0:00:09.460,0:00:15.713
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,[br]was born on the 3rd January, 1892.

0:00:15.713,0:00:19.009
He and his brother Hilary,[br]experienced a difficult childhood.

0:00:19.009,0:00:22.494
When Tolkien was just four,[br]they lost their father, Arthur,

0:00:22.494,0:00:24.030
to rheumatic fever.

0:00:24.030,0:00:26.950
As a widow with low income,[br]his mother Mabel,

0:00:26.950,0:00:30.642
home schooled the brothers and played[br]a vital role in their early education

0:00:30.642,0:00:31.827
and development.

0:00:32.987,0:00:38.208
Tolkien was a smart young boy, with[br]a fascination and thirst for languages.

0:00:39.911,0:00:44.419
Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King[br]Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.

0:00:45.209,0:00:49.058
From the Autumn of 1900,[br]for a fee of 12 pounds a year,

0:00:49.058,0:00:51.559
Tolkien would be educated[br]in an environment

0:00:51.559,0:00:54.505
that would help fulfil[br]his academic potential.

0:00:55.485,0:00:56.640
John Garth: Going to [br]King Edward's was

0:00:56.640,0:00:59.582
vitally important to Tolkien;[br]he was an exceptionally

0:00:59.582,0:01:04.756
talented boy. King Edward's offered him[br]a vast amount of scope

0:01:04.756,0:01:09.659
and also the company of other boys[br]who were similarly talented.

0:01:10.159,0:01:13.161
Which was probably quite[br]hard for Tolkien to find.

0:01:15.431,0:01:19.000
Simon Stacey: Not only did he play rugby[br]but he was a leading light

0:01:19.000,0:01:23.285
in the debating society[br]and the literary society.

0:01:23.285,0:01:25.247
He was the life and soul really,

0:01:25.247,0:01:29.725
and he missed the school a great deal,[br]I think, when he finally had to leave.

0:01:30.695,0:01:34.059
VO: At the age of just 11, Tolkien[br]and his brother Hilary

0:01:34.059,0:01:37.491
lose their mother Mabel to diabetes.

0:01:37.491,0:01:40.123
Grief stricken, he plunges[br]himself into school life

0:01:40.123,0:01:43.982
more energetically than before.[br]Academically he excels,

0:01:43.982,0:01:48.687
but in 1905 meets his intellectual rival,[br]Christopher Wiseman.

0:01:50.547,0:01:53.570
John Garth: Tolkien met his greatest[br]friend at King Edward's,

0:01:53.738,0:01:56.438
Christopher Wiseman on the rugby pitch.

0:01:56.731,0:02:00.361
A musician, a mathematician;[br]quite different from Tolkien.

0:02:00.991,0:02:03.643
They developed such a strong[br]bond on the rugby field

0:02:03.883,0:02:06.133
that they called themselves;[br]"The Great Twin Brethren",

0:02:06.169,0:02:10.529
which was a phrase from[br]"Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord Macauley.

0:02:10.734,0:02:13.674
Simon Stacey: They also were[br]friendly rivals in the school,

0:02:13.800,0:02:17.820
both being very academic boys.[br]Wiseman had a formidable intellect

0:02:17.820,0:02:19.266
and he was interested[br]in a lot of the things

0:02:19.276,0:02:21.443
that Tolkien was getting interested in;

0:02:21.453,0:02:26.525
languages, I think he was looking at[br]Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.

0:02:26.525,0:02:28.735
John Garth: Tolkien and Wiseman[br]must have helped define each other

0:02:28.785,0:02:31.065
through their teenage years[br]because they would argue;

0:02:31.081,0:02:34.311
they would argue strongly[br]about all their beliefs in life.

0:02:35.069,0:02:37.799
Simon Stacey: Wiseman was[br]a very talented musician;

0:02:37.827,0:02:42.326
Tolkien was supposed to be tone deaf[br]but that didn't stop them getting on!

0:02:42.326,0:02:46.626
VO: Tolkien also befriends,[br]son of the headmaster, Rob Gilson.

0:02:46.670,0:02:50.670
Tolkien, Wiseman and Gilson,[br]form a strong bond

0:02:50.683,0:02:53.873
which will last throughout[br]their school years and beyond.

0:02:55.792,0:03:00.062
Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life[br]is about to change, yet again.

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John Garth: Tolkien was living[br]in lodgings with his brother, Hilary,

0:03:04.249,0:03:10.965
and when he was 16 he met fellow lodger,[br]Edith Bratt, who was 19 at the time.

0:03:11.635,0:03:17.850
And she was a beautiful young girl;[br]talented pianist and also an orphan.

0:03:17.850,0:03:21.070
And the two of them bonded[br]on their shared sadnesses

0:03:21.089,0:03:23.945
but also on their hopes and dreams.

0:03:23.945,0:03:28.815
The difficulty for Ronald,[br]as she called him, and Edith,

0:03:28.842,0:03:33.242
was that he was a Roman Catholic[br]and she was an Anglican.

0:03:33.242,0:03:37.418
VO: Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis[br]Morgan, a Catholic Priest,

0:03:37.418,0:03:41.847
feels this is major divide; and also[br]believes that Edith will distract Tolkien

0:03:41.847,0:03:45.023
from his attempts to get[br]into Oxford University.

0:03:45.023,0:03:49.443
John Garth: Father Francis Morgan,[br]forbade them from seeing each other,

0:03:49.443,0:03:51.773
or even from communicating.

