0:00:09.900,0:00:15.713 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,[br]was born on the 3rd January, 1892. 0:00:15.713,0:00:19.009 He and his brother Hilary,[br]experienced a difficult childhood. 0:00:19.009,0:00:22.494 When Tolkien was just four,[br]they lost their father, Arthur, 0:00:22.494,0:00:24.030 to rheumatic fever. 0:00:24.030,0:00:26.950 As a widow with low income,[br]his mother Mabel, 0:00:26.950,0:00:30.642 home schooled the brothers and played[br]a vital role in their early education 0:00:30.642,0:00:31.827 and development. 0:00:32.987,0:00:38.208 Tolkien was a smart young boy, with[br]a fascination and thirst for languages. 0:00:39.911,0:00:44.039 Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King[br]Edward's School, Birmingham and passed. 0:00:45.209,0:00:49.058 From the Autumn of 1900,[br]for a fee of 12 pounds a year, 0:00:49.058,0:00:51.559 Tolkien would be educated[br]in an environment 0:00:51.559,0:00:54.505 that would help fulfil[br]his academic potential. 0:00:55.485,0:00:58.110 John Garth: Going to King Edward's[br]was vitally important to Tolkien; 0:00:58.110,0:01:00.772 he was an exceptionally talented boy. 0:01:01.442,0:01:04.756 King Edward's offered him[br]a vast amount of scope 0:01:04.756,0:01:09.659 and also the company of other boys[br]who were similarly talented. 0:01:10.159,0:01:13.161 Which was probably quite[br]hard for Tolkien to find. 0:01:15.431,0:01:19.000 Simon Stacey: Not only did he play rugby[br]but he was a leading light 0:01:19.000,0:01:23.285 in the debating society[br]and the literary society. 0:01:23.285,0:01:25.247 He was the life and soul really, 0:01:25.247,0:01:29.725 and he missed the school a great deal,[br]I think, when he finally had to leave. 0:01:30.695,0:01:34.059 VO: At the age of just 11, Tolkien[br]and his brother Hilary 0:01:34.059,0:01:37.491 lose their mother Mabel to diabetes. 0:01:37.491,0:01:40.123 Grief stricken, he plunges[br]himself into school life 0:01:40.123,0:01:43.982 more energetically than before.[br]Academically he excels, 0:01:43.982,0:01:48.687 but in 1905 meets his intellectual rival,[br]Christopher Wiseman. 0:01:50.447,0:01:53.880 John Garth: Tolkien met his greatest[br]friend at King Edward's, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Christopher Wiseman on the rugby pitch. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A musician, a mathematician;[br]quite different from Tolkien. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They developed such a strong[br]bond on the rugby field 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that they called themselves;[br]"The Great Twin Brethren", 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which was a phrase from[br]"Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord Macauley. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: They also were[br]friendly rivals in the school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 both being very academic boys.[br]Wiseman had a formidable intellect 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and he was interested[br]in a lot of the things 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that Tolkien was getting interested in; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 languages, I think he was looking at[br]Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Tolkien and Wiseman[br]must have helped define each other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 through their teenage years[br]because they would argue; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they would argue strongly[br]about all their beliefs in life. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: Wiseman was[br]a very talented musician; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien was supposed to be tone deaf[br]but that didn't stop them getting on! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Tolkien also befriends,[br]son of the headmaster, Rob Gilson. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien, Wiseman and Gilson,[br]form a strong bond 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which will last throughout[br]their school years and beyond. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life[br]is about to change, yet again. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Tolkien was living[br]in lodgings with his brother, Hilary, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and when he was 16 he met fellow lodger,[br]Edith Bratt, who was 19 at the time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And she was a beautiful young girl;[br]talented pianist and also an orphan. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the two of them bonded[br]on their shared sadnesses 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but also on their hopes and dreams. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The difficulty for Ronald,[br]as she called him, and Edith, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was that he was a Roman Catholic[br]and she was an Anglican. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis[br]Morgan, a Catholic Priest, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 feels this is major divide; and also[br]believes that Edith will distract Tolkien 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from his attempts to get[br]into Oxford University. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Father Francis Morgan,[br]forbade them from seeing each other, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or even from communicating. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He was thrown back upon[br]his friendships at King Edward's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and it was this final phase of his time[br]here, that he began to flourish 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and make the place his own;[br]he and his friends ruled the roost. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Making the most of[br]his final year at King Edward's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the friendships he has formed, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien and his peers create[br]an informal society. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 These young intellectuals gather[br]in the school library 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and do what they are[br]forbidden to do: brew tea. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Outside of school hours, they meet[br]in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves[br]the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or the TCBS for short. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (nostalgic music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: The core of the TCBS was probably 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien and Wiseman and the others 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 gravitated around them. There was Robert 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he was perhaps the social glue of the group; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he would welcome anyone and find common 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who loved to sketch. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: He was a gifted artist and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 had ambitions to be an architect. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mythology; so this gave him common ground 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 passions. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: Smith was quite an accomplished 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and advanced poet who recommended contemporary 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 inspired by Smith and the wider group. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And that was really the beginnings of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien as a writer. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: From the beginnings which were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mostly about fun, later on, during the war years, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this developed into a fellowship from which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 each of them drew tremendous strength and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 comfort. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Later that year, Tolkien's time at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 King Edward's comes to an end and he begins 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 his first term at Oxford, having successfully 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 gained entrance. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 independence from Father Francis Morgan, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 week later, they are re-united. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Edith is engaged to marry another man, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but despite almost certain ridicule, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she agrees to break the engagement to be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with her Ronald. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Over the next few months, a growing sense of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of June, 1914, everything changes. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (gun shot sound) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (solemn music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Europe's major powers are at war. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 war on Germany. Parliament issues a call 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to arms from the British public. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: There isn't a rush to the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 colours straight away. It becomes much more 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 obvious that people are willing to join 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 up when atrocity stories start to emerge, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then you get a much more concerted rush 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to join. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: There was an air of excitement 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about the war, there was a naive sense that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this would allow young men to fulfil their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 potential in a way that wasn't possible in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 peace time. There was a tremendous sense 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of patriotism and a sense of duty towards 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whatever England, or Britain, stood for. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: They are attracted to the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or at least some of them will be. On the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whole, they thought they were going to give 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Germans a bloody nose. