WEBVTT 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:15.713 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, was born on the 3rd January, 1892. 00:00:15.713 --> 00:00:19.009 He and his brother Hilary, experienced a difficult childhood. 00:00:19.009 --> 00:00:22.494 When Tolkien was just four, they lost their father, Arthur, 00:00:22.494 --> 00:00:24.030 to rheumatic fever. 00:00:24.030 --> 00:00:26.950 As a widow with low income, his mother Mabel, 00:00:26.950 --> 00:00:30.642 home schooled the brothers and played a vital role in their early education 00:00:30.642 --> 00:00:31.827 and development. 00:00:32.987 --> 00:00:38.208 Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a fascination and thirst for languages. 00:00:39.911 --> 00:00:44.419 Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King Edward's School, Birmingham and passed. 00:00:45.209 --> 00:00:49.058 From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of 12 pounds a year, 00:00:49.058 --> 00:00:51.559 Tolkien would be educated in an environment 00:00:51.559 --> 00:00:54.505 that would help fulfil his academic potential. 00:00:55.485 --> 00:00:56.640 John Garth: Going to King Edward's was 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.582 vitally important to Tolkien; he was an exceptionally 00:00:59.582 --> 00:01:04.756 talented boy. King Edward's offered him a vast amount of scope 00:01:04.756 --> 00:01:09.659 and also the company of other boys who were similarly talented. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.161 Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien to find. 00:01:15.431 --> 00:01:19.000 Simon Stacey: Not only did he play rugby but he was a leading light 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:23.285 in the debating society and the literary society. 00:01:23.285 --> 00:01:25.247 He was the life and soul really, 00:01:25.247 --> 00:01:29.725 and he missed the school a great deal, I think, when he finally had to leave. 00:01:30.695 --> 00:01:34.059 VO: At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his brother Hilary 00:01:34.059 --> 00:01:37.491 lose their mother Mabel to diabetes. 00:01:37.491 --> 00:01:40.123 Grief stricken, he plunges himself into school life 00:01:40.123 --> 00:01:43.982 more energetically than before. Academically he excels, 00:01:43.982 --> 00:01:48.687 but in 1905 meets his intellectual rival, Christopher Wiseman. 00:01:50.547 --> 00:01:53.570 John Garth: Tolkien met his greatest friend at King Edward's, 00:01:53.738 --> 00:01:56.438 Christopher Wiseman on the rugby pitch. 00:01:56.731 --> 00:02:00.361 A musician, a mathematician; quite different from Tolkien. 00:02:00.991 --> 00:02:03.643 They developed such a strong bond on the rugby field 00:02:03.883 --> 00:02:06.133 that they called themselves; "The Great Twin Brethren", 00:02:06.169 --> 00:02:10.529 which was a phrase from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord Macauley. 00:02:10.734 --> 00:02:13.674 Simon Stacey: They also were friendly rivals in the school, 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.820 both being very academic boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect 00:02:17.820 --> 00:02:19.266 and he was interested in a lot of the things 00:02:19.276 --> 00:02:21.443 that Tolkien was getting interested in; 00:02:21.453 --> 00:02:26.525 languages, I think he was looking at Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics. 00:02:26.525 --> 00:02:28.735 John Garth: Tolkien and Wiseman must have helped define each other 00:02:28.785 --> 00:02:31.065 through their teenage years because they would argue; 00:02:31.081 --> 00:02:34.311 they would argue strongly about all their beliefs in life. 00:02:35.069 --> 00:02:37.799 Simon Stacey: Wiseman was a very talented musician; 00:02:37.827 --> 00:02:42.326 Tolkien was supposed to be tone deaf but that didn't stop them getting on! 00:02:42.326 --> 00:02:46.626 VO: Tolkien also befriends, son of the headmaster, Rob Gilson. 00:02:46.670 --> 00:02:50.670 Tolkien, Wiseman and Gilson, form a strong bond 00:02:50.683 --> 00:02:53.873 which will last throughout their school years and beyond. 00:02:55.792 --> 00:03:00.062 Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is about to change, yet again. 00:03:01.305 --> 00:03:04.245 John Garth: Tolkien was living in lodgings with his brother, Hilary, 00:03:04.249 --> 00:03:10.965 and when he was 16 he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19 at the time. 00:03:11.635 --> 00:03:17.850 And she was a beautiful young girl; talented pianist and also an orphan. 00:03:17.850 --> 00:03:21.070 And the two of them bonded on their shared sadnesses 00:03:21.089 --> 00:03:23.945 but also on their hopes and dreams. 00:03:23.945 --> 00:03:28.815 The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him, and Edith, 00:03:28.842 --> 00:03:33.242 was that he was a Roman Catholic and she was an Anglican. 00:03:33.242 --> 00:03:37.418 VO: Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan, a Catholic Priest, 00:03:37.418 --> 00:03:41.847 feels this is major divide; and also believes that Edith will distract Tolkien 00:03:41.847 --> 00:03:45.023 from his attempts to get into Oxford University. 00:03:45.023 --> 00:03:49.443 John Garth: Father Francis Morgan, forbade them from seeing each other, 00:03:49.443 --> 00:03:51.773 or even from communicating. 00:03:51.773 --> 00:03:55.032 He was thrown back upon his friendships at King Edward's 00:03:55.032 --> 00:04:01.753 and it was this final phase of his time here, that he began to flourish 00:04:01.753 --> 00:04:06.603 and make the place his own; he and his friends ruled the roost. 