0:03:51.773,0:03:55.032
He was thrown back upon[br]his friendships at King Edward's

0:03:55.032,0:04:01.753
and it was this final phase of his time[br]here, that he began to flourish

0:04:01.753,0:04:06.603
and make the place his own;[br]he and his friends ruled the roost.

0:04:07.711,0:04:10.494
VO: Making the most of[br]his final year at King Edward's

0:04:10.494,0:04:12.733
and the friendships he has formed,

0:04:12.733,0:04:15.743
Tolkien and his peers create[br]an informal society.

0:04:19.575,0:04:22.104
These young intellectuals gather[br]in the school library

0:04:22.104,0:04:26.119
and do what they are[br]forbidden to do: brew tea.

0:04:26.119,0:04:30.769
Outside of school hours, they meet[br]in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham

0:04:30.769,0:04:36.039
and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves[br]the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"

0:04:36.044,0:04:38.288
or the TCBS for short.

0:04:38.288,0:04:39.444
(nostalgic music)

0:04:39.444,0:04:41.374
John Garth: The core of the TCBS [br]was probably

0:04:41.374,0:04:43.988
Tolkien and Wiseman and the others

0:04:43.988,0:04:47.290
gravitated around them. There was Robert

0:04:47.290,0:04:49.603
Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster

0:04:49.603,0:04:53.761
here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,

0:04:53.761,0:04:56.371
he was perhaps the social glue of the group;

0:04:56.371,0:04:59.165
he would welcome anyone and find common

0:04:59.165,0:05:02.785
cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow

0:05:02.795,0:05:04.618
who loved to sketch.

0:05:04.618,0:05:08.788
Simon Stacey: He was a gifted artist and

0:05:08.788,0:05:10.345
had ambitions to be an architect.

0:05:10.345,0:05:14.876
There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,

0:05:14.876,0:05:19.242
who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic

0:05:19.242,0:05:21.193
mythology; so this gave him common ground

0:05:21.193,0:05:22.733
with Tolkien; [br]it was another of

0:05:22.733,0:05:23.383
Tolkien's passions.

0:05:23.390,0:05:25.925
Simon Stacey: Smith was quite an accomplished

0:05:25.925,0:05:28.865
and advanced poet who recommended contemporary

0:05:28.866,0:05:31.183
poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing

0:05:31.183,0:05:34.543
poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,

0:05:34.543,0:05:37.276
inspired by Smith and the wider group.

0:05:37.276,0:05:38.276
And that was really the beginnings of

0:05:38.276,0:05:40.776
Tolkien as a writer.

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John Garth: From the beginnings which were

0:05:43.426,0:05:46.756
mostly about fun, later on, during the war years,

0:05:46.756,0:05:50.756
this developed into a fellowship from which

0:05:50.756,0:05:53.166
each of them drew tremendous strength and

0:05:53.166,0:05:54.646
comfort.

0:05:54.646,0:05:56.726
VO: Later that year, Tolkien's time at

0:05:56.726,0:05:59.236
King Edward's comes to an end and he begins

0:05:59.236,0:06:02.176
his first term at Oxford, having successfully

0:06:02.176,0:06:03.536
gained entrance.

0:06:05.548,0:06:08.008
On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his

0:06:08.008,0:06:10.438
independence from Father Francis Morgan,

0:06:10.438,0:06:12.768
Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a

0:06:12.768,0:06:15.468
week later, they are re-united.

0:06:15.468,0:06:17.748
Edith is engaged to marry another man,

0:06:17.748,0:06:19.878
but despite almost certain ridicule,

0:06:19.878,0:06:22.008
she agrees to break the engagement to be

0:06:22.008,0:06:23.408
with her Ronald.

0:06:24.430,0:06:26.900
Over the next few months, a growing sense of

0:06:26.900,0:06:29.960
trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th

0:06:29.960,0:06:34.020
of June, 1914, everything changes.

0:06:36.100,0:06:38.830
(gun shot sound)

0:06:38.830,0:06:40.450
(solemn music)

0:06:40.450,0:06:42.270
Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the

0:06:42.270,0:06:46.779
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

0:06:46.779,0:06:50.409
A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks,

0:06:50.409,0:06:54.272
Europe's major powers are at war.

0:06:54.272,0:06:57.360
Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares

0:06:57.360,0:07:00.610
war on Germany. Parliament issues a call

0:07:00.610,0:07:03.270
to arms from the British public.

0:07:03.270,0:07:05.163
Paul Golightly: There isn't a rush to the

0:07:05.163,0:07:07.803
colours straight away. It becomes much more

0:07:07.803,0:07:09.503
obvious that people are willing to join

0:07:09.503,0:07:11.752
up when atrocity stories start to emerge,

0:07:11.752,0:07:14.552
then you get a much more concerted rush

0:07:14.552,0:07:15.732
to join.

0:07:15.732,0:07:17.572
John Garth: There was an air of excitement

0:07:17.572,0:07:20.402
about the war, there was a naive sense that

0:07:20.402,0:07:23.152
this would allow young men to fulfil their

0:07:23.152,0:07:25.382
potential in a way that wasn't possible in

0:07:25.382,0:07:27.312
peace time. There was a tremendous sense

0:07:27.312,0:07:30.612
of patriotism and a sense of duty towards

0:07:30.612,0:07:33.522
whatever England, or Britain, stood for.

