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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,

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was born on the 3rd January, 1892.

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He and his brother Hilary, experienced

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a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was

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just four, they lost their father, Arthur,

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to rheumatic fever.

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As a widow with low income, his mother

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Mabel, home school the brothers and played

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a vital role in their early education and

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development.

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Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a

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fascination and thirst for languages.

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Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King

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Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.

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From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of

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12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be

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educated in an environment that would help

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fulfil his academic potential.

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[John Garth] Going to King Edward's was vitally

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important to Tolkien; he was an

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exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's

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offered him a vast amount of scope and also

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the company of other boys who were

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similarly talented.

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Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien

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to find.

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[Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but

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he was a leading light in the debating society

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and the literary society; he was the life and

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soul really and he missed the school a

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great deal, I think, when he finally had

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to leave.

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[VO] At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his

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brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,

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to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges

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himself into school life more energetically

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than before. Academically he excels, but

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in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,

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Christopher Wiseman.

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[John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend

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at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on

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the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician;

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quite different from Tolkien.

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They developed such a strong bond on the rugby

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field that they called themselves;

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"The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase

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from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord

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Macauley.

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[Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals

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in the school, both being very academic

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boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect

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and he was interested in a lot of the things

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that Tolkien was getting interested in;

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languages, I think he was looking at

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Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.

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[John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have

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helped define each other through their

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teenage years because they would argue;

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they would argue strongly about all their

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beliefs in life.

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[Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented

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musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone

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deaf but that didn't stop them getting on!

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[VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the

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headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman

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and Gilson, form a strong bond which will

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last throughout their school years and beyond.

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Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is

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about to change, yet again.

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[John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings

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with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16

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he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19

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at the time. And she was a beautiful young

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girl; talented pianist and also an orphan.

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And the two of them bonded on their shared

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sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams.

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The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him,

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and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic

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and she was an Anglican.

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[VO] Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan,

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a Catholic Priest, feels this is major

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divide; and also believes that Edith will

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distract Tolkien from his attempts to get

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into Oxford University.

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[John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade

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them from seeing each other, or even from

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communicating. He was thrown back upon his

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friendships at King Edward's and it was

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this final phase of his time here, that he

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began to flourish and make the place his

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own; he and his friends ruled the roost.

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[VO] Making the most of his final year at

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King Edward's and the friendships he has

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formed, Tolkien and his peers create an

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informal society.

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These young intellectuals gather in the school

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library and do what they are forbidden to do:

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brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet

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in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham

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and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves

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the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"

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or the TCBS for short.

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(nostalgic music)

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[John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably

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Tolkien and Wiseman and the others

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gravitated around them. There was Robert

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Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster

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here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,

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he was perhaps the social glue of the group;

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he would welcome anyone and find common

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cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow

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who loved to sketch.

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[Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and

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had ambitions to be an architect.

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There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,

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who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic

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mythology; so this gave him common ground

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with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's

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passions.

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[Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished

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and advanced poet who recommended contemporary

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poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing

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poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,

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inspired by Smith and the wider group.

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And that was really the beginnings of

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Tolkien as a writer.

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[John Garth] From the beginnings which were

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mostly about fun, later on, during the war years,

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this developed into a fellowship from which

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each of them drew tremendous strength and

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comfort.

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[VO] Later that year, Tolkien's time at

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King Edward's comes to an end and he begins

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his first term at Oxford, having successfully

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gained entrance.

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On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his

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independence from Father Francis Morgan,

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Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a

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week later, they are re-united.

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Edith is engaged to marry another man,

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but despite almost certain ridicule,

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she agrees to break the engagement to be

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with her Ronald.

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Over the next few months, a growing sense of

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trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th

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of June, 1914, everything changes.

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(gun shot sound)

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(solemn music)

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Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the

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assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

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A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks,

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Europe's major powers are at war.

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Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares

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war on Germany. Parliament issues a call

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to arms from the British public.

