[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was born on the 3rd January, 1892.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He and his brother Hilary, experienced
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just four, they lost their father, Arthur,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to rheumatic fever.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a widow with low income, his mother
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mabel, home school the brothers and played
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a vital role in their early education and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,development.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fascination and thirst for languages.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,educated in an environment that would help
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fulfil his academic potential.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Going to King Edward's was vitally
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,important to Tolkien; he was an
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,offered him a vast amount of scope and also
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the company of other boys who were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,similarly talented.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to find.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was a leading light in the debating society
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the literary society; he was the life and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,soul really and he missed the school a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great deal, I think, when he finally had
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to leave.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,himself into school life more energetically
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than before. Academically he excels, but
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christopher Wiseman.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,quite different from Tolkien.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They developed such a strong bond on the rugby
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,field that they called themselves;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Macauley.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the school, both being very academic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he was interested in a lot of the things
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Tolkien was getting interested in;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,languages, I think he was looking at
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,helped define each other through their
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,teenage years because they would argue;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they would argue strongly about all their
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beliefs in life.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,deaf but that didn't stop them getting on!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Gilson, form a strong bond which will
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,last throughout their school years and beyond.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about to change, yet again.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the time. And she was a beautiful young
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girl; talented pianist and also an orphan.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the two of them bonded on their shared
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she was an Anglican.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a Catholic Priest, feels this is major
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,divide; and also believes that Edith will
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,distract Tolkien from his attempts to get
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into Oxford University.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,them from seeing each other, or even from
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,communicating. He was thrown back upon his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,friendships at King Edward's and it was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this final phase of his time here, that he
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,began to flourish and make the place his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,own; he and his friends ruled the roost.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Making the most of his final year at
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,King Edward's and the friendships he has
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,formed, Tolkien and his peers create an
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,informal society.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These young intellectuals gather in the school
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,library and do what they are forbidden to do:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the TCBS for short.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(nostalgic music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien and Wiseman and the others
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gravitated around them. There was Robert
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was perhaps the social glue of the group;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he would welcome anyone and find common
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who loved to sketch.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had ambitions to be an architect.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mythology; so this gave him common ground
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,passions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and advanced poet who recommended contemporary
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inspired by Smith and the wider group.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that was really the beginnings of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien as a writer.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] From the beginnings which were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mostly about fun, later on, during the war years,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this developed into a fellowship from which
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,each of them drew tremendous strength and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comfort.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Later that year, Tolkien's time at
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,King Edward's comes to an end and he begins
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his first term at Oxford, having successfully
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gained entrance.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,independence from Father Francis Morgan,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,week later, they are re-united.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edith is engaged to marry another man,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but despite almost certain ridicule,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she agrees to break the engagement to be
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with her Ronald.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the next few months, a growing sense of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of June, 1914, everything changes.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(gun shot sound)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(solemn music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Europe's major powers are at war.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,war on Germany. Parliament issues a call
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to arms from the British public.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] There isn't a rush to the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,colours straight away. It becomes much more
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,obvious that people are willing to join
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up when atrocity stories start to emerge,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you get a much more concerted rush
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to join.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] There was an air of excitement
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the war, there was a naive sense that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this would allow young men to fulfil their
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,potential in a way that wasn't possible in
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,peace time. There was a tremendous sense
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of patriotism and a sense of duty towards
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whatever England, or Britain, stood for.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] They are attracted to the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or at least some of them will be. On the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whole, they thought they were going to give
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Germans a bloody nose.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] "The Germans has been dastardly"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and needed to dealt with and shown their place.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] Men join up out of economic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,necessity and you'll find that in any war.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life is not very exciting and the romance
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and colour of joining the army and being
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,part of something very big indeed, I'm sure
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has some allure.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(solemn music) And they see things
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in rather romantic ways, which of course is
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doomed to fail; we all know what the First
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,World War turns into. It's not a war of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,movement, of dash and ĂŠlan; it's not cavalry
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the crump of artillery that's going to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dominate.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they, I think, have expectations about what
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war will be like, and I think their main
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,emotion was, will it be over before I can
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get to France.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien, who's reading covered
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,frank about what happens in war, went into
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war much more open-eyed. He described
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,himself as a "young man with too much
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,imagination" and so he did not relish battle
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in any sense.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] And I think that applies
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also the politicians and generals who
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,directed it; I think a lot of people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,understood that this war could be terrible.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] What you get in the letters
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then in Smith's poetry, is a serious
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,determination to do their duty and that they
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,should be prepared to give their lives.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that they've got to come through it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dilemma.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Tolkien was in a difficult
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,position when war broke out; he had a year
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,needed a degree badly because he wanted to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pursue an academic career; he didn't have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,any money in his family unlike Gilson and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,therefore, having committed three years to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the degree it was very important that he
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,completed it. So he discovered a scheme