0:07:33.522,0:07:35.532
Paul Golightly: They are attracted to the

0:07:35.532,0:07:37.832
idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans,

0:07:37.832,0:07:39.462
or at least some of them will be. On the

0:07:39.462,0:07:41.192
whole, they thought they were going to give

0:07:41.192,0:07:42.532
the Germans a bloody nose.

0:07:42.532,0:07:45.132
John Garth: "The Germans has been dastardly"

0:07:45.132,0:07:48.372
and needed to dealt with and shown their place.

0:07:48.383,0:07:50.173
Paul Golightly: Men join up out of economic

0:07:50.173,0:07:53.593
necessity and you'll find that in any war.

0:07:53.593,0:07:57.323
Life is not very exciting and the romance

0:07:57.323,0:08:00.403
and colour of joining the army and being

0:08:00.403,0:08:03.113
part of something very big indeed, I'm sure

0:08:03.113,0:08:04.373
has some allure.

0:08:04.397,0:08:06.367
(solemn music) And they see things

0:08:06.367,0:08:08.967
in rather romantic ways, which of course is

0:08:08.967,0:08:11.357
doomed to fail; we all know what the First

0:08:11.357,0:08:14.077
World War turns into. It's not a war of

0:08:14.077,0:08:16.697
movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry

0:08:16.697,0:08:20.327
charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid

0:08:20.327,0:08:22.947
it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire

0:08:22.947,0:08:24.457
and the crump of artillery that's going to

0:08:24.457,0:08:25.517
dominate.

0:08:29.341,0:08:31.821
So they, I think, have expectations about what

0:08:31.821,0:08:33.701
the war will be like, and I think their main

0:08:33.701,0:08:36.001
emotion was, will it be over before I can

0:08:36.001,0:08:37.521
get to France.

0:08:38.961,0:08:42.101
John Garth: Tolkien, who's reading covered

0:08:42.101,0:08:45.841
ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly

0:08:45.841,0:08:49.921
frank about what happens in war, went into

0:08:49.921,0:08:54.781
the war much more open-eyed. He described

0:08:54.781,0:08:56.831
himself as a "young man with too much

0:08:56.831,0:09:00.031
imagination" and so he did not relish battle

0:09:00.031,0:09:01.211
in any sense.

0:09:01.211,0:09:03.041
Paul Golightly: And I think that applies

0:09:03.041,0:09:05.021
to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it,

0:09:05.021,0:09:07.721
but also the politicians and generals who

0:09:07.721,0:09:09.851
directed it; I think a lot of people

0:09:09.851,0:09:12.441
understood that this war could be terrible.

0:09:13.352,0:09:15.562
Simon Stacey: What you get in the letters

0:09:15.562,0:09:17.793
between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and

0:09:17.793,0:09:20.693
then in Smith's poetry, is a serious

0:09:20.693,0:09:25.443
determination to do their duty and that they

0:09:25.443,0:09:27.613
should be prepared to give their lives.

0:09:27.613,0:09:31.023
A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time

0:09:31.023,0:09:33.233
and that they've got to come through it.

0:09:34.371,0:09:36.581
VO: G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join

0:09:36.581,0:09:40.351
the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary,

0:09:40.351,0:09:43.577
signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman

0:09:43.577,0:09:47.717
joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a

0:09:47.717,0:09:48.597
dilemma.

0:09:50.503,0:09:52.243
Simon Stacey: Tolkien was in a difficult

0:09:52.243,0:09:54.273
position when war broke out; he had a year

0:09:54.273,0:09:57.693
of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien

0:09:57.693,0:10:00.183
needed a degree badly because he wanted to

0:10:00.183,0:10:03.493
pursue an academic career; he didn't have

0:10:03.493,0:10:08.263
any money in his family unlike Gilson and

0:10:08.263,0:10:11.723
therefore, having committed three years to

0:10:11.723,0:10:13.283
the degree it was very important that he

0:10:13.283,0:10:15.543
completed it. So he discovered a scheme

0:10:15.543,0:10:18.943
whereby he could undergo some training

0:10:18.943,0:10:20.843
in the Officer Training Core whilst

0:10:20.843,0:10:23.453
completing his degree, which he did triumphantly

0:10:23.453,0:10:25.393
with a first at Oxford.

0:10:25.486,0:10:27.886
VO: He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into

0:10:27.886,0:10:30.796
the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being

0:10:30.796,0:10:33.916
posted to the same battalion.

0:10:33.916,0:10:34.926
John Garth: Tolkien was looking for something

0:10:34.926,0:10:38.256
in the army through which he could use his

0:10:38.256,0:10:40.176
particular talents, and his particular talents

0:10:40.176,0:10:43.116
were languages and writing systems; he was

0:10:43.116,0:10:45.473
fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was

0:10:45.473,0:10:48.923
only natural that he would train up as a

0:10:48.923,0:10:49.683
signaller.

0:10:49.683,0:10:50.683
Paul Golightly: It would have meant that

0:10:50.683,0:10:52.853
Tolkien was exposed to the technology

0:10:52.853,0:10:54.593
available at the time and it must have

0:10:54.593,0:10:58.593
interested him; so the use of the radio, the

0:10:58.593,0:11:01.403
use of signals, of semaphore.

0:11:02.213,0:11:04.193
Simon Stacey: He learnt morse code,

0:11:04.193,0:11:07.523
he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field

0:11:07.523,0:11:10.163
telephones; which of course went on largely

0:11:10.163,0:11:12.583
to be ineffective or not to work.

