Page "Edgar Wallace" Paragraph 14

Unaware that the half-sister he did not know existed had just died, Richard enlisted in the Infantry preparatory to leaving for South Africa.

Richard found Army life unappealing.

Soldiering was hard on his feet and ears, and, indeed, by the time he died, he was well known for never partaking in any physical exercise ( which probably contributed to his early death ).

He wangled a transfer to the Royal Army Medical Corps, which was less arduous but more unpleasant, and so transferred again to the Press Corps, where at last he found his metier.