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[Paul Golightly] There isn't a rush to the

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colours straight away. It becomes much more

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obvious that people are willing to join

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up when atrocity stories start to emerge,

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then you get a much more concerted rush

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to join.

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[John Garth] There was an air of excitement

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about the war, there was a naive sense that

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this would allow young men to fulfil their

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potential in a way that wasn't possible in

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peace time. There was a tremendous sense

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of patriotism and a sense of duty towards

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whatever England, or Britain, stood for.

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[Paul Golightly] They are attracted to the

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idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans,

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or at least some of them will be. On the

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whole, they thought they were going to give

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the Germans a bloody nose.

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[John Garth] "The Germans has been dastardly"

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and needed to dealt with and shown their place.

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[Paul Golightly] Men join up out of economic

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necessity and you'll find that in any war.

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Life is not very exciting and the romance

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and colour of joining the army and being

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part of something very big indeed, I'm sure

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has some allure.

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(solemn music) And they see things

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in rather romantic ways, which of course is

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doomed to fail; we all know what the First

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World War turns into. It's not a war of

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movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry

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charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid

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it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire

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and the crump of artillery that's going to

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dominate.

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So they, I think, have expectations about what

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the war will be like, and I think their main

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emotion was, will it be over before I can

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get to France.

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[John Garth] Tolkien, who's reading covered

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ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly

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frank about what happens in war, went into

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the war much more open-eyed. He described

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himself as a "young man with too much

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imagination" and so he did not relish battle

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in any sense.

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[Paul Golightly] And I think that applies

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to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it,

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but also the politicians and generals who

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directed it; I think a lot of people

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understood that this war could be terrible.

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[Simon Stacey] What you get in the letters

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between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and

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then in Smith's poetry, is a serious

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determination to do their duty and that they

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should be prepared to give their lives.

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A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time

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and that they've got to come through it.

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[VO] G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join

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the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary,

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signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman

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joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a

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dilemma.

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[Simon Stacey] Tolkien was in a difficult

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position when war broke out; he had a year

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of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien

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needed a degree badly because he wanted to

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pursue an academic career; he didn't have

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any money in his family unlike Gilson and

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therefore, having committed three years to

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the degree it was very important that he

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completed it. So he discovered a scheme

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whereby he could undergo some training

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in the Officer Training Core whilst

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completing his degree, which he did triumphantly

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with a first at Oxford.

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[VO] He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into

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the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being

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posted to the same battalion.

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[John Garth] Tolkien was looking for something

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in the army through which he could use his

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particular talents, and his particular talents

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were languages and writing systems; he was

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fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was

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only natural that he would train up as a

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signaller.

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[Paul Golightly] It would have meant that

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Tolkien was exposed to the technology

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available at the time and it must have

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interested him; so the use of the radio, the

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use of signals, of semaphore.

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[Simon Stacey] He learnt morse code,

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he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field

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telephones; which of course went on largely

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to be ineffective or not to work.

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[John Garth] He became Battalion Signalling

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Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to

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oversee the communications of a Battalion

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of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on

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manpower at the time.

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[Paul Golightly] His basic job of course

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was to act as a link between the various

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layers of command, and that he would be

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responsible for incoming orders and making sure

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that the right people got those and of course

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he'd be responsible for telling command further

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up the line about the situation on his sector.

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[John Garth] So he was an absolute lynch pin

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in a war which depended absolutely on how

265
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much information you had about your enemies

266
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position.

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[VO] In March of 1916 as his training nears

268
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its completion, both Tolkien and Edith

269
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become aware that he will soon be sent to

270
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the Front. They marry and just over two

271
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months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France.

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The two of them part, not knowing if they

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will ever see each other again.

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(Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting)

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(ominous music)

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[VO] When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the

277
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
War has been raging for almost two years.

278
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The cost of the War is clear;

279
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the countryside is scarred and the casualties

280
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high.

281
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After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare

282
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throughout 1915, and with a new wave of

283
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is

284
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clear the Big Push is imminent.

285
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(marching feet)

286
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Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but

287
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he fears for the lives of his old school

288
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friends who are at the Front.