0:11:12.583,0:11:14.380
John Garth: He became Battalion Signalling

0:11:14.380,0:11:18.070
Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to

0:11:18.070,0:11:20.870
oversee the communications of a Battalion

0:11:20.870,0:11:24.460
of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on

0:11:24.463,0:11:26.133
manpower at the time.

0:11:26.133,0:11:27.463
Paul Golightly: His basic job of course

0:11:27.463,0:11:29.883
was to act as a link between the various

0:11:29.883,0:11:33.253
layers of command, and that he would be

0:11:33.253,0:11:35.671
responsible for incoming orders and making sure

0:11:35.671,0:11:37.681
that the right people got those and of course

0:11:37.681,0:11:40.391
he'd be responsible for telling command further

0:11:40.391,0:11:42.751
up the line about the situation on his sector.

0:11:42.751,0:11:44.831
John Garth: So he was an absolute lynch pin

0:11:44.831,0:11:48.831
in a war which depended absolutely on how

0:11:48.831,0:11:51.016
much information you had about your enemies

0:11:51.016,0:11:52.396
position.

0:11:52.396,0:11:55.126
VO: In March of 1916 as his training nears

0:11:55.126,0:11:57.463
its completion, both Tolkien and Edith

0:11:57.463,0:11:59.823
become aware that he will soon be sent to

0:11:59.823,0:12:03.363
the Front. They marry and just over two

0:12:03.363,0:12:06.523
months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France.

0:12:07.023,0:12:10.073
The two of them part, not knowing if they

0:12:10.073,0:12:13.083
will ever see each other again.

0:12:20.086,0:12:24.086
(Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting)

0:12:37.076,0:12:38.986
(ominous music)

0:12:39.105,0:12:41.577
VO: When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the

0:12:41.577,0:12:44.457
War has been raging for almost two years.

0:12:44.457,0:12:46.397
The cost of the War is clear;

0:12:46.397,0:12:49.467
the countryside is scarred and the casualties

0:12:49.467,0:12:51.237
high.

0:12:51.237,0:12:53.627
After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare

0:12:53.627,0:12:57.117
throughout 1915, and with a new wave of

0:12:57.117,0:13:00.097
thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is

0:13:00.097,0:13:02.347
clear the Big Push is imminent.

0:13:02.347,0:13:04.307
(marching feet)

0:13:04.307,0:13:07.107
Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but

0:13:07.107,0:13:08.427
he fears for the lives of his old school

0:13:08.427,0:13:12.607
friends who are at the Front.

0:13:12.607,0:13:14.737
Within a month of his arrival in France

0:13:14.737,0:13:17.827
the Allies launch the Somme Offensive.

0:13:17.827,0:13:21.827
At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July,

0:13:21.827,0:13:23.747
the troops in the British Frontline,

0:13:23.747,0:13:25.547
go over the top.

0:13:25.547,0:13:29.547
(whistle sound echoes)

0:13:46.207,0:13:48.077
On the first day of the Offensive alone,

0:13:48.077,0:13:51.950
20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded

0:13:51.950,0:13:55.950
and over 2,000 are reported missing.

0:13:58.243,0:14:00.373
Paul Golightly: [br]The first casualty was the plan.

0:14:00.373,0:14:03.103
It started to fall apart very rapidly.

0:14:03.103,0:14:06.183
Tragically for the men caught out in the open, [br]it was a death sentence.

0:14:06.183,0:14:09.183
1 in 5 men who went into combat on the 1st of July was killed.

0:14:13.619,0:14:16.269
John Garth: It was the most disastrous day

0:14:16.269,0:14:19.159
in the history of the British Army, and

0:14:19.159,0:14:23.289
a tragedy for the entire country. There were

0:14:23.289,0:14:27.368
villages that had lost all their young men.

0:14:29.268,0:14:30.378
Paul Golightly: It's marked as a loss of

0:14:30.378,0:14:35.383
innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed

0:14:35.383,0:14:37.613
represent a turning point in British

0:14:37.613,0:14:40.193
consciousness and the relationship perhaps

0:14:40.193,0:14:42.853
between those who make decisions and those

0:14:42.853,0:14:44.543
who are forced to carry them out.

0:14:44.543,0:14:48.543
(soft piano music)

0:14:53.162,0:14:54.762
VO: Among the many men that are lost on that

0:14:54.762,0:14:59.602
day, is dear friend and TCBS member,

0:14:59.602,0:15:03.082
Robert Gilson.

0:15:03.082,0:15:07.862
John Garth: He led his Platoon over the top

0:15:07.862,0:15:10.672
took charge of his Company, but was shot

0:15:10.672,0:15:13.532
in the middle of No Man's Land.

0:15:15.871,0:15:18.731
Paul Golightly: He was in the fourth wave.

0:15:18.731,0:15:21.441
He saw the first wave go in and fail,

0:15:22.221,0:15:24.571
the second wave go in and fail,

0:15:24.571,0:15:26.271
the third wave go in and fail.

0:15:27.896,0:15:30.506
And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had

0:15:30.506,0:15:34.469
to go in; and they still went. And that

0:15:34.469,0:15:36.919
I think is the most poignant and probably

0:15:36.919,0:15:39.269
the most tragic thing about the 1st of July

0:15:39.269,0:15:44.839
1916. That this generation, had so much faith

0:15:44.839,0:15:48.069
in their superiors, probably had so much

0:15:48.069,0:15:50.339
commitment to their fellows that they were

0:15:50.339,0:15:52.749
prepared to go, even though it meant certain

0:15:52.749,0:15:55.759
death.