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whereby he could undergo some training
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the Officer Training Core whilst
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,completing his degree, which he did triumphantly
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a first at Oxford.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,posted to the same battalion.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien was looking for something
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the army through which he could use his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particular talents, and his particular talents
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were languages and writing systems; he was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only natural that he would train up as a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,signaller.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] It would have meant that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was exposed to the technology
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,available at the time and it must have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interested him; so the use of the radio, the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,use of signals, of semaphore.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] He learnt morse code,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,telephones; which of course went on largely
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be ineffective or not to work.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He became Battalion Signalling
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oversee the communications of a Battalion
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,manpower at the time.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] His basic job of course
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was to act as a link between the various
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,layers of command, and that he would be
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,responsible for incoming orders and making sure
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the right people got those and of course
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he'd be responsible for telling command further
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up the line about the situation on his sector.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] So he was an absolute lynch pin
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a war which depended absolutely on how
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,much information you had about your enemies
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,position.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] In March of 1916 as his training nears
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its completion, both Tolkien and Edith
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become aware that he will soon be sent to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Front. They marry and just over two
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The two of them part, not knowing if they
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will ever see each other again.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(ominous music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,War has been raging for almost two years.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The cost of the War is clear;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the countryside is scarred and the casualties
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,high.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,throughout 1915, and with a new wave of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,clear the Big Push is imminent.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(marching feet)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he fears for the lives of his old school
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,friends who are at the Front.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Within a month of his arrival in France
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Allies launch the Somme Offensive.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the troops in the British Frontline,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,go over the top.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(whistle sound echoes)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the first day of the Offensive alone,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and over 2,000 are reported missing.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] The first casualty was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the plan. It started to fall apart very
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,men who went into combat on the 1st of July
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was killed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was the most disastrous day
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the history of the British Army, and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a tragedy for the entire country. There were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,villages that had lost all their young men.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] It's marked as a loss of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,represent a turning point in British
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consciousness and the relationship perhaps
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between those who make decisions and those
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who are forced to carry them out.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(soft piano music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Among the many men that are lost on that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,day, is dear friend and TCBS member,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Robert Gilson.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He led his Platoon over the top
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took charge of his Company, but was shot
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the middle of No Man's Land.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] He was in the fourth wave.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He saw the first wave go in and fail,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the second wave go in and fail,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the third wave go in and fail.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to go in; and they still went. And that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think is the most poignant and probably
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the most tragic thing about the 1st of July
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,1916. That this generation, had so much faith
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their superiors, probably had so much
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,commitment to their fellows that they were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prepared to go, even though it meant certain
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,death.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien heard about this
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after his first action on the Somme a couple
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of weeks later; and he was devastated.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It shook him to the foundations of his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beliefs. He had, as all of the members of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the TCBS had, built up their group as a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something to give to the World. In which
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all four of them were vital parts, and now
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of them was dead. So what did that mean
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about their overall purpose? And also his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,purpose.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Geoffrey Smith wrote him a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,letter in which, clearly Smith experiences
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feelings of devastation and a sense that the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fellowship had been broken. Rob would never
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become an architect, he would never fulfil
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his part in whatever they dreamed of.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] And I think it took him quite
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some time to recover from that. The other
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,two members, Wiseman and Smith, were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,purpose continued and I think eventually
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien took heart from that.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at King Edward's school to offer his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,man, a talented artist and most painfully
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of all; a dear friend.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's war has well and truly started and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the coming months he is subject to the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many hardships of trench warfare.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He spent his time in and out
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the Frontline to the reserve trenches
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to rest, as they laughably called it, but
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it wasn't really rest, it was training.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien talked about the universal weariness
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of all this war. But during this period he
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was involved in three attacks, he was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very fortunate not to have to go through the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first day of the Somme; he was a few miles
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,back from the Frontline at that time.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His Battalion moved forward for a second
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wave of attacks, they were launched against a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,village called Ovier; which had been the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,German Frontline. One of the first things that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he encountered was, complete chaos in the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,battlefield communications system. It was very
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,primitive. It was only partly built; damaged
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going across No Man's Land carrying flares
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to say, we have arrived. Further flares -
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"we have taken prisoners", they carried
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,method of communication. One of Tolkien's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,signallers won a military medal for managing
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do the job correctly.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] The attack is a success and many
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prisoners are captured. Of all the combat
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,battles is also one of his last; an attack
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on Regina Trench.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] This was in October, by which
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,time the battlefield had been reduced to mud.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The attack had been delayed by heavy rain
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but on October 21st there was a cold snap
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the ground was frozen hard and the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attack was able to go ahead.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Gunfire, bullets zipping by)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(solemn music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He saw violent death, he also
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,saw and felt extreme terror.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He never, as far as we know, described at
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,length what trench warfare was like but he
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,summed it up in two words, in one of his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,letters, and this was; "animal horror".