289
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Within a month of his arrival in France

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the Allies launch the Somme Offensive.

291
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At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July,

292
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the troops in the British Frontline,

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go over the top.

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(whistle sound echoes)

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On the first day of the Offensive alone,

296
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20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded

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and over 2,000 are reported missing.

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[Paul Golightly] The first casualty was

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the plan. It started to fall apart very

300
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out

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in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5

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men who went into combat on the 1st of July

303
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was killed.

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[John Garth] It was the most disastrous day

305
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in the history of the British Army, and

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a tragedy for the entire country. There were

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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
villages that had lost all their young men.

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[Paul Golightly] It's marked as a loss of

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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed

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represent a turning point in British

311
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consciousness and the relationship perhaps

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between those who make decisions and those

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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who are forced to carry them out.

314
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(soft piano music)

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[VO] Among the many men that are lost on that

316
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
day, is dear friend and TCBS member,

317
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Robert Gilson.

318
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[John Garth] He led his Platoon over the top

319
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took charge of his Company, but was shot

320
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in the middle of No Man's Land.

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[Paul Golightly] He was in the fourth wave.

322
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He saw the first wave go in and fail,

323
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the second wave go in and fail,

324
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the third wave go in and fail.

325
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had

326
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to go in; and they still went. And that

327
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I think is the most poignant and probably

328
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the most tragic thing about the 1st of July

329
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
1916. That this generation, had so much faith

330
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in their superiors, probably had so much

331
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
commitment to their fellows that they were

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prepared to go, even though it meant certain

333
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
death.

334
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[John Garth] Tolkien heard about this

335
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
after his first action on the Somme a couple

336
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of weeks later; and he was devastated.

337
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It shook him to the foundations of his

338
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beliefs. He had, as all of the members of

339
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the TCBS had, built up their group as a

340
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had

341
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
something to give to the World. In which

342
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
all four of them were vital parts, and now

343
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one of them was dead. So what did that mean

344
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about their overall purpose? And also his

345
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
purpose.

346
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Simon Stacey] Geoffrey Smith wrote him a

347
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
letter in which, clearly Smith experiences

348
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
feelings of devastation and a sense that the

349
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fellowship had been broken. Rob would never

350
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
become an architect, he would never fulfil

351
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
his part in whatever they dreamed of.

352
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] And I think it took him quite

353
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
some time to recover from that. The other

354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
two members, Wiseman and Smith, were

355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS

356
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
purpose continued and I think eventually

357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien took heart from that.

358
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster

359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at King Edward's school to offer his

360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young

361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
man, a talented artist and most painfully

362
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of all; a dear friend.

363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien's war has well and truly started and

364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
over the coming months he is subject to the

365
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
many hardships of trench warfare.

366
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] He spent his time in and out

367
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated

368
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from the Frontline to the reserve trenches

369
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to rest, as they laughably called it, but

370
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it wasn't really rest, it was training.

371
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien talked about the universal weariness

372
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of all this war. But during this period he

373
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was involved in three attacks, he was

374
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very fortunate not to have to go through the

375
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
first day of the Somme; he was a few miles

376
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
back from the Frontline at that time.

377
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His Battalion moved forward for a second

378
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wave of attacks, they were launched against a

379
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
village called Ovier; which had been the

380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
German Frontline. One of the first things that

381
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he encountered was, complete chaos in the

382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
battlefield communications system. It was very

383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
primitive. It was only partly built; damaged

384
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers

385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
going across No Man's Land carrying flares

386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to say, we have arrived. Further flares -

387
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"we have taken prisoners", they carried

388
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable

389
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
method of communication. One of Tolkien's

390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
signallers won a military medal for managing

391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and

392
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
do the job correctly.

393
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] The attack is a success and many

394
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
prisoners are captured. Of all the combat

395
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant

396
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
battles is also one of his last; an attack

397
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on Regina Trench.

398
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] This was in October, by which

399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
time the battlefield had been reduced to mud.