00:04:07.711 --> 00:04:10.494 VO: Making the most of his final year at King Edward's 00:04:10.494 --> 00:04:12.733 and the friendships he has formed, 00:04:12.733 --> 00:04:15.743 Tolkien and his peers create an informal society. 00:04:19.575 --> 00:04:22.104 These young intellectuals gather in the school library 00:04:22.104 --> 00:04:26.119 and do what they are forbidden to do: brew tea. 00:04:26.119 --> 00:04:30.769 Outside of school hours, they meet in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:36.039 and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society" 00:04:36.044 --> 00:04:38.288 or the TCBS for short. 00:04:38.288 --> 00:04:39.444 (nostalgic music) 00:04:39.444 --> 00:04:41.374 John Garth: The core of the TCBS was probably 00:04:41.374 --> 00:04:43.988 Tolkien and Wiseman and the others 00:04:43.988 --> 00:04:47.290 gravitated around them. There was Robert 00:04:47.290 --> 00:04:49.603 Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster 00:04:49.603 --> 00:04:53.761 here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap, 00:04:53.761 --> 00:04:56.371 he was perhaps the social glue of the group; 00:04:56.371 --> 00:04:59.165 he would welcome anyone and find common 00:04:59.165 --> 00:05:02.785 cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow 00:05:02.795 --> 00:05:04.618 who loved to sketch. 00:05:04.618 --> 00:05:08.788 Simon Stacey: He was a gifted artist and 00:05:08.788 --> 00:05:10.345 had ambitions to be an architect. 00:05:10.345 --> 00:05:14.876 There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith, 00:05:14.876 --> 00:05:19.242 who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic 00:05:19.242 --> 00:05:21.193 mythology; so this gave him common ground 00:05:21.193 --> 00:05:22.733 with Tolkien; it was another of 00:05:22.733 --> 00:05:23.383 Tolkien's passions. 00:05:23.390 --> 00:05:25.925 Simon Stacey: Smith was quite an accomplished 00:05:25.925 --> 00:05:28.865 and advanced poet who recommended contemporary 00:05:28.866 --> 00:05:31.183 poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing 00:05:31.183 --> 00:05:34.543 poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent, 00:05:34.543 --> 00:05:37.276 inspired by Smith and the wider group. 00:05:37.276 --> 00:05:38.276 And that was really the beginnings of 00:05:38.276 --> 00:05:40.776 Tolkien as a writer. 00:05:40.776 --> 00:05:43.426 John Garth: From the beginnings which were 00:05:43.426 --> 00:05:46.756 mostly about fun, later on, during the war years, 00:05:46.756 --> 00:05:50.756 this developed into a fellowship from which 00:05:50.756 --> 00:05:53.166 each of them drew tremendous strength and 00:05:53.166 --> 00:05:54.646 comfort. 00:05:54.646 --> 00:05:56.726 VO: Later that year, Tolkien's time at 00:05:56.726 --> 00:05:59.236 King Edward's comes to an end and he begins 00:05:59.236 --> 00:06:02.176 his first term at Oxford, having successfully 00:06:02.176 --> 00:06:03.536 gained entrance. 00:06:05.548 --> 00:06:08.008 On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his 00:06:08.008 --> 00:06:10.438 independence from Father Francis Morgan, 00:06:10.438 --> 00:06:12.768 Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a 00:06:12.768 --> 00:06:15.468 week later, they are re-united. 00:06:15.468 --> 00:06:17.748 Edith is engaged to marry another man, 00:06:17.748 --> 00:06:19.878 but despite almost certain ridicule, 00:06:19.878 --> 00:06:22.008 she agrees to break the engagement to be 00:06:22.008 --> 00:06:23.408 with her Ronald. 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:26.900 Over the next few months, a growing sense of 00:06:26.900 --> 00:06:29.960 trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th 00:06:29.960 --> 00:06:34.020 of June, 1914, everything changes. 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:38.830 (gun shot sound) 00:06:38.830 --> 00:06:40.450 (solemn music) 00:06:40.450 --> 00:06:42.270 Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the 00:06:42.270 --> 00:06:46.779 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:50.409 A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks, 00:06:50.409 --> 00:06:54.272 Europe's major powers are at war. 00:06:54.272 --> 00:06:57.360 Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.610 war on Germany. Parliament issues a call 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:03.270 to arms from the British public. 00:07:03.270 --> 00:07:05.163 Paul Golightly: There isn't a rush to the 00:07:05.163 --> 00:07:07.803 colours straight away. It becomes much more 00:07:07.803 --> 00:07:09.503 obvious that people are willing to join 00:07:09.503 --> 00:07:11.752 up when atrocity stories start to emerge, 00:07:11.752 --> 00:07:14.552 then you get a much more concerted rush 00:07:14.552 --> 00:07:15.732 to join. 00:07:15.732 --> 00:07:17.572 John Garth: There was an air of excitement 00:07:17.572 --> 00:07:20.402 about the war, there was a naive sense that 00:07:20.402 --> 00:07:23.152 this would allow young men to fulfil their 00:07:23.152 --> 00:07:25.382 potential in a way that wasn't possible in 00:07:25.382 --> 00:07:27.312 peace time. There was a tremendous sense 00:07:27.312 --> 00:07:30.612 of patriotism and a sense of duty towards 00:07:30.612 --> 00:07:33.522 whatever England, or Britain, stood for. 00:07:33.522 --> 00:07:35.532 Paul Golightly: They are attracted to the 00:07:35.532 --> 00:07:37.832 idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans, 00:07:37.832 --> 00:07:39.462 or at least some of them will be. On the 00:07:39.462 --> 00:07:41.192 whole, they thought they were going to give 00:07:41.192 --> 00:07:42.532 the Germans a bloody nose. 00:07:42.532 --> 00:07:45.132 John Garth: "The Germans has been dastardly" 00:07:45.132 --> 00:07:48.372 and needed to dealt with and shown their place. 