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It would reduce you from humanity and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,turn you into a retched beast desperate only
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to cower and survive. And it's very
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whenever the characters are in situations of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,extreme fear, they're always described as
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] A lot of British trenches
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were deliberately uncomfortable because
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Generals wanted the men to believe
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they were only temporary, that they
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would be advancing beyond this, that this
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wasn't their home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,isolated from home and letters to, and from,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from sharing his location in his letters, so
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he devises a code of dots to keep Edith
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,informed of where he is.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He simply found the letters
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the alphabet within what he wrote to her
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and put a dot above the relevant ones to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,spell out the name of the place where he was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,currently located. And Edith kept a map
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on her wall and pins to show where he was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at that time.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] After the successful attack on Regina
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,front and paraded in front of the top brass.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien however, falls ill.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was trench fever. And this
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,conditions in the trenches.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] It spread through contact
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It gives you a headache, you can have stomach
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cramps, you can have pain in you joints
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in your bones, you can get lesions on
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your skin; it's not fatal but it can become
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very debilitating. So debilitating you can't
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"back to Blighty" as they put it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact it was the end of his war.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It saved Tolkien's life, it took
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,him out of the battlefield and back to Britain.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was shipped home to Birmingham, to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The First Southern General Hospital as it
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was called at the time, which was actually set
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up in the grounds of Birmingham University.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it was there that Tolkien was re-united
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with his wife, Edith and where he began
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing the first stories of Middle-Earth.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was an inspiration for various pieces of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing in his mythology, notably the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,story of Luthien and Beren; which features
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Lord of The Rings. A love story between
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a mortal man and an immortal elf.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Gentle Piano Music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] However, Tolkien's respite is short lived.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,learns from Christopher Wiseman, that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,good friend G.B.Smith has been killed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] The Battle of the Somme was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over, and Smith had been organising a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,football match for his men about four miles
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,behind the Frontline, when a stray shell
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exploded near him.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was hit by shrapnel and developed what
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they called Gas Gangrene, which killed
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,him within a few days. Early in 1916, while
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in France.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The officer who had led the patrol the night before
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had been captured and most likely killed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was about the most dangerous
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,activity that you could do on the Western Front
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Smith was about to go into it and he took
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what you've written and what you will write"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you must publish."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fan.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Smith says in the letter that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may say the things that he had wanted to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,say, long after he is there to say them.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's very moving because Tolkien, although
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very much his own individual artistic self,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think did see his later career as an
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they'd shared.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He was able to gather his strength
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have them published in a small volume,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,entitled; "A Spring Harvest".
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,experiences will stay with him forever, and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will even feature in his future writings.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] The whole experience of the War
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Somme he started writing a story called,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,element of his mythology that dealt with battle.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the fascinating thing about it is that the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attacking forces use things that are termed
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they're described as metallic and rolling
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they spout fire and some of them have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which was Britains secret weapon, which
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had just been launched on the Somme while
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was there.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're separated on different battlefronts,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,much like the TCBS were.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] It's almost unimaginable that,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in writing of the breaking of the fellowship,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have been influenced by his own loss during
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War and the breaking of the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,TCBS fellowship.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a late letter in which he mentions
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the dead marshes, through which Frodo,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,northern France, in the area of the Somme
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he fought.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Frodo and Sam are very much
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Batmen I knew in the First World War".
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,burden; a burden of duty. You can see that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,War Trauma, or what they called then,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the World, increasingly enclosed within himself
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he says he can't remember what grass was like,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what sunlight was like.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he is visibly traumatised by the whole
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,experience. This was very true of many of the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,soldiers who returned from the Western
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Front, unable to talk about the experiences
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that had affected them so deeply.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(retrospective piano music)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] The generation that fights
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War, should be called courageous.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] The sacrifice of that generation
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was extraordinary.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was a tragic loss not only for
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,families, for friends, but for civilisation as
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,assumptions in honour and glory.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] It is the first thorough
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going war of the machines. So many
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thousands and ultimately millions of men
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be wiped out, could be destroyed without
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,necessarily facing their individual enemy.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] These men don't have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the privilege of dying one at a time, they die
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on mass; and it's those numbers that I think
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,traumatise us so much. That's why we have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where it's just one long list of names.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These bodies have simply disappeared, and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're all separate lives but they've all
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,vanished at once.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] When you read the King Edward's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,School Chronicle, as I have to research
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with whom he grew up and you see their
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,achievements, you see what they were learning,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,creative and brilliant they were. And then
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War; and you see that they're
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,heading for this.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] These young men, with their
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a phrase that we all know, have been cut off
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their prime. They were full of potential,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of life, full of vigour, full of plans,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things with their professional lives and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their personal lives, and denied that opportunity.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] When you look at the fortunes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,survived and went on to produce the great
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,works of literature that he did; works that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have shaped our culture. And one does
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wonder how many others didn't survive,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what potential was locked inside them that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they never had time to bring out of themselves.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there is an uncountable loss there.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a young life snuffed out and only very
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,incompletely communicating its dreams.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] This is a generation that did
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not talk about the way it felt. So in that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sense I think the psychological affect was
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,long lasting. A number of veterans surived
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war only to find that they couldn't survive
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the peace.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] In the chapel at King Edward's School,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eight brass plaques hold the names of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,friends, are just four of almost
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their country's call and fought in The Great War,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and each of their stories is worth telling.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] The graveyards that you can
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,walk around in northern France now have become
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,almost 21st century cathedrals; where some
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,really important questions need to be ask about
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the nature of war and the nature of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sacrifice, and in the First World War's case,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be worth that.