0:15:57.061,0:15:58.721
John Garth: Tolkien heard about this

0:15:58.721,0:16:01.691
after his first action on the Somme a couple

0:16:01.691,0:16:04.761
of weeks later; and he was devastated.

0:16:05.761,0:16:07.621
It shook him to the foundations of his

0:16:07.621,0:16:10.541
beliefs. He had, as all of the members of

0:16:10.541,0:16:14.281
the TCBS had, built up their group as a

0:16:14.281,0:16:18.971
fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had

0:16:18.971,0:16:21.279
something to give to the World. In which

0:16:21.279,0:16:25.549
all four of them were vital parts, and now

0:16:25.549,0:16:27.899
one of them was dead. So what did that mean

0:16:27.899,0:16:30.709
about their overall purpose? And also his

0:16:30.709,0:16:32.939
purpose.

0:16:32.939,0:16:34.319
Simon Stacey: Geoffrey Smith wrote him a

0:16:34.319,0:16:39.789
letter in which, clearly Smith experiences

0:16:39.789,0:16:43.856
feelings of devastation and a sense that the

0:16:43.856,0:16:47.106
fellowship had been broken. Rob would never

0:16:47.106,0:16:52.166
become an architect, he would never fulfil

0:16:52.166,0:16:55.031
his part in whatever they dreamed of.

0:16:56.054,0:16:57.644
John Garthm: And I think it took him quite

0:16:57.644,0:17:01.994
some time to recover from that. The other

0:17:01.994,0:17:04.514
two members, Wiseman and Smith, were

0:17:04.514,0:17:07.704
determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS

0:17:07.704,0:17:10.044
purpose continued and I think eventually

0:17:10.044,0:17:12.784
Tolkien took heart from that.

0:17:13.619,0:17:16.339
VO: Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster

0:17:16.339,0:17:18.639
at King Edward's school to offer his

0:17:18.639,0:17:21.959
condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young

0:17:21.959,0:17:25.779
man, a talented artist and most painfully

0:17:25.779,0:17:28.599
of all; a dear friend.

0:17:33.641,0:17:36.501
Tolkien's war has well and truly started and

0:17:36.501,0:17:38.301
over the coming months he is subject to the

0:17:38.301,0:17:41.021
many hardships of trench warfare.

0:17:41.487,0:17:43.485
John Garth: He spent his time in and out

0:17:43.485,0:17:47.805
of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated

0:17:47.805,0:17:50.288
from the Frontline to the reserve trenches

0:17:50.288,0:17:54.266
to rest, as they laughably called it, but

0:17:54.266,0:17:56.376
it wasn't really rest, it was training.

0:17:56.376,0:17:59.066
Tolkien talked about the universal weariness

0:17:59.066,0:18:01.388
of all this war. But during this period he

0:18:01.388,0:18:04.198
was involved in three attacks, he was

0:18:04.198,0:18:06.478
very fortunate not to have to go through the

0:18:06.478,0:18:08.798
first day of the Somme; he was a few miles

0:18:08.798,0:18:11.478
back from the Frontline at that time.

0:18:11.478,0:18:13.638
His Battalion moved forward for a second

0:18:13.638,0:18:15.874
wave of attacks, they were launched against a

0:18:15.874,0:18:18.070
village called Ovillers; which had been the

0:18:18.070,0:18:21.410
German Frontline. One of the first things that

0:18:21.410,0:18:25.233
he encountered was, complete chaos in the

0:18:25.233,0:18:27.705
battlefield communications system. It was very

0:18:27.705,0:18:31.245
primitive. It was only partly built; damaged

0:18:31.245,0:18:35.233
by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers

0:18:35.233,0:18:38.703
going across No Man's Land carrying flares

0:18:38.703,0:18:41.537
to say, we have arrived. Further flares -

0:18:41.537,0:18:43.994
"we have taken prisoners", they carried

0:18:43.994,0:18:46.394
pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable

0:18:46.394,0:18:49.025
method of communication. One of Tolkien's

0:18:49.025,0:18:52.195
signallers won a military medal for managing

0:18:52.195,0:18:55.604
to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and

0:18:55.604,0:18:57.161
do the job correctly.

0:18:57.423,0:18:59.633
VO: The attack is a success and many

0:18:59.633,0:19:02.127
prisoners are captured. Of all the combat

0:19:02.127,0:19:05.027
Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant

0:19:05.027,0:19:08.941
battles is also one of his last; an attack

0:19:08.941,0:19:10.041
on Regina Trench.

0:19:10.041,0:19:12.551
John Garth: This was in October, by which

0:19:12.551,0:19:15.152
time the battlefield had been reduced to mud.

0:19:16.459,0:19:19.459
The attack had been delayed by heavy rain

0:19:19.459,0:19:21.794
but on October 21st there was a cold snap

0:19:21.794,0:19:23.705
so the ground was frozen hard and the

0:19:23.705,0:19:25.974
attack was able to go ahead.

0:19:25.974,0:19:30.444
(Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire)

0:19:30.444,0:19:32.525
(Gunfire, bullets zipping by)

0:19:32.525,0:19:47.715
(solemn music)

0:19:47.715,0:19:51.665
John Garth: He saw violent death, he also

0:19:51.665,0:19:54.505
saw and felt extreme terror.