00:07:48.383 --> 00:07:50.173 Paul Golightly: Men join up out of economic 00:07:50.173 --> 00:07:53.593 necessity and you'll find that in any war. 00:07:53.593 --> 00:07:57.323 Life is not very exciting and the romance 00:07:57.323 --> 00:08:00.403 and colour of joining the army and being 00:08:00.403 --> 00:08:03.113 part of something very big indeed, I'm sure 00:08:03.113 --> 00:08:04.373 has some allure. 00:08:04.397 --> 00:08:06.367 (solemn music) And they see things 00:08:06.367 --> 00:08:08.967 in rather romantic ways, which of course is 00:08:08.967 --> 00:08:11.357 doomed to fail; we all know what the First 00:08:11.357 --> 00:08:14.077 World War turns into. It's not a war of 00:08:14.077 --> 00:08:16.697 movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry 00:08:16.697 --> 00:08:20.327 charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid 00:08:20.327 --> 00:08:22.947 it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire 00:08:22.947 --> 00:08:24.457 and the crump of artillery that's going to 00:08:24.457 --> 00:08:25.517 dominate. 00:08:29.341 --> 00:08:31.821 So they, I think, have expectations about what 00:08:31.821 --> 00:08:33.701 the war will be like, and I think their main 00:08:33.701 --> 00:08:36.001 emotion was, will it be over before I can 00:08:36.001 --> 00:08:37.521 get to France. 00:08:38.961 --> 00:08:42.101 John Garth: Tolkien, who's reading covered 00:08:42.101 --> 00:08:45.841 ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly 00:08:45.841 --> 00:08:49.921 frank about what happens in war, went into 00:08:49.921 --> 00:08:54.781 the war much more open-eyed. He described 00:08:54.781 --> 00:08:56.831 himself as a "young man with too much 00:08:56.831 --> 00:09:00.031 imagination" and so he did not relish battle 00:09:00.031 --> 00:09:01.211 in any sense. 00:09:01.211 --> 00:09:03.041 Paul Golightly: And I think that applies 00:09:03.041 --> 00:09:05.021 to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it, 00:09:05.021 --> 00:09:07.721 but also the politicians and generals who 00:09:07.721 --> 00:09:09.851 directed it; I think a lot of people 00:09:09.851 --> 00:09:12.441 understood that this war could be terrible. 00:09:13.352 --> 00:09:15.562 Simon Stacey: What you get in the letters 00:09:15.562 --> 00:09:17.793 between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and 00:09:17.793 --> 00:09:20.693 then in Smith's poetry, is a serious 00:09:20.693 --> 00:09:25.443 determination to do their duty and that they 00:09:25.443 --> 00:09:27.613 should be prepared to give their lives. 00:09:27.613 --> 00:09:31.023 A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time 00:09:31.023 --> 00:09:33.233 and that they've got to come through it. 00:09:34.371 --> 00:09:36.581 VO: G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join 00:09:36.581 --> 00:09:40.351 the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary, 00:09:40.351 --> 00:09:43.577 signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman 00:09:43.577 --> 00:09:47.717 joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a 00:09:47.717 --> 00:09:48.597 dilemma. 00:09:50.503 --> 00:09:52.243 Simon Stacey: Tolkien was in a difficult 00:09:52.243 --> 00:09:54.273 position when war broke out; he had a year 00:09:54.273 --> 00:09:57.693 of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien 00:09:57.693 --> 00:10:00.183 needed a degree badly because he wanted to 00:10:00.183 --> 00:10:03.493 pursue an academic career; he didn't have 00:10:03.493 --> 00:10:08.263 any money in his family unlike Gilson and 00:10:08.263 --> 00:10:11.723 therefore, having committed three years to 00:10:11.723 --> 00:10:13.283 the degree it was very important that he 00:10:13.283 --> 00:10:15.543 completed it. So he discovered a scheme 00:10:15.543 --> 00:10:18.943 whereby he could undergo some training 00:10:18.943 --> 00:10:20.843 in the Officer Training Core whilst 00:10:20.843 --> 00:10:23.453 completing his degree, which he did triumphantly 00:10:23.453 --> 00:10:25.393 with a first at Oxford. 00:10:25.486 --> 00:10:27.886 VO: He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into 00:10:27.886 --> 00:10:30.796 the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being 00:10:30.796 --> 00:10:33.916 posted to the same battalion. 00:10:33.916 --> 00:10:34.926 John Garth: Tolkien was looking for something 00:10:34.926 --> 00:10:38.256 in the army through which he could use his 00:10:38.256 --> 00:10:40.176 particular talents, and his particular talents 00:10:40.176 --> 00:10:43.116 were languages and writing systems; he was 00:10:43.116 --> 00:10:45.473 fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was 00:10:45.473 --> 00:10:48.923 only natural that he would train up as a 00:10:48.923 --> 00:10:49.683 signaller. 00:10:49.683 --> 00:10:50.683 Paul Golightly: It would have meant that 00:10:50.683 --> 00:10:52.853 Tolkien was exposed to the technology 00:10:52.853 --> 00:10:54.593 available at the time and it must have 00:10:54.593 --> 00:10:58.593 interested him; so the use of the radio, the 00:10:58.593 --> 00:11:01.403 use of signals, of semaphore. 