400
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The attack had been delayed by heavy rain

401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but on October 21st there was a cold snap

402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so the ground was frozen hard and the

403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
attack was able to go ahead.

404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire)

405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Gunfire, bullets zipping by)

406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(solemn music)

407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] He saw violent death, he also

408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
saw and felt extreme terror.

409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He never, as far as we know, described at

410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
length what trench warfare was like but he

411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
summed it up in two words, in one of his

412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
letters, and this was; "animal horror".

413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It would reduce you from humanity and

414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
turn you into a retched beast desperate only

415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to cower and survive. And it's very

416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings

417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
whenever the characters are in situations of

418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
extreme fear, they're always described as

419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror.

420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] A lot of British trenches

421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
were deliberately uncomfortable because

422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Generals wanted the men to believe

423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that they were only temporary, that they

424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
would be advancing beyond this, that this

425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wasn't their home.

426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels

427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
isolated from home and letters to, and from,

428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of

429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden

430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from sharing his location in his letters, so

431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he devises a code of dots to keep Edith

432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
informed of where he is.

433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] He simply found the letters

434
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the alphabet within what he wrote to her

435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and put a dot above the relevant ones to

436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
spell out the name of the place where he was

437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
currently located. And Edith kept a map

438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on her wall and pins to show where he was

439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at that time.

440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] After the successful attack on Regina

441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the

442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
front and paraded in front of the top brass.

443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien however, falls ill.

444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] It was trench fever. And this

445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic

446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
conditions in the trenches.

447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] It spread through contact

448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant

449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It gives you a headache, you can have stomach

450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
cramps, you can have pain in you joints

451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and in your bones, you can get lesions on

452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
your skin; it's not fatal but it can become

453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very debilitating. So debilitating you can't

454
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very

455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided

456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"back to Blighty" as they put it.

457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in fact it was the end of his war.

458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] It saved Tolkien's life, it took

459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
him out of the battlefield and back to Britain.

460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He was shipped home to Birmingham, to

461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The First Southern General Hospital as it

462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was called at the time, which was actually set

463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
up in the grounds of Birmingham University.

464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it was there that Tolkien was re-united

465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with his wife, Edith and where he began

466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
writing the first stories of Middle-Earth.

467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional

468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and was an inspiration for various pieces of

469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
writing in his mythology, notably the

470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
story of Luthien and Beren; which features

471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in

472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Lord of The Rings. A love story between

473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a mortal man and an immortal elf.

474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Gentle Piano Music)

475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] However, Tolkien's respite is short lived.

476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien

477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
learns from Christopher Wiseman, that

478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
good friend G.B.Smith has been killed.

479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] The Battle of the Somme was

480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
over, and Smith had been organising a

481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
football match for his men about four miles

482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
behind the Frontline, when a stray shell

483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
exploded near him.

484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He was hit by shrapnel and developed what

485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they called Gas Gangrene, which killed

486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
him within a few days. Early in 1916, while

487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter

488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches

489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in France.

490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol.

491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The officer who had led the patrol the night before

492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
had been captured and most likely killed.

493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] It was about the most dangerous

494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
activity that you could do on the Western Front

495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Smith was about to go into it and he took

496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and

497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol,

498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of

499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what you've written and what you will write"

500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen,

501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you must publish."

502
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth

503
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fan.

504
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Simon Stacey] Smith says in the letter that

505
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to

506
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien

507
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
may say the things that he had wanted to

508
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
say, long after he is there to say them.

509
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's very moving because Tolkien, although

510
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very much his own individual artistic self,

511
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I think did see his later career as an

512
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that

513
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they'd shared.

514
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] He was able to gather his strength

515
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to.

516
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and

517
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and

518
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have them published in a small volume,

519
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
entitled; "A Spring Harvest".

520
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his

521
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
experiences will stay with him forever, and

522
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will even feature in his future writings.

523
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] The whole experience of the War

524
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's

525
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from

526
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Somme he started writing a story called,

527
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first

528
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
element of his mythology that dealt with battle.

