Jungle1810's RWF Book List

Written By Forum Member - Jungle 1810

Hello all,

To start I will lay down a few ground rules for bibliophiles (Book lover's).

Please remember the legal point if you buy books in a book shop and more so if you go to a second hand book shop. "Caveat Emptor" applies which means let the buyer beware. This is not so important if you buy at an auction house they are obliged to check the provenance of what you are sold, so if things go wrong you have a right to financials redress and fair play. But items bought at an auction may well rise well above what you can afford.

Next in relation to good R W F military histories some are written by people out side of the R W F family but are none the less very good narratives and most factual, ( Major Dudley Ward late of the Welsh Guards being one of them.

Another point to consider is the book condition and whether it was printed with a dust jacket if so the dust jacket will give you a better chance of recovering you money in the years to come.

The Regimental Records Vol 1,2, 3, 4, 6 & 7.

In regards to the R W F Regimental Records a point to note is that on all the best printings, the Regimental colours (Claret and Blue) are prominent on usually the spine and both covers (referred to as boards). Generally this comes with the covers and spine being blue. On the front of these volumes the colours are in a diagonal form on the front cover with the Red Dragon superimposed in the diagonal line or just the cover if the covers are all in Blue.

Volumes 1 & 2 can be bought with a leather spine and dark brown covers this is a large book.It is written by A.D.L Cary O B E( Librarian R.U.S.I). and Stouppe McCance (Captain late R.A.S.C). With illustrations by Gerald .C.Hudson Captain Late Durham Light Infantry. Printed in 1921.

Books also contain dedications to family members these are acceptable. One must be careful to look out for books withdrawn from libraries also but are acceptable. A book must also be examined for scribbling on any of the pages done by bored children. In vogue at present are Volumes 1 & 2 of the Great War, 3 & 4 by Major Dudley Ward. Volume 5 (The second World War is being written as I write this thread. Volumes 6 & 7 are available written by Brigadier J.P RILEY D.S.O. M. A. ( later Lt General Riley). These cover the times from 1945 to the year 2000.

There are a lot more books on the Regimental History covering the events during the Balkan campaign etc. All these items can be obtained from the museum in different forms. they are all very good books, but if you buy from the museum the cost will rise due to postage costs, for example a journal of today's weight would cost upwards of £3-00p or more.

Books of interest to R W F Historians. - I reckon I may have to deal with Graves, Richards Sassoon later.

1. Historical record of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, or the Prince of Wales Own Regiment of fuzieliers by Major Broughton Mainwaring, R.W.F. hard back,printed by Hatchard's of London Piccadilly in 1898. Major Mainwaring's compilation begins in the year 1825.the book contains coloured plates of the uniforms of yesteryear and several black and white prints.

2. A booklet named Royal Welch Fusiliers Battle Honours this booklet is a medley of work from various R W F officers and the R W F museum.It contains many coloured plates. Printed by Gale & Polden Wellington Works in 1931.

3. The Crimean War from First to Last. Also named as "Letters from the Crimea" by General Sir Daniel Lysons G.C.B.Printed in London by John Murray in 1895 Dedicated to H.R.H. Duke of Cambridge. Gen Lyson was the first man to jump on shore at the landing of the Army at "Old Fort" This book is written by the former officer of the Light Division, from letters written to his mother.This book contains lots of maps and details of the Crimean war.

4. The Prisoners of Voronesh. Hard back with dust jacket. It is the diary of Sergeant George Newman 23rd of Foot, The Royal Welch Fusiliers taken prisoner at Inkerman. Transcribed and edited by David Inglesant printed by Unwin Brothers and the trustees of the RWF Regimental Museum.

5. The Royal Welch Fusiliers By H.Avery Tipping. Hard back book. Published at the offices of "Country Life" London and George Newnes. Published in 1915. This book contains many sketches and coloured plates this book is the history of the R W F at the time of printing. It has 5 appendices and a list of authorities quoted in this book. Also includes some brief notes on some of the former officers, a list of the Colonel's of the Regiment, the colours, the roll of honour. Finally a list of officers serving in the Royal Welch Fusilies at the beginning of the 2nd year of the Great War.

Hello,
Continuing my R W F book list.

There is a book published under the title of "The Royal Welch Fusiliers 23rd of Foot". It is in essence a glorified journal dated March 1933, series 3 Volume 1, Number 1, There may well be more titles such as this, but I have not found any in my searches. This book has a hard back cover. It is on the forum.