00:11:02.213 --> 00:11:04.193 Simon Stacey: He learnt morse code, 00:11:04.193 --> 00:11:07.523 he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field 00:11:07.523 --> 00:11:10.163 telephones; which of course went on largely 00:11:10.163 --> 00:11:12.583 to be ineffective or not to work. 00:11:12.583 --> 00:11:14.380 John Garth: He became Battalion Signalling 00:11:14.380 --> 00:11:18.070 Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:20.870 oversee the communications of a Battalion 00:11:20.870 --> 00:11:24.460 of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on 00:11:24.463 --> 00:11:26.133 manpower at the time. 00:11:26.133 --> 00:11:27.463 Paul Golightly: His basic job of course 00:11:27.463 --> 00:11:29.883 was to act as a link between the various 00:11:29.883 --> 00:11:33.253 layers of command, and that he would be 00:11:33.253 --> 00:11:35.671 responsible for incoming orders and making sure 00:11:35.671 --> 00:11:37.681 that the right people got those and of course 00:11:37.681 --> 00:11:40.391 he'd be responsible for telling command further 00:11:40.391 --> 00:11:42.751 up the line about the situation on his sector. 00:11:42.751 --> 00:11:44.831 John Garth: So he was an absolute lynch pin 00:11:44.831 --> 00:11:48.831 in a war which depended absolutely on how 00:11:48.831 --> 00:11:51.016 much information you had about your enemies 00:11:51.016 --> 00:11:52.396 position. 00:11:52.396 --> 00:11:55.126 VO: In March of 1916 as his training nears 00:11:55.126 --> 00:11:57.463 its completion, both Tolkien and Edith 00:11:57.463 --> 00:11:59.823 become aware that he will soon be sent to 00:11:59.823 --> 00:12:03.363 the Front. They marry and just over two 00:12:03.363 --> 00:12:06.523 months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France. 00:12:07.023 --> 00:12:10.073 The two of them part, not knowing if they 00:12:10.073 --> 00:12:13.083 will ever see each other again. 00:12:20.086 --> 00:12:24.086 (Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting) 00:12:37.076 --> 00:12:38.986 (ominous music) 00:12:39.105 --> 00:12:41.577 VO: When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the 00:12:41.577 --> 00:12:44.457 War has been raging for almost two years. 00:12:44.457 --> 00:12:46.397 The cost of the War is clear; 00:12:46.397 --> 00:12:49.467 the countryside is scarred and the casualties 00:12:49.467 --> 00:12:51.237 high. 00:12:51.237 --> 00:12:53.627 After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare 00:12:53.627 --> 00:12:57.117 throughout 1915, and with a new wave of 00:12:57.117 --> 00:13:00.097 thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is 00:13:00.097 --> 00:13:02.347 clear the Big Push is imminent. 00:13:02.347 --> 00:13:04.307 (marching feet) 00:13:04.307 --> 00:13:07.107 Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but 00:13:07.107 --> 00:13:08.427 he fears for the lives of his old school 00:13:08.427 --> 00:13:12.607 friends who are at the Front. 00:13:12.607 --> 00:13:14.737 Within a month of his arrival in France 00:13:14.737 --> 00:13:17.827 the Allies launch the Somme Offensive. 00:13:17.827 --> 00:13:21.827 At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July, 00:13:21.827 --> 00:13:23.747 the troops in the British Frontline, 00:13:23.747 --> 00:13:25.547 go over the top. 00:13:25.547 --> 00:13:29.547 (whistle sound echoes) 00:13:46.207 --> 00:13:48.077 On the first day of the Offensive alone, 00:13:48.077 --> 00:13:51.950 20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:55.950 and over 2,000 are reported missing. 00:13:58.243 --> 00:14:00.373 Paul Golightly: The first casualty was the plan. 00:14:00.373 --> 00:14:03.103 It started to fall apart very rapidly. 00:14:03.103 --> 00:14:06.183 Tragically for the men caught out in the open, it was a death sentence. 00:14:06.183 --> 00:14:09.183 1 in 5 men who went into combat on the 1st of July was killed. 00:14:13.619 --> 00:14:16.269 John Garth: It was the most disastrous day 00:14:16.269 --> 00:14:19.159 in the history of the British Army, and 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:23.289 a tragedy for the entire country. There were 00:14:23.289 --> 00:14:27.368 villages that had lost all their young men. 00:14:29.268 --> 00:14:30.378 Paul Golightly: It's marked as a loss of 00:14:30.378 --> 00:14:35.383 innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed 00:14:35.383 --> 00:14:37.613 represent a turning point in British 00:14:37.613 --> 00:14:40.193 consciousness and the relationship perhaps 00:14:40.193 --> 00:14:42.853 between those who make decisions and those 00:14:42.853 --> 00:14:44.543 who are forced to carry them out. 00:14:44.543 --> 00:14:48.543 (soft piano music) 00:14:53.162 --> 00:14:54.762 VO: Among the many men that are lost on that 00:14:54.762 --> 00:14:59.602 day, is dear friend and TCBS member, 00:14:59.602 --> 00:15:03.082 Robert Gilson. 00:15:03.082 --> 00:15:07.862 John Garth: He led his Platoon over the top 00:15:07.862 --> 00:15:10.672 took charge of his Company, but was shot 00:15:10.672 --> 00:15:13.532 in the middle of No Man's Land. 00:15:15.871 --> 00:15:18.731 Paul Golightly: He was in the fourth wave. 00:15:18.731 --> 00:15:21.441 He saw the first wave go in and fail, 00:15:22.221 --> 00:15:24.571 the second wave go in and fail, 00:15:24.571 --> 00:15:26.271 the third wave go in and fail. 00:15:27.896 --> 00:15:30.506 And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had 00:15:30.506 --> 00:15:34.469 to go in; and they still went. And that 00:15:34.469 --> 00:15:36.919 I think is the most poignant and probably 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:39.269 the most tragic thing about the 1st of July 00:15:39.269 --> 00:15:44.839 1916. That this generation, had so much faith 00:15:44.839 --> 00:15:48.069 in their superiors, probably had so much 00:15:48.069 --> 00:15:50.339 commitment to their fellows that they were 00:15:50.339 --> 00:15:52.749 prepared to go, even though it meant certain 00:15:52.749 --> 00:15:55.759 death. 00:15:57.061 --> 00:15:58.721 John Garth: Tolkien heard about this 00:15:58.721 --> 00:16:01.691 after his first action on the Somme a couple 00:16:01.691 --> 00:16:04.761 of weeks later; and he was devastated. 