529
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the fascinating thing about it is that the

530
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
attacking forces use things that are termed

531
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters"

532
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but they're described as metallic and rolling

533
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they spout fire and some of them have

534
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that

535
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank.

536
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Which was Britains secret weapon, which

537
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
had just been launched on the Somme while

538
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien was there.

539
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship,

540
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're separated on different battlefronts,

541
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
much like the TCBS were.

542
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Simon Stacey] It's almost unimaginable that,

543
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in writing of the breaking of the fellowship,

544
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't

545
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have been influenced by his own loss during

546
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the First World War and the breaking of the

547
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
TCBS fellowship.

548
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is a late letter in which he mentions

549
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that the dead marshes, through which Frodo,

550
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to

551
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
northern France, in the area of the Somme

552
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where he fought.

553
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] Frodo and Sam are very much

554
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his

555
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my

556
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and

557
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Batmen I knew in the First World War".

558
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young

559
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war

560
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible

561
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
burden; a burden of duty. You can see that

562
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now

563
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or

564
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
War Trauma, or what they called then,

565
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from

566
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the World, increasingly enclosed within himself

567
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he says he can't remember what grass was like,

568
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what sunlight was like.

569
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings,

570
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero,

571
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he is visibly traumatised by the whole

572
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
experience. This was very true of many of the

573
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
soldiers who returned from the Western

574
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Front, unable to talk about the experiences

575
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that had affected them so deeply.

576
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(retrospective piano music)

577
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] The generation that fights

578
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the First World War, should be called courageous.

579
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Simon Stacey] The sacrifice of that generation

580
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was extraordinary.

581
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] It was a tragic loss not only for

582
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
families, for friends, but for civilisation as

583
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and

584
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
assumptions in order and glory.

585
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Simon Stacey] It is the first thorough

586
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
going war of the machines. So many

587
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
thousands and ultimately millions of men

588
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
could be wiped out, could be destroyed without

589
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
necessarily facing their individual enemy.

590
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] These men don't have

591
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the privilege of dying one at a time, they die

592
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on mass; and it's those numbers that I think

593
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
traumatise us so much. That's why we have

594
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate;

595
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where it's just one long list of names.

596
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
These bodies have simply disappeared, and

597
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're all separate lives but they've all

598
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
vanished at once.

599
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] When you read the King Edward's

600
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
School Chronicle, as I have to research

601
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys

602
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with whom he grew up and you see their

603
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
achievements, you see what they were learning,

604
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially

605
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
creative and brilliant they were. And then

606
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the First World War; and you see that they're

607
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
heading for this.

608
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] These young men, with their

609
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's

610
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a phrase that we all know, have been cut off

611
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in their prime. They were full of potential,

612
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
full of life, full of vigour, full of plans,

613
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of

614
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
things with their professional lives and

615
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
their personal lives, and denied that opportunity.

616
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[John Garth] When you look at the fortunes

617
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien

618
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
survived and went on to produce the great

619
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
works of literature that he did; works that

620
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have shaped our culture. And one does

621
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wonder how many others didn't survive,

622
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what potential was locked inside them that

623
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they never had time to bring out of themselves.

624
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So there is an uncountable loss there.

625
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Simon Stacey] G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse

626
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of a young life snuffed out and only very

627
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
incompletely communicating its dreams.

628
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] This is a generation that did

629
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not talk about the way it felt. So in that

630
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sense I think the psychological affect was

631
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
long lasting. A number of veterans surived

632
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the war only to find that they couldn't survive

633
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the peace.

634
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[VO] In the chapel at King Edward's School,

635
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
eight brass plaques hold the names of

636
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during

637
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS

638
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
friends, are just four of almost

639
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered

640
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
their country's call and fought in The Great War,

641
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and each of their stories is worth telling.

642
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Paul Golightly] The graveyards that you can

643
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
walk around in northern France now have become

644
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
almost 21st century cathedrals; where some

645
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
really important questions need to be ask about

646
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the nature of war and the nature of

647
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sacrifice, and in the First World War's case,

648
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war

649
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
could be worth that.