0:19:56.642,0:19:59.579
He never, as far as we know, described at

0:19:59.579,0:20:02.699
length what trench warfare was like but he

0:20:03.140,0:20:05.460
summed it up in two words, in one of his

0:20:05.460,0:20:08.430
letters, and this was; "animal horror".

0:20:09.276,0:20:12.988
It would reduce you from humanity and

0:20:12.988,0:20:16.758
turn you into a retched beast desperate only

0:20:16.758,0:20:19.998
to cower and survive. And it's very

0:20:19.998,0:20:22.188
interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings

0:20:22.188,0:20:25.198
whenever the characters are in situations of

0:20:25.199,0:20:28.279
extreme fear, they're always described as

0:20:28.279,0:20:34.744
stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror.

0:20:34.820,0:20:36.630
Paul Golightly: A lot of British trenches

0:20:36.630,0:20:38.670
were deliberately uncomfortable because

0:20:38.670,0:20:40.590
the Generals wanted the men to believe

0:20:40.590,0:20:42.476
that they were only temporary, that they

0:20:42.476,0:20:44.369
would be advancing beyond this, that this

0:20:44.369,0:20:45.699
wasn't their home.

0:20:47.365,0:20:50.385
VO: Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels

0:20:50.395,0:20:53.065
isolated from home and letters to, and from,

0:20:53.066,0:20:56.146
Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of

0:20:56.146,0:20:58.576
strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden

0:20:58.576,0:21:01.696
from sharing his location in his letters, so

0:21:01.934,0:21:04.554
he devises a code of dots to keep Edith

0:21:04.554,0:21:06.454
informed of where he is.

0:21:06.454,0:21:09.144
John Garth: He simply found the letters

0:21:09.144,0:21:11.994
of the alphabet within what he wrote to her

0:21:11.994,0:21:13.964
and put a dot above the relevant ones to

0:21:13.964,0:21:16.684
spell out the name of the place where he was

0:21:16.684,0:21:20.941
currently located. And Edith kept a map

0:21:20.941,0:21:24.554
on her wall and pins to show where he was

0:21:24.554,0:21:27.324
at that time.

0:21:27.324,0:21:29.824
VO: After the successful attack on Regina

0:21:29.824,0:21:32.365
Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the

0:21:32.365,0:21:35.255
front and paraded in front of the top brass.

0:21:35.255,0:21:37.555
Tolkien however, falls ill.

0:21:37.555,0:21:40.225
John Garth: It was trench fever. And this

0:21:40.225,0:21:43.282
was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic

0:21:43.282,0:21:44.450
conditions in the trenches.

0:21:44.450,0:21:46.770
Paul Golightly: It spread through contact

0:21:46.797,0:21:51.049
with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant

0:21:51.049,0:21:53.719
It gives you a headache, you can have stomach

0:21:53.719,0:21:56.526
cramps, you can have pain in you joints

0:21:56.526,0:21:59.400
and in your bones, you can get lesions on

0:21:59.400,0:22:02.740
your skin; it's not fatal but it can become

0:22:02.740,0:22:05.560
very debilitating. So debilitating you can't

0:22:05.560,0:22:08.052
be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very

0:22:08.052,0:22:10.512
bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided

0:22:10.513,0:22:12.384
"back to Blighty" as they put it.

0:22:12.384,0:22:13.813
And in fact it was the end of his war.

0:22:13.813,0:22:15.638
John Garth: It saved Tolkien's life, it took

0:22:15.638,0:22:19.838
him out of the battlefield and back to Britain.

0:22:19.838,0:22:23.008
He was shipped home to Birmingham, to

0:22:23.008,0:22:24.825
The First Southern General Hospital as it

0:22:24.825,0:22:27.503
was called at the time, which was actually set

0:22:27.503,0:22:29.838
up in the grounds of Birmingham University.

0:22:29.838,0:22:33.418
And it was there that Tolkien was re-united

0:22:33.425,0:22:37.040
with his wife, Edith and where he began

0:22:37.040,0:22:40.430
writing the first stories of Middle-Earth.

0:22:41.040,0:22:43.967
His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional

0:22:43.967,0:22:47.034
and was an inspiration for various pieces of

0:22:47.034,0:22:49.376
writing in his mythology, notably the

0:22:49.376,0:22:52.971
story of Luthien and Beren; which features

0:22:52.971,0:22:54.863
in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in

0:22:54.863,0:22:57.843
The Lord of The Rings. A love story between

0:22:58.263,0:23:01.094
a mortal man and an immortal elf.

0:23:01.094,0:23:01.957
(Gentle Piano Music)

0:23:01.957,0:23:05.157
VO: However, Tolkien's respite is short lived.

0:23:05.157,0:23:07.649
Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien

0:23:07.649,0:23:10.202
learns from Christopher Wiseman, that

0:23:10.202,0:23:14.452
good friend G.B.Smith has been killed.

0:23:17.354,0:23:19.284
John Garth: The Battle of the Somme was

0:23:19.293,0:23:22.619
over, and Smith had been organising a

0:23:22.619,0:23:25.699
football match for his men about four miles

0:23:25.702,0:23:28.312
behind the Frontline, when a stray shell

0:23:28.312,0:23:31.212
exploded near him.

0:23:31.212,0:23:34.902
He was hit by shrapnel and developed what

0:23:34.902,0:23:37.834
they called Gas Gangrene, which killed

0:23:37.834,0:23:41.572
him within a few days. Early in 1916, while

0:23:41.572,0:23:44.892
Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter

0:23:44.910,0:23:47.742
G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches

0:23:47.742,0:23:48.722
in France.