00:16:05.761 --> 00:16:07.621 It shook him to the foundations of his 00:16:07.621 --> 00:16:10.541 beliefs. He had, as all of the members of 00:16:10.541 --> 00:16:14.281 the TCBS had, built up their group as a 00:16:14.281 --> 00:16:18.971 fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had 00:16:18.971 --> 00:16:21.279 something to give to the World. In which 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:25.549 all four of them were vital parts, and now 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:27.899 one of them was dead. So what did that mean 00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:30.709 about their overall purpose? And also his 00:16:30.709 --> 00:16:32.939 purpose. 00:16:32.939 --> 00:16:34.319 Simon Stacey: Geoffrey Smith wrote him a 00:16:34.319 --> 00:16:39.789 letter in which, clearly Smith experiences 00:16:39.789 --> 00:16:43.856 feelings of devastation and a sense that the 00:16:43.856 --> 00:16:47.106 fellowship had been broken. Rob would never 00:16:47.106 --> 00:16:52.166 become an architect, he would never fulfil 00:16:52.166 --> 00:16:55.031 his part in whatever they dreamed of. 00:16:56.054 --> 00:16:57.644 John Garthm: And I think it took him quite 00:16:57.644 --> 00:17:01.994 some time to recover from that. The other 00:17:01.994 --> 00:17:04.514 two members, Wiseman and Smith, were 00:17:04.514 --> 00:17:07.704 determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS 00:17:07.704 --> 00:17:10.044 purpose continued and I think eventually 00:17:10.044 --> 00:17:12.784 Tolkien took heart from that. 00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:16.339 VO: Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:18.639 at King Edward's school to offer his 00:17:18.639 --> 00:17:21.959 condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young 00:17:21.959 --> 00:17:25.779 man, a talented artist and most painfully 00:17:25.779 --> 00:17:28.599 of all; a dear friend. 00:17:33.641 --> 00:17:36.501 Tolkien's war has well and truly started and 00:17:36.501 --> 00:17:38.301 over the coming months he is subject to the 00:17:38.301 --> 00:17:41.021 many hardships of trench warfare. 00:17:41.487 --> 00:17:43.485 John Garth: He spent his time in and out 00:17:43.485 --> 00:17:47.805 of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated 00:17:47.805 --> 00:17:50.288 from the Frontline to the reserve trenches 00:17:50.288 --> 00:17:54.266 to rest, as they laughably called it, but 00:17:54.266 --> 00:17:56.376 it wasn't really rest, it was training. 00:17:56.376 --> 00:17:59.066 Tolkien talked about the universal weariness 00:17:59.066 --> 00:18:01.388 of all this war. But during this period he 00:18:01.388 --> 00:18:04.198 was involved in three attacks, he was 00:18:04.198 --> 00:18:06.478 very fortunate not to have to go through the 00:18:06.478 --> 00:18:08.798 first day of the Somme; he was a few miles 00:18:08.798 --> 00:18:11.478 back from the Frontline at that time. 00:18:11.478 --> 00:18:13.638 His Battalion moved forward for a second 00:18:13.638 --> 00:18:15.874 wave of attacks, they were launched against a 00:18:15.874 --> 00:18:18.070 village called Ovillers; which had been the 00:18:18.070 --> 00:18:21.410 German Frontline. One of the first things that 00:18:21.410 --> 00:18:25.233 he encountered was, complete chaos in the 00:18:25.233 --> 00:18:27.705 battlefield communications system. It was very 00:18:27.705 --> 00:18:31.245 primitive. It was only partly built; damaged 00:18:31.245 --> 00:18:35.233 by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers 00:18:35.233 --> 00:18:38.703 going across No Man's Land carrying flares 00:18:38.703 --> 00:18:41.537 to say, we have arrived. Further flares - 00:18:41.537 --> 00:18:43.994 "we have taken prisoners", they carried 00:18:43.994 --> 00:18:46.394 pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable 00:18:46.394 --> 00:18:49.025 method of communication. One of Tolkien's 00:18:49.025 --> 00:18:52.195 signallers won a military medal for managing 00:18:52.195 --> 00:18:55.604 to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and 00:18:55.604 --> 00:18:57.161 do the job correctly. 00:18:57.423 --> 00:18:59.633 VO: The attack is a success and many 00:18:59.633 --> 00:19:02.127 prisoners are captured. Of all the combat 00:19:02.127 --> 00:19:05.027 Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant 00:19:05.027 --> 00:19:08.941 battles is also one of his last; an attack 00:19:08.941 --> 00:19:10.041 on Regina Trench. 00:19:10.041 --> 00:19:12.551 John Garth: This was in October, by which 00:19:12.551 --> 00:19:15.152 time the battlefield had been reduced to mud. 00:19:16.459 --> 00:19:19.459 The attack had been delayed by heavy rain 00:19:19.459 --> 00:19:21.794 but on October 21st there was a cold snap 00:19:21.794 --> 00:19:23.705 so the ground was frozen hard and the 00:19:23.705 --> 00:19:25.974 attack was able to go ahead. 00:19:25.974 --> 00:19:30.444 (Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire) 00:19:30.444 --> 00:19:32.525 (Gunfire, bullets zipping by) 00:19:32.525 --> 00:19:47.715 (solemn music) 00:19:47.715 --> 00:19:51.665 John Garth: He saw violent death, he also 00:19:51.665 --> 00:19:54.505 saw and felt extreme terror. 00:19:56.642 --> 00:19:59.579 He never, as far as we know, described at 00:19:59.579 --> 00:20:02.699 length what trench warfare was like but he 00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:05.460 summed it up in two words, in one of his 00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:08.430 letters, and this was; "animal horror". 