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: "The Germans has been dastardly" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and needed to dealt with and shown their place. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: Men join up out of economic 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 necessity and you'll find that in any war. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Life is not very exciting and the romance 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and colour of joining the army and being 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 part of something very big indeed, I'm sure 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 has some allure. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (solemn music) And they see things 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in rather romantic ways, which of course is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 doomed to fail; we all know what the First 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 World War turns into. It's not a war of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the crump of artillery that's going to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dominate. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So they, I think, have expectations about what 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the war will be like, and I think their main 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 emotion was, will it be over before I can 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 get to France. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Tolkien, who's reading covered 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 frank about what happens in war, went into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the war much more open-eyed. He described 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 himself as a "young man with too much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 imagination" and so he did not relish battle 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in any sense. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: And I think that applies 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but also the politicians and generals who 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 directed it; I think a lot of people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 understood that this war could be terrible. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: What you get in the letters 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then in Smith's poetry, is a serious 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 determination to do their duty and that they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 should be prepared to give their lives. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and that they've got to come through it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dilemma. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: Tolkien was in a difficult 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 position when war broke out; he had a year 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 needed a degree badly because he wanted to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pursue an academic career; he didn't have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 any money in his family unlike Gilson and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 therefore, having committed three years to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the degree it was very important that he 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 completed it. So he discovered a scheme 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whereby he could undergo some training 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the Officer Training Core whilst 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 completing his degree, which he did triumphantly 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with a first at Oxford. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 posted to the same battalion. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Tolkien was looking for something 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the army through which he could use his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 particular talents, and his particular talents 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 were languages and writing systems; he was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 only natural that he would train up as a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 signaller. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: It would have meant that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien was exposed to the technology 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 available at the time and it must have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 interested him; so the use of the radio, the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 use of signals, of semaphore. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: He learnt morse code, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 telephones; which of course went on largely 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to be ineffective or not to work. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: He became Battalion Signalling 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 oversee the communications of a Battalion 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 manpower at the time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: His basic job of course 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was to act as a link between the various 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 layers of command, and that he would be 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 responsible for incoming orders and making sure 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that the right people got those and of course 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he'd be responsible for telling command further 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 up the line about the situation on his sector. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: So he was an absolute lynch pin 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in a war which depended absolutely on how 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 much information you had about your enemies 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 position. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: In March of 1916 as his training nears 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 its completion, both Tolkien and Edith 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 become aware that he will soon be sent to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Front. They marry and just over two 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The two of them part, not knowing if they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 will ever see each other again. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (ominous music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 War has been raging for almost two years. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The cost of the War is clear; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the countryside is scarred and the casualties 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 high. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 throughout 1915, and with a new wave of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 clear the Big Push is imminent. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (marching feet) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he fears for the lives of his old school 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 friends who are at the Front. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Within a month of his arrival in France 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Allies launch the Somme Offensive. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the troops in the British Frontline, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 go over the top. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (whistle sound echoes) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 On the first day of the Offensive alone, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and over 2,000 are reported missing. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: The first casualty was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the plan. It started to fall apart very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 men who went into combat on the 1st of July 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was killed. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: It was the most disastrous day 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the history of the British Army, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a tragedy for the entire country. There were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 villages that had lost all their young men. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: It's marked as a loss of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 represent a turning point in British 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 consciousness and the relationship perhaps 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 between those who make decisions and those 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who are forced to carry them out. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (soft piano music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Among the many men that are lost on that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 day, is dear friend and TCBS member, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Robert Gilson. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: He led his Platoon over the top 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 took charge of his Company, but was shot 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the middle of No Man's Land. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: He was in the fourth wave. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He saw the first wave go in and fail, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the second wave go in and fail, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the third wave go in and fail. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to go in; and they still went. And that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think is the most poignant and probably 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the most tragic thing about the 1st of July 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 1916. That this generation, had so much faith 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in their superiors, probably had so much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 commitment to their fellows that they were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 prepared to go, even though it meant certain 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 death. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Tolkien heard about this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 after his first action on the Somme a couple 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of weeks later; and he was devastated. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It shook him to the foundations of his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 beliefs. He had, as all of the members of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the TCBS had, built up their group as a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 something to give to the World. In which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 all four of them were vital parts, and now 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one of them was dead. So what did that mean 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about their overall purpose? And also his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 purpose. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: Geoffrey Smith wrote him a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 letter in which, clearly Smith experiences 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 feelings of devastation and a sense that the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fellowship had been broken. Rob would never 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 become an architect, he would never fulfil 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 his part in whatever they dreamed of. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garthm: And I think it took him quite 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 some time to recover from that. The other 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 two members, Wiseman and Smith, were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 purpose continued and I think eventually 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien took heart from that. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at King Edward's school to offer his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 man, a talented artist and most painfully 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of all; a dear friend. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien's war has well and truly started and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 over the coming months he is subject to the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 many hardships of trench warfare. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: He spent his time in and out 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from the Frontline to the reserve trenches 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to rest, as they laughably called it, but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it wasn't really rest, it was training. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien talked about the universal weariness 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of all this war. But during this period he 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was involved in three attacks, he was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 very fortunate not to have to go through the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 first day of the Somme; he was a few miles 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 back from the Frontline at that time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 His Battalion moved forward for a second 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wave of attacks, they were launched against a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 village called Ovillers; which had been the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 German Frontline. One of the first things that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he encountered was, complete chaos in the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 battlefield communications system. It was very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 primitive. It was only partly built; damaged 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 going across No Man's Land carrying flares 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to say, we have arrived. Further flares - 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "we have taken prisoners", they carried 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 method of communication. One of Tolkien's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 signallers won a military medal for managing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 do the job correctly. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: The attack is a success and many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 prisoners are captured. Of all the combat 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 battles is also one of his last; an attack 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on Regina Trench. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: This was in October, by which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 time the battlefield had been reduced to mud. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The attack had been delayed by heavy rain 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but on October 21st there was a cold snap 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so the ground was frozen hard and the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 attack was able to go ahead. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Gunfire, bullets zipping by) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (solemn music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: He saw violent death, he also 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 saw and felt extreme terror. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He never, as far as we know, described at 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 length what trench warfare was like but he 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 summed it up in two words, in one of his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 letters, and this was; "animal horror". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It would reduce you from humanity and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 turn you into a retched beast desperate only 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to cower and survive. And it's very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whenever the characters are in situations of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 extreme fear, they're always described as 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: A lot of British trenches 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 were deliberately uncomfortable because 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Generals wanted the men to believe 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that they were only temporary, that they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would be advancing beyond this, that this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wasn't their home. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 isolated from home and letters to, and from, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from sharing his location in his letters, so 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he devises a code of dots to keep Edith 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 informed of where he is. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: He simply found the letters 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the alphabet within what he wrote to her 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and put a dot above the relevant ones to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 spell out the name of the place where he was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 currently located. And Edith kept a map 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on her wall and pins to show where he was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at that time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: After the successful attack on Regina 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 front and paraded in front of the top brass. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien however, falls ill. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: It was trench fever. And this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 conditions in the trenches. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: It spread through contact 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It gives you a headache, you can have stomach 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cramps, you can have pain in you joints 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and in your bones, you can get lesions on 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 your skin; it's not fatal but it can become 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 very debilitating. So debilitating you can't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "back to Blighty" as they put it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And in fact it was the end of his war. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: It saved Tolkien's life, it took 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 him out of the battlefield and back to Britain. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He was shipped home to Birmingham, to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The First Southern General Hospital as it 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was called at the time, which was actually set 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 up in the grounds of Birmingham University. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And it was there that Tolkien was re-united 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with his wife, Edith and where he began 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 writing the first stories of Middle-Earth. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and was an inspiration for various pieces of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 writing in his mythology, notably the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 story of Luthien and Beren; which features 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Lord of The Rings. A love story between 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a mortal man and an immortal elf. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Gentle Piano Music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: However, Tolkien's respite is short lived. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 learns from Christopher Wiseman, that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 good friend G.B.Smith has been killed. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: The Battle of the Somme was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 over, and Smith had been organising a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 football match for his men about four miles 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 behind the Frontline, when a stray shell 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 exploded near him. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He was hit by shrapnel and developed what 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they called Gas Gangrene, which killed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 him within a few days. Early in 1916, while 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in France. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The officer who had led the patrol the night before 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 had been captured and most likely killed. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: It was about the most dangerous 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 activity that you could do on the Western Front 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and Smith was about to go into it and he took 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what you've written and what you will write" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and you must publish." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fan. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: Smith says in the letter that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 may say the things that he had wanted to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 say, long after he is there to say them. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That's very moving because Tolkien, although 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 very much his own individual artistic self, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I think did see his later career as an 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they'd shared. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: He was able to gather his strength 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have them published in a small volume, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 entitled; "A Spring Harvest". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 experiences will stay with him forever, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 will even feature in his future writings. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: The whole experience of the War 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Somme he started writing a story called, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 element of his mythology that dealt with battle. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the fascinating thing about it is that the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 attacking forces use things that are termed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but they're described as metallic and rolling 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and they spout fire and some of them have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Which was Britains secret weapon, which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 had just been launched on the Somme while 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien was there. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they're separated on different battlefronts, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 much like the TCBS were. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: It's almost unimaginable that, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in writing of the breaking of the fellowship, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have been influenced by his own loss during 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the First World War and the breaking of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 TCBS fellowship. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There is a late letter in which he mentions 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that the dead marshes, through which Frodo, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 northern France, in the area of the Somme 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 where he fought. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: Frodo and Sam are very much 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Batmen I knew in the First World War". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 burden; a burden of duty. You can see that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 War Trauma, or what they called then, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the World, increasingly enclosed within himself 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he says he can't remember what grass was like, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what sunlight was like. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he is visibly traumatised by the whole 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 experience. This was very true of many of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 soldiers who returned from the Western 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Front, unable to talk about the experiences 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that had affected them so deeply. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (retrospective piano music) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: The generation that fights 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the First World War, should be called courageous. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: The sacrifice of that generation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was extraordinary. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: It was a tragic loss not only for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 families, for friends, but for civilisation as 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 assumptions in honour and glory. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: It is the first thorough 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 going war of the machines. So many 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 thousands and ultimately millions of men 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 could be wiped out, could be destroyed without 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 necessarily facing their individual enemy. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: These men don't have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the privilege of dying one at a time, they die 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on mass; and it's those numbers that I think 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 traumatise us so much. That's why we have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate; 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 where it's just one long list of names. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 These bodies have simply disappeared, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they're all separate lives but they've all 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 vanished at once. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: When you read the King Edward's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 School Chronicle, as I have to research 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with whom he grew up and you see their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 achievements, you see what they were learning, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 creative and brilliant they were. And then 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the First World War; and you see that they're 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 heading for this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: These young men, with their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a phrase that we all know, have been cut off 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in their prime. They were full of potential, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 full of life, full of vigour, full of plans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 things with their professional lives and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their personal lives, and denied that opportunity. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 John Garth: When you look at the fortunes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 survived and went on to produce the great 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 works of literature that he did; works that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have shaped our culture. And one does 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wonder how many others didn't survive, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what potential was locked inside them that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they never had time to bring out of themselves. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So there is an uncountable loss there. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Simon Stacey: G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of a young life snuffed out and only very 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 incompletely communicating its dreams. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: This is a generation that did 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not talk about the way it felt. So in that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sense I think the psychological affect was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 long lasting. A number of veterans surived 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the war only to find that they couldn't survive 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the peace. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 VO: In the chapel at King Edward's School, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 eight brass plaques hold the names of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 friends, are just four of almost 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their country's call and fought in The Great War, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and each of their stories is worth telling. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Paul Golightly: The graveyards that you can 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 walk around in northern France now have become 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 almost 21st century cathedrals; where some 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 really important questions need to be ask about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the nature of war and the nature of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sacrifice, and in the First World War's case, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 could be worth that.