0:23:48.722,0:23:51.760
VO: Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol.

0:23:51.760,0:23:53.774
The officer who had led the patrol the night before

0:23:53.774,0:23:57.468
had been captured and most likely killed.

0:23:57.468,0:23:59.540
John Garth: It was about the most dangerous

0:23:59.540,0:24:02.007
activity that you could do on the Western Front

0:24:02.007,0:24:04.136
and Smith was about to go into it and he took

0:24:04.136,0:24:08.006
the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and

0:24:08.020,0:24:15.660
tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol,

0:24:15.665,0:24:18.475
I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of

0:24:18.475,0:24:22.675
what you've written and what you will write"

0:24:22.675,0:24:28.965
He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen,

0:24:28.968,0:24:32.968
and you must publish."

0:24:33.276,0:24:35.956
Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth

0:24:35.956,0:24:37.086
fan.

0:24:37.086,0:24:39.496
Simon Stacey: Smith says in the letter that

0:24:40.906,0:24:44.516
death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to

0:24:44.522,0:24:48.522
the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien

0:24:49.334,0:24:52.904
may say the things that he had wanted to

0:24:52.904,0:24:56.989
say, long after he is there to say them.

0:24:56.989,0:25:00.914
That's very moving because Tolkien, although

0:25:00.914,0:25:04.984
very much his own individual artistic self,

0:25:05.545,0:25:08.915
I think did see his later career as an

0:25:08.915,0:25:12.165
attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that

0:25:12.165,0:25:13.177
they'd shared.

0:25:13.177,0:25:17.351
John Garth: He was able to gather his strength

0:25:17.351,0:25:23.391
and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to.

0:25:24.659,0:25:27.769
VO: In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and

0:25:27.769,0:25:30.003
Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and

0:25:30.003,0:25:32.423
have them published in a small volume,

0:25:32.430,0:25:36.670
entitled; "A Spring Harvest".

0:25:37.493,0:25:40.054
Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his

0:25:40.064,0:25:43.126
experiences will stay with him forever, and

0:25:43.126,0:25:46.028
will even feature in his future writings.

0:25:46.028,0:25:47.740
John Garth: The whole experience of the War

0:25:47.740,0:25:52.200
had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's

0:25:52.200,0:25:53.627
mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from

0:25:53.627,0:25:55.571
the Somme he started writing a story called,

0:25:55.571,0:25:58.455
"The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first

0:25:58.455,0:26:01.325
element of his mythology that dealt with battle.

0:26:02.026,0:26:04.292
And the fascinating thing about it is that the

0:26:04.292,0:26:07.555
attacking forces use things that are termed

0:26:07.555,0:26:09.661
by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters"

0:26:09.661,0:26:13.940
but they're described as metallic and rolling

0:26:13.940,0:26:16.267
and they spout fire and some of them have

0:26:16.267,0:26:18.697
troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that

0:26:18.697,0:26:22.040
this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank.

0:26:22.040,0:26:23.849
Which was Britains secret weapon, which

0:26:23.849,0:26:26.290
had just been launched on the Somme while

0:26:26.290,0:26:27.366
Tolkien was there.

0:26:27.366,0:26:31.168
The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship,

0:26:31.168,0:26:33.614
they're separated on different battlefronts,

0:26:33.614,0:26:34.944
much like the TCBS were.

0:26:34.944,0:26:37.435
Simon Stacey: It's almost unimaginable that,

0:26:37.435,0:26:39.619
in writing of the breaking of the fellowship,

0:26:39.619,0:26:42.214
in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't

0:26:42.214,0:26:45.444
have been influenced by his own loss during

0:26:45.461,0:26:47.820
the First World War and the breaking of the

0:26:47.820,0:26:49.470
TCBS fellowship.

0:26:49.876,0:26:53.082
There is a late letter in which he mentions

0:26:53.082,0:26:56.112
that the dead marshes, through which Frodo,

0:26:56.139,0:27:00.148
Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to

0:27:00.148,0:27:02.432
northern France, in the area of the Somme

0:27:02.432,0:27:03.483
where he fought.

0:27:03.483,0:27:06.713
John Garth: Frodo and Sam are very much

0:27:06.739,0:27:10.289
the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his

0:27:10.289,0:27:12.835
servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my

0:27:12.835,0:27:17.655
Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and

0:27:17.821,0:27:21.621
Batmen I knew in the First World War".

0:27:21.899,0:27:24.639
Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young

0:27:25.080,0:27:28.234
man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war

0:27:28.324,0:27:31.208
unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible

0:27:31.208,0:27:35.478
burden; a burden of duty. You can see that

0:27:35.493,0:27:39.493
Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now

0:27:40.368,0:27:42.644
call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or

0:27:42.644,0:27:44.804
War Trauma, or what they called then,

0:27:44.804,0:27:48.926
Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from

0:27:48.926,0:27:52.410
the World, increasingly enclosed within himself

0:27:52.410,0:27:55.200
he says he can't remember what grass was like,

0:27:55.200,0:27:57.320
what sunlight was like.