00:20:09.276 --> 00:20:12.988 It would reduce you from humanity and 00:20:12.988 --> 00:20:16.758 turn you into a retched beast desperate only 00:20:16.758 --> 00:20:19.998 to cower and survive. And it's very 00:20:19.998 --> 00:20:22.188 interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings 00:20:22.188 --> 00:20:25.198 whenever the characters are in situations of 00:20:25.199 --> 00:20:28.279 extreme fear, they're always described as 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:34.744 stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror. 00:20:34.820 --> 00:20:36.630 Paul Golightly: A lot of British trenches 00:20:36.630 --> 00:20:38.670 were deliberately uncomfortable because 00:20:38.670 --> 00:20:40.590 the Generals wanted the men to believe 00:20:40.590 --> 00:20:42.476 that they were only temporary, that they 00:20:42.476 --> 00:20:44.369 would be advancing beyond this, that this 00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:45.699 wasn't their home. 00:20:47.365 --> 00:20:50.385 VO: Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels 00:20:50.395 --> 00:20:53.065 isolated from home and letters to, and from, 00:20:53.066 --> 00:20:56.146 Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of 00:20:56.146 --> 00:20:58.576 strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden 00:20:58.576 --> 00:21:01.696 from sharing his location in his letters, so 00:21:01.934 --> 00:21:04.554 he devises a code of dots to keep Edith 00:21:04.554 --> 00:21:06.454 informed of where he is. 00:21:06.454 --> 00:21:09.144 John Garth: He simply found the letters 00:21:09.144 --> 00:21:11.994 of the alphabet within what he wrote to her 00:21:11.994 --> 00:21:13.964 and put a dot above the relevant ones to 00:21:13.964 --> 00:21:16.684 spell out the name of the place where he was 00:21:16.684 --> 00:21:20.941 currently located. And Edith kept a map 00:21:20.941 --> 00:21:24.554 on her wall and pins to show where he was 00:21:24.554 --> 00:21:27.324 at that time. 00:21:27.324 --> 00:21:29.824 VO: After the successful attack on Regina 00:21:29.824 --> 00:21:32.365 Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the 00:21:32.365 --> 00:21:35.255 front and paraded in front of the top brass. 00:21:35.255 --> 00:21:37.555 Tolkien however, falls ill. 00:21:37.555 --> 00:21:40.225 John Garth: It was trench fever. And this 00:21:40.225 --> 00:21:43.282 was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic 00:21:43.282 --> 00:21:44.450 conditions in the trenches. 00:21:44.450 --> 00:21:46.770 Paul Golightly: It spread through contact 00:21:46.797 --> 00:21:51.049 with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant 00:21:51.049 --> 00:21:53.719 It gives you a headache, you can have stomach 00:21:53.719 --> 00:21:56.526 cramps, you can have pain in you joints 00:21:56.526 --> 00:21:59.400 and in your bones, you can get lesions on 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:02.740 your skin; it's not fatal but it can become 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:05.560 very debilitating. So debilitating you can't 00:22:05.560 --> 00:22:08.052 be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very 00:22:08.052 --> 00:22:10.512 bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided 00:22:10.513 --> 00:22:12.384 "back to Blighty" as they put it. 00:22:12.384 --> 00:22:13.813 And in fact it was the end of his war. 00:22:13.813 --> 00:22:15.638 John Garth: It saved Tolkien's life, it took 00:22:15.638 --> 00:22:19.838 him out of the battlefield and back to Britain. 00:22:19.838 --> 00:22:23.008 He was shipped home to Birmingham, to 00:22:23.008 --> 00:22:24.825 The First Southern General Hospital as it 00:22:24.825 --> 00:22:27.503 was called at the time, which was actually set 00:22:27.503 --> 00:22:29.838 up in the grounds of Birmingham University. 00:22:29.838 --> 00:22:33.418 And it was there that Tolkien was re-united 00:22:33.425 --> 00:22:37.040 with his wife, Edith and where he began 00:22:37.040 --> 00:22:40.430 writing the first stories of Middle-Earth. 00:22:41.040 --> 00:22:43.967 His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional 00:22:43.967 --> 00:22:47.034 and was an inspiration for various pieces of 00:22:47.034 --> 00:22:49.376 writing in his mythology, notably the 00:22:49.376 --> 00:22:52.971 story of Luthien and Beren; which features 00:22:52.971 --> 00:22:54.863 in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in 00:22:54.863 --> 00:22:57.843 The Lord of The Rings. A love story between 00:22:58.263 --> 00:23:01.094 a mortal man and an immortal elf. 00:23:01.094 --> 00:23:01.957 (Gentle Piano Music) 00:23:01.957 --> 00:23:05.157 VO: However, Tolkien's respite is short lived. 00:23:05.157 --> 00:23:07.649 Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien 00:23:07.649 --> 00:23:10.202 learns from Christopher Wiseman, that 00:23:10.202 --> 00:23:14.452 good friend G.B.Smith has been killed. 00:23:17.354 --> 00:23:19.284 John Garth: The Battle of the Somme was 00:23:19.293 --> 00:23:22.619 over, and Smith had been organising a 00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:25.699 football match for his men about four miles 00:23:25.702 --> 00:23:28.312 behind the Frontline, when a stray shell 00:23:28.312 --> 00:23:31.212 exploded near him. 00:23:31.212 --> 00:23:34.902 He was hit by shrapnel and developed what 00:23:34.902 --> 00:23:37.834 they called Gas Gangrene, which killed 00:23:37.834 --> 00:23:41.572 him within a few days. Early in 1916, while 00:23:41.572 --> 00:23:44.892 Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter 00:23:44.910 --> 00:23:47.742 G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches 00:23:47.742 --> 00:23:48.722 in France. 