posted 19 January , 2014 Hi All, Can anyone tell me if their is a book relating to the classic memoir "Old Soldiers Never Die" in the style of 'In the footsteps of Private Lynch' the follow up to 'Somme mud' ? If there is one,where can I obtain a copy ? Cooky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 I don't know of any follow up to Old Soldiers, in the style of 'In the Footsteps..' but the copy of Old Soldiers I have is a fairly recent re-issue which has been edited to include lots of background detail, to flesh out and clarify the original book. Unfortunately i'm not near my library at the moment and can't tell you the editors names, which is a terrible admission, as I'm sure one of them is a frequenter of the Forum, and I should know who it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 Old Soldier Sahib if you buy it through the Forum, you can help the Forum funds, but you will probably find it cheaper elsewhere? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 20 January , 2014 Admin Share Posted 20 January , 2014 I don't know of any follow up to Old Soldiers, in the style of 'In the Footsteps..' but the copy of Old Soldiers I have is a fairly recent re-issue which has been edited to include lots of background detail, to flesh out and clarify the original book. Unfortunately i'm not near my library at the moment and can't tell you the editors names, which is a terrible admission, as I'm sure one of them is a frequenter of the Forum, and I should know who it is The "enhanced" version I have is the 2004 edition and is annotated by H J Krijnen and D E Langley. ISBN 0-9547252-0-4. There may be newer versions but I'm happy with this one. One of the aforementioned persons does frequent these boards and will get very GRUMPY at you for forgetting his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin spof Posted 20 January , 2014 Admin Share Posted 20 January , 2014 Oh, and for more details on the men of Frank's 2RWF, David Langley's book Duty Done is a must. Depending on your interest, Graham Knight's Fighting with the Royal Welsh - Men of the Midlands in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers 1900-1919 is also very highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 20 January , 2014 Share Posted 20 January , 2014 SPOF That's the one, and how could I forget the co-editors Forum name? I blame pressure of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooky Posted 20 January , 2014 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2014 That's brilliant.Many thank's to you all, Cooky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 25 May , 2014 Share Posted 25 May , 2014 I have recently bought "Old Soldiers Never Die", and I have read it and found it very good. I'd like to know more about the characters that are named in the book, although I don't really want to buy another copy with annotations. Is there a list of the characters somewhere that I can add to the book, please? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 2 November , 2014 Share Posted 2 November , 2014 You need to buy my "DUTY DONE". PM me and a deal can be struck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazelclark Posted 2 November , 2014 Share Posted 2 November , 2014 "Old Soldiers Never Die", is much better than "Old Soldier Sahib". (In my opinion) I think the former was written first and the other seemed a bit of an effort. Hazel C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loader Posted 3 November , 2014 Share Posted 3 November , 2014 I always remember his tale about the men using the many German spiked helmets taken from the dead in front of their position as toilets! He said they worked very well with the spike stuck in the ground! Necessity being the mother of invention! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 3 November , 2014 Share Posted 3 November , 2014 "Old Soldiers Never Die", is much better than "Old Soldier Sahib". (In my opinion) I think the former was written first and the other seemed a bit of an effort. Hazel C. Interesting comment. Both Richards, his mentor Graves, and his humble follower [Grumpy] all prefer OSS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazelclark Posted 3 November , 2014 Share Posted 3 November , 2014 Interesting comment. Both Richards, his mentor Graves, and his humble follower [Grumpy] all prefer OSS! Well, at the time I read OSS, I had just finished reading "Sahib" by Richard Holmes, and another book on the subject, the name of which escapes me. Perhaps that coloured my view. On the other hand, as stated elsewhere on the Forum, I am enjoying Trevor Royle's "Flowers of the Forrest" which a Forumite advised me some years ago not to waste my money on. So you see............ Hazel C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 11 November , 2014 Share Posted 11 November , 2014 You need to buy my "DUTY DONE". PM me and a deal can be struck! As you know, I have bought "Duty Done" ... but where can I buy your annotated version of OSND, please? I've looked on Amazon and Abe Books, but they don't seem to have a record of it - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 11 November , 2014 Share Posted 11 November , 2014 As you know, I have bought "Duty Done" ... but where can I buy your annotated version of OSND, please? I've looked on Amazon and Abe Books, but they don't seem to have a record of it - thanks! PM on the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 11 November , 2014 Share Posted 11 November , 2014 Richards ranker's account of the was is rightly thought of highly. Old Soldier Sahib is the only ranker's account I have found about service in India. It is a great read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 12 November , 2014 Share Posted 12 November , 2014 Richards ranker's account of the was is rightly thought of highly. Old Soldier Sahib is the only ranker's account I have found about service in India. It is a great read. I agree totally! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 19 November , 2014 Share Posted 19 November , 2014 I have been collecting Great War memoirs for about fifteen years but have only just purchased a copy of Cyril Fall's 'War Books', after being prompted by reading another thread in this section , and having previously been put off by the prices being asked. I opted for the 1989 reprint as it has additional entries by R.J Wyatt, what surprised me was that he ( R.J Wyatt ) has put 'Old Soldier's Never Die' in the fiction section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 19 November , 2014 Share Posted 19 November , 2014 In Bob Wyatt's defence, he does say in his foreword to additional entries of reminiscences how difficult it can sometimes be to distinguish between them and some novels. Falls himself certainly had the same problem. By the way I'm sure I saw an original 'War Books' on ABE recently for £30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 19 November , 2014 Share Posted 19 November , 2014 In Bob Wyatt's defence, he does say in his foreword to additional entries of reminiscences how difficult it can sometimes be to distinguish between them and some novels. Falls himself certainly had the same problem. By the way I'm sure I saw an original 'War Books' on ABE recently for £30. Your right, it is a bit of a minefield , but I personally wouldn't have put it under fiction , although saying that I am currently reading 'Englishman Kamerad ! ' and in it the author describes the heroic death in battle of an officer he met on the troopship taking him to France but admits in the preface of the book that he had 'imagined' it as he never saw him again once they left the rest camp. To be honest, although I prefer to own the originals, in this case, because the book is just for reference, I went for the reprint because of the extra information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 20 November , 2014 Share Posted 20 November , 2014 I can assure the Forum that, as the co-editor of the definitive version of OSND, there are few instances where Frank Richards can be demonstrated to be inaccurate. We checked very carefully with the War Diary, and the majestic "The War the Infantry Knew" The detail of "errors" is to be found in our footnotes and appendices. Of course, in the fine grain of "I saw this" or "he said that" we are at Frank's mercy. May I lay another ghost? Whereas FR acknowledged his debt to Robert Graves in that the latter used his entree and clout to have the book accepted for publication, there is no doubt whatsoever that the book was authored by Frank. Robt. Graves "paragraphed it" and made some suggestions and, once or twice, tried to make FR sound a little too unlettered. Which suggestions were rejected. I have had access to the first typescript with mss. additions [the latter by RG], and have had access also to the exchange of letters between the two. Fiction it is not. Remarkable it is, for a man of little formal education writing about 20 years after the events with very little in the public domain to jog his memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 20 November , 2014 Share Posted 20 November , 2014 Fiction it is not. Remarkable it is, for a man of little formal education writing about 20 years after the events with very little in the public domain to jog his memory. I totally agree with you, it's a superb memoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 21 November , 2014 Share Posted 21 November , 2014 I totally agree with you, it's a superb memoir. Hear, hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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