Next "A Short History of the Royal Welch Fusiliers" written by Major E.O. Skaife O.B.E. this is 3rd edition of a little work first produced in 1913. It gives a history of the battalions and their sporting records,

"Standing Orders of the Royal Welch Fusiliers". published under Para, 1651 King's Regulations 1935. Printed by Gale & Polden Ltd. It gives info on adjutants reports etc The writer is not named.

"A History of the Royal Welch Fusiliers" by Howell Thomas, printed by T. Fisher Unwin London. This book like it's predecessors gives a comprehensive history of the Regiment from the raising of the Regiment up to 1902.

The next book is a reprint of "Duty Done" written by David Langley, and is a most comprehensive book on the 2nd battalion of The Royal Welch Fusiliers in the Great War. It contains the Army lists August 1914. War Establishment 1914. It also lists nicknames of personnel serving in the battalion. It goes right through until the end of the Great War with informative appendices, Photos and indices.

Another priceless book is titled "Fighting with the Royal Welsh" sub titled "Men of the Midlands in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers 1900 to 1919". Written By Graham Knight. This book is about the number of "Brummies" in the 2nd battalion in the Great war which led to them having the sobriquet "The Birmingham Fusiliers". The book covers a number of anecdotes of the 2nd Bn during this period. A very good read.

The next book is entitled "The Red Dragon" by Lt Commander P.K. Kemp.and John Graves M.A. B.lit. (Oxon). Printed by Gale & Polden in 1960(main source for WW2). This book covers the period from 1919 to 1945. To the best of my knowledge it has been used a reference guide to enable volume 5 of Regimental Records to be written.

I will conclude this information with books which are useful for R W F history aficionados of later periods. I can then later come back to authors who served in the regiment. The books below are all printed by the Men at Arms Series/Osprey 1:

The British Army in World War One 1914 to 1916.
The British Insignia (Divisional signs) in the 1914 to 1918 Time Scale.
The British "Tommy" 1914 to 1918,
The Malayan Campaign 1948 to 1960.
Peking" 1900, The Boxer Rebellion.

I can finish this category for now. My next input will be books written by serving soldiers of the R W F. My thanks to Al Poole for his help in creating a new thread for me.

Regards R B D

Hello,
Next session gents.

A hard back edition of a book entitled "With Allenby's Crusaders" written by John More Captain of the 1/6th Royal Welch Fusiliers T.A. (E.E.F.) The Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Published by Heath Cranton Ltd London. This book is about the history of the Palestine Campaign It concerns the 53rd Welsh Division as a point of interest.The battalions involved were the R.W.F 5th, the R.W.F 6th, and the R.W.F. 7th, all T A battalions. Illustrated with 12 Plates from photographs. A very good read.

Then we go to Graves: "The author Robert Graves" subtitled "The Assault Heroic 1895 to 1926", is a history of the Graves and Von Ranke families. A good book. The author is a nephew of Robert Graves (Robert Graves's son David was killed in action in Burma in the 2nd World War) the frontispiece gives a family tree of the Von RANKE family. Next 2 pages cover family tree of the Graves's family.

Then we have "Sgt Lamb of the Ninth". Which was the The Royal Norfolk Regiment at the time. Robert Graves first came across the name of Roger Lamb in 1914 When Graves was an English officer instructing his platoon in Regt History. Lamb was a British Soldier, a Sgt who served during the American war of independence and managed to escape twice from American prison camps. On reaching the British lines he was debriefed and was told he could join one of most the prestigious regiments serving in America at this time and this was the R W F and he could retain his rank. Roger jumped at the chance. This is a hard book cover and was printed in 1940.

The next book is "Proceed Sgt Lamb" is a full account of Roger's escapes and the people he met and who was friendly and the perceived enemies of the British Army. Both books above are printed by Methuen & Company London.

Then there is a book entitled "Eye Witness Accounts of The American Revolution" This is subtitled "An original and authentic Journal of occurrences during the late American War from it's start to the year 1783". By Late Roger Lamb. Late Sergeant of the Royal Welch Fuzileers.

This of course is a combination of the books Graves wrote. Printed in Dublin By Wilkins and Courtney in 1809.

Next is "Goodbye To All That" by Robert Graves. This book has a hardback cover and is printed by Cassell London. A fourth edition exists, printed in 1966, which has a hardback cover and is well read by historians all over the world.

Regards R B D aka jungle1810

Hello,
Now for some of Siegfried Sassoon's work.

"Siegfried's Diaries 1915 to 1918" Printed by Book Club Associates.

"The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston" Published by World books in 1937, this include a chapter on "Memoirs of an infantry officer".

"Vigils" is a book of poetry by S S published in MCMXXXV or 1935, by William Heinman.

Next is "Siegfried's Journey" A four year history of his life. published by White Lion New York.