00:23:48.722 --> 00:23:51.760 VO: Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol. 00:23:51.760 --> 00:23:53.774 The officer who had led the patrol the night before 00:23:53.774 --> 00:23:57.468 had been captured and most likely killed. 00:23:57.468 --> 00:23:59.540 John Garth: It was about the most dangerous 00:23:59.540 --> 00:24:02.007 activity that you could do on the Western Front 00:24:02.007 --> 00:24:04.136 and Smith was about to go into it and he took 00:24:04.136 --> 00:24:08.006 the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and 00:24:08.020 --> 00:24:15.660 tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol, 00:24:15.665 --> 00:24:18.475 I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of 00:24:18.475 --> 00:24:22.675 what you've written and what you will write" 00:24:22.675 --> 00:24:28.965 He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen, 00:24:28.968 --> 00:24:32.968 and you must publish." 00:24:33.276 --> 00:24:35.956 Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth 00:24:35.956 --> 00:24:37.086 fan. 00:24:37.086 --> 00:24:39.496 Simon Stacey: Smith says in the letter that 00:24:40.906 --> 00:24:44.516 death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to 00:24:44.522 --> 00:24:48.522 the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien 00:24:49.334 --> 00:24:52.904 may say the things that he had wanted to 00:24:52.904 --> 00:24:56.989 say, long after he is there to say them. 00:24:56.989 --> 00:25:00.914 That's very moving because Tolkien, although 00:25:00.914 --> 00:25:04.984 very much his own individual artistic self, 00:25:05.545 --> 00:25:08.915 I think did see his later career as an 00:25:08.915 --> 00:25:12.165 attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that 00:25:12.165 --> 00:25:13.177 they'd shared. 00:25:13.177 --> 00:25:17.351 John Garth: He was able to gather his strength 00:25:17.351 --> 00:25:23.391 and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to. 00:25:24.659 --> 00:25:27.769 VO: In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and 00:25:27.769 --> 00:25:30.003 Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and 00:25:30.003 --> 00:25:32.423 have them published in a small volume, 00:25:32.430 --> 00:25:36.670 entitled; "A Spring Harvest". 00:25:37.493 --> 00:25:40.054 Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his 00:25:40.064 --> 00:25:43.126 experiences will stay with him forever, and 00:25:43.126 --> 00:25:46.028 will even feature in his future writings. 00:25:46.028 --> 00:25:47.740 John Garth: The whole experience of the War 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:52.200 had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:53.627 mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from 00:25:53.627 --> 00:25:55.571 the Somme he started writing a story called, 00:25:55.571 --> 00:25:58.455 "The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first 00:25:58.455 --> 00:26:01.325 element of his mythology that dealt with battle. 00:26:02.026 --> 00:26:04.292 And the fascinating thing about it is that the 00:26:04.292 --> 00:26:07.555 attacking forces use things that are termed 00:26:07.555 --> 00:26:09.661 by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters" 00:26:09.661 --> 00:26:13.940 but they're described as metallic and rolling 00:26:13.940 --> 00:26:16.267 and they spout fire and some of them have 00:26:16.267 --> 00:26:18.697 troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that 00:26:18.697 --> 00:26:22.040 this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank. 00:26:22.040 --> 00:26:23.849 Which was Britains secret weapon, which 00:26:23.849 --> 00:26:26.290 had just been launched on the Somme while 00:26:26.290 --> 00:26:27.366 Tolkien was there. 00:26:27.366 --> 00:26:31.168 The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship, 00:26:31.168 --> 00:26:33.614 they're separated on different battlefronts, 00:26:33.614 --> 00:26:34.944 much like the TCBS were. 00:26:34.944 --> 00:26:37.435 Simon Stacey: It's almost unimaginable that, 00:26:37.435 --> 00:26:39.619 in writing of the breaking of the fellowship, 00:26:39.619 --> 00:26:42.214 in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't 00:26:42.214 --> 00:26:45.444 have been influenced by his own loss during 00:26:45.461 --> 00:26:47.820 the First World War and the breaking of the 00:26:47.820 --> 00:26:49.470 TCBS fellowship. 00:26:49.876 --> 00:26:53.082 There is a late letter in which he mentions 00:26:53.082 --> 00:26:56.112 that the dead marshes, through which Frodo, 00:26:56.139 --> 00:27:00.148 Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to 00:27:00.148 --> 00:27:02.432 northern France, in the area of the Somme 00:27:02.432 --> 00:27:03.483 where he fought. 00:27:03.483 --> 00:27:06.713 John Garth: Frodo and Sam are very much 00:27:06.739 --> 00:27:10.289 the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his 00:27:10.289 --> 00:27:12.835 servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my 00:27:12.835 --> 00:27:17.655 Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and 00:27:17.821 --> 00:27:21.621 Batmen I knew in the First World War". 