0:27:57.756,0:28:00.976
When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings,

0:28:01.102,0:28:03.882
Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero,

0:28:03.886,0:28:05.782
he is visibly traumatised by the whole

0:28:05.782,0:28:09.406
experience. This was very true of many of the

0:28:09.406,0:28:11.595
soldiers who returned from the Western

0:28:11.595,0:28:14.990
Front, unable to talk about the experiences

0:28:14.990,0:28:17.803
that had affected them so deeply.

0:28:17.803,0:28:22.306
(retrospective piano music)

0:28:22.306,0:28:24.131
Paul Golightly: The generation that fights

0:28:24.131,0:28:27.244
the First World War, should be called courageous.

0:28:27.244,0:28:30.374
Simon Stacey: The sacrifice of that generation

0:28:30.374,0:28:31.434
was extraordinary.

0:28:31.434,0:28:35.234
John Garth: It was a tragic loss not only for

0:28:35.272,0:28:39.396
families, for friends, but for civilisation as

0:28:39.396,0:28:45.476
a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and

0:28:45.476,0:28:48.386
assumptions in honour and glory.

0:28:48.386,0:28:51.567
Simon Stacey: It is the first thorough

0:28:51.567,0:28:56.777
going war of the machines. So many

0:28:56.786,0:28:59.580
thousands and ultimately millions of men

0:28:59.580,0:29:04.087
could be wiped out, could be destroyed without

0:29:04.087,0:29:05.845
necessarily facing their individual enemy.

0:29:05.845,0:29:08.185
Paul Golightly: These men don't have

0:29:08.185,0:29:11.503
the privilege of dying one at a time, they die

0:29:11.503,0:29:14.106
on mass; and it's those numbers that I think

0:29:14.106,0:29:17.202
traumatise us so much. That's why we have

0:29:17.202,0:29:20.820
the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate;

0:29:20.820,0:29:24.100
where it's just one long list of names.

0:29:24.100,0:29:26.685
These bodies have simply disappeared, and

0:29:26.685,0:29:28.593
they're all separate lives but they've all

0:29:28.593,0:29:29.990
vanished at once.

0:29:30.730,0:29:33.479
John Garth: When you read the King Edward's

0:29:33.479,0:29:38.119
School Chronicle, as I have to research

0:29:38.119,0:29:42.809
Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys

0:29:42.934,0:29:45.353
with whom he grew up and you see their

0:29:45.353,0:29:47.319
achievements, you see what they were learning,

0:29:47.319,0:29:50.309
you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially

0:29:50.332,0:29:55.027
creative and brilliant they were. And then

0:29:55.027,0:29:57.324
the First World War; and you see that they're

0:29:57.324,0:29:58.766
heading for this.

0:29:58.766,0:30:01.160
Paul Golightly: These young men, with their

0:30:01.160,0:30:03.690
whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's

0:30:03.700,0:30:05.830
a phrase that we all know, have been cut off

0:30:05.830,0:30:08.225
in their prime. They were full of potential,

0:30:08.225,0:30:10.370
full of life, full of vigour, full of plans,

0:30:10.370,0:30:12.485
full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of

0:30:12.485,0:30:14.118
things with their professional lives and

0:30:14.118,0:30:16.499
their personal lives, and denied that opportunity.

0:30:16.499,0:30:18.928
John Garth: When you look at the fortunes

0:30:18.928,0:30:21.390
of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien

0:30:21.390,0:30:24.063
survived and went on to produce the great

0:30:24.063,0:30:26.235
works of literature that he did; works that

0:30:26.235,0:30:28.542
have shaped our culture. And one does

0:30:28.542,0:30:33.016
wonder how many others didn't survive,

0:30:33.016,0:30:35.199
what potential was locked inside them that

0:30:35.199,0:30:39.069
they never had time to bring out of themselves.

0:30:39.069,0:30:43.272
So there is an uncountable loss there.

0:30:44.189,0:30:47.729
Simon Stacey: G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse

0:30:47.733,0:30:52.703
of a young life snuffed out and only very

0:30:52.703,0:30:56.792
incompletely communicating its dreams.

0:30:56.792,0:30:59.070
Paul Golightly: This is a generation that did

0:30:59.070,0:31:01.438
not talk about the way it felt. So in that

0:31:01.438,0:31:04.578
sense I think the psychological affect was

0:31:04.578,0:31:07.998
long lasting. A number of veterans surived

0:31:07.998,0:31:10.633
the war only to find that they couldn't survive

0:31:10.633,0:31:11.413
the peace.

0:31:11.873,0:31:14.531
VO: In the chapel at King Edward's School,

0:31:14.531,0:31:18.795
eight brass plaques hold the names of

0:31:18.795,0:31:21.350
245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during

0:31:21.350,0:31:24.977
the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS

0:31:24.977,0:31:26.821
friends, are just four of almost

0:31:26.821,0:31:29.475
fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered

0:31:29.475,0:31:32.820
their country's call and fought in The Great War,

0:31:32.820,0:31:35.860
and each of their stories is worth telling.

0:31:36.603,0:31:38.976
Paul Golightly: The graveyards that you can

0:31:38.976,0:31:42.427
walk around in northern France now have become

0:31:42.427,0:31:45.447
almost 21st century cathedrals; where some

0:31:45.448,0:31:47.663
really important questions need to be ask about

0:31:47.663,0:31:50.434
the nature of war and the nature of

0:31:50.434,0:31:55.264
sacrifice, and in the First World War's case,

0:31:55.997,0:32:01.067
the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war

0:32:01.067,0:32:05.913
could be worth that.

0:32:13.317,0:32:27.917
(Piano Solo)