"Sassoon's Long Journey" published by Faber & Faber in 1983.

"The Weald of Youth" published by The Right Book Club.

Sassoon and Graves fell out in later life over money.

A book titled "Silent Night" by Stanley Weintraub involves stories of the various truces that took place in the war. Mentioned in this book are Graves Sassoon, Gen Smith Dorien, Thomas Mann.

Books of interest by various Welsh and English authors.

David Jones "In Parenthesis".

"The Road to Armageddon" by LT Col Henry Cadogan Subtitled "The Life and Letters of LT Col Henry Cadogan 1864 to 1914". This is about the R W F in the Great War.

"The War The Infantry Knew 1914 to 1919" Captain James Dunn D.S.O. M.C. and Bar. He was the M.O. of the 2nd Battalion R.W.F. in the Great War.

"Up To Mametz" by Wynn Griffith.

In Memory of Private Watcyn Griffith R.W.F "Nothing of Importance" by Bernard Adams, of the 1st Battalion R W F.

"That Astonishing Infantry" A History of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, By Michael Glover.

Then we have "Old Soldiers Never Die" the first book written by Frank Richards (Real name Francis Philip Woodruff). A certain amount of speculation has been spread about this book in as much as several people including an M.P have come out and declared that Frank sent his manuscript over to Majorca to Graves for an appraisal, and come to the conclusion that Graves practically re-wrote the book. In truth Graves did very little to the original manuscript, he only started to make marginal notes and as he looked deeper into Frank's work, Graves wrote back that the book should be published as is. It was written in a soldiers language and Graves was of the opinion that the book was best left as it was. So Frank then had help from Graves to approach Faber & Faber to get it printed, which is what happened.

In fact Frank had disappeared from the face of the earth. So a consortium of David Langley, Graham Knight, Doctor Krijnen then wrote and phoned me and other aficionados to try and locate Franks last resting place. More on this later!

Now my last book on the R.W.F. It was written by the late Patrick (Joe) Kent formerly of the 1st Battalion R W F and a member of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Bandboys from 1945 to 1953. I was invited to a reunion of the RWF to visit Jamaica in 1992 and a fine time we all had.

The name of Joe's book is: "By The Left. By the Right. By the Centre" A copy of the book was given to me by Den Jones 47 at the Comrades A.G.M in Wrexham in 2002. It contains a lot of gratuitous foul language., which is unsuitable for grandchildren to read. But as a soldiers book it is a most interesting account of Joe's 9 and a half years of soldiering.

Adios for now.

More on Frank Richards next.

Regards R B D

Hello All,
Sorry about my sabbatical it was down to B T and it turned out to be another G M F U.
Back to history books
A most important couple of books to read are the two books by Frank Richards " Old |Soldiers Never Die" his first book and "Old Soldier Sahib" Some rumours and fantasy surround the first book O S N D.To summarise Frank sent the manuscript of O S N D to Robert Graves for an appraisal. Many people reckon that Robert made many alterations this is not true. Robert did make some marginal comments but give up and told |Frank it was best left as Frank had done the book and written it as a soldier would. I did read about a female M.P.
who also made this claim. On phoning David Langley he sent me a couple of his views. He had not seen the M P's statement and would check it out. As a point of interest Frank allowed Robert Graves one third of his royalties on both books as a token of friendship and the help that Robert did give Frank. This was help in getting O S N D published by Faber & Faber. It is also acknowledged that Frank did learn from Robert, and Franks work some times made him more working class than he wrote. Apparently Robert talked Frank in to writing the second book "Old Soldier Sahib" which Frank found to be a hard job to finish and was very glad to see it go to the printers.
The next book which may be of interest to the forum readers is "Shot at Dawn " this book is written by Julian Putkowski and Julian Sykes. this book only relates to soldiers of the British Army Act. There were 4 types of court martial, Regimental, District, General, and Field General Courts Martial. Some of the offences include Desertion, 226 cases, Cowardice, 18 offences, Leaving your post,7 Cases, Disobedience,5 cases, Striking a superior Officer 5 cases, , Mutiny, 4 cases, Sleeping on Sentry duty,2 cases, and casting away their arms., 2 cases,Murder was also a cause for Court Martial and 37 were accused of this offence. The forward mentions 351 soldiers sentenced to death.The book has pen pictures of some of the men shot and shows the badge of the men shot and the "Reason why"

That's it folks more as I get details in my searches.
Regards R B D

Reading OSND for the third time and I treated myself to the annotated hardback version with notes by Langley and Krijnen which add to its enjoyment.

Pleased to hear it, Jerry.

John