00:27:21.899 --> 00:27:24.639 Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young 00:27:25.080 --> 00:27:28.234 man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war 00:27:28.324 --> 00:27:31.208 unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible 00:27:31.208 --> 00:27:35.478 burden; a burden of duty. You can see that 00:27:35.493 --> 00:27:39.493 Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now 00:27:40.368 --> 00:27:42.644 call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or 00:27:42.644 --> 00:27:44.804 War Trauma, or what they called then, 00:27:44.804 --> 00:27:48.926 Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from 00:27:48.926 --> 00:27:52.410 the World, increasingly enclosed within himself 00:27:52.410 --> 00:27:55.200 he says he can't remember what grass was like, 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:57.320 what sunlight was like. 00:27:57.756 --> 00:28:00.976 When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings, 00:28:01.102 --> 00:28:03.882 Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero, 00:28:03.886 --> 00:28:05.782 he is visibly traumatised by the whole 00:28:05.782 --> 00:28:09.406 experience. This was very true of many of the 00:28:09.406 --> 00:28:11.595 soldiers who returned from the Western 00:28:11.595 --> 00:28:14.990 Front, unable to talk about the experiences 00:28:14.990 --> 00:28:17.803 that had affected them so deeply. 00:28:17.803 --> 00:28:22.306 (retrospective piano music) 00:28:22.306 --> 00:28:24.131 Paul Golightly: The generation that fights 00:28:24.131 --> 00:28:27.244 the First World War, should be called courageous. 00:28:27.244 --> 00:28:30.374 Simon Stacey: The sacrifice of that generation 00:28:30.374 --> 00:28:31.434 was extraordinary. 00:28:31.434 --> 00:28:35.234 John Garth: It was a tragic loss not only for 00:28:35.272 --> 00:28:39.396 families, for friends, but for civilisation as 00:28:39.396 --> 00:28:45.476 a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and 00:28:45.476 --> 00:28:48.386 assumptions in honour and glory. 00:28:48.386 --> 00:28:51.567 Simon Stacey: It is the first thorough 00:28:51.567 --> 00:28:56.777 going war of the machines. So many 00:28:56.786 --> 00:28:59.580 thousands and ultimately millions of men 00:28:59.580 --> 00:29:04.087 could be wiped out, could be destroyed without 00:29:04.087 --> 00:29:05.845 necessarily facing their individual enemy. 00:29:05.845 --> 00:29:08.185 Paul Golightly: These men don't have 00:29:08.185 --> 00:29:11.503 the privilege of dying one at a time, they die 00:29:11.503 --> 00:29:14.106 on mass; and it's those numbers that I think 00:29:14.106 --> 00:29:17.202 traumatise us so much. That's why we have 00:29:17.202 --> 00:29:20.820 the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate; 00:29:20.820 --> 00:29:24.100 where it's just one long list of names. 00:29:24.100 --> 00:29:26.685 These bodies have simply disappeared, and 00:29:26.685 --> 00:29:28.593 they're all separate lives but they've all 00:29:28.593 --> 00:29:29.990 vanished at once. 00:29:30.730 --> 00:29:33.479 John Garth: When you read the King Edward's 00:29:33.479 --> 00:29:38.119 School Chronicle, as I have to research 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:42.809 Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys 00:29:42.934 --> 00:29:45.353 with whom he grew up and you see their 00:29:45.353 --> 00:29:47.319 achievements, you see what they were learning, 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:50.309 you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially 00:29:50.332 --> 00:29:55.027 creative and brilliant they were. And then 00:29:55.027 --> 00:29:57.324 the First World War; and you see that they're 00:29:57.324 --> 00:29:58.766 heading for this. 00:29:58.766 --> 00:30:01.160 Paul Golightly: These young men, with their 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:03.690 whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:05.830 a phrase that we all know, have been cut off 00:30:05.830 --> 00:30:08.225 in their prime. They were full of potential, 00:30:08.225 --> 00:30:10.370 full of life, full of vigour, full of plans, 00:30:10.370 --> 00:30:12.485 full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of 00:30:12.485 --> 00:30:14.118 things with their professional lives and 00:30:14.118 --> 00:30:16.499 their personal lives, and denied that opportunity. 00:30:16.499 --> 00:30:18.928 John Garth: When you look at the fortunes 00:30:18.928 --> 00:30:21.390 of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien 00:30:21.390 --> 00:30:24.063 survived and went on to produce the great 00:30:24.063 --> 00:30:26.235 works of literature that he did; works that 00:30:26.235 --> 00:30:28.542 have shaped our culture. And one does 00:30:28.542 --> 00:30:33.016 wonder how many others didn't survive, 00:30:33.016 --> 00:30:35.199 what potential was locked inside them that 00:30:35.199 --> 00:30:39.069 they never had time to bring out of themselves. 00:30:39.069 --> 00:30:43.272 So there is an uncountable loss there. 00:30:44.189 --> 00:30:47.729 Simon Stacey: G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse 00:30:47.733 --> 00:30:52.703 of a young life snuffed out and only very 00:30:52.703 --> 00:30:56.792 incompletely communicating its dreams. 00:30:56.792 --> 00:30:59.070 Paul Golightly: This is a generation that did 00:30:59.070 --> 00:31:01.438 not talk about the way it felt. So in that 00:31:01.438 --> 00:31:04.578 sense I think the psychological affect was 00:31:04.578 --> 00:31:07.998 long lasting. A number of veterans surived 00:31:07.998 --> 00:31:10.633 the war only to find that they couldn't survive 00:31:10.633 --> 00:31:11.413 the peace. 00:31:11.873 --> 00:31:14.531 VO: In the chapel at King Edward's School, 00:31:14.531 --> 00:31:18.795 eight brass plaques hold the names of 00:31:18.795 --> 00:31:21.350 245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during 00:31:21.350 --> 00:31:24.977 the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS 00:31:24.977 --> 00:31:26.821 friends, are just four of almost 00:31:26.821 --> 00:31:29.475 fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered 00:31:29.475 --> 00:31:32.820 their country's call and fought in The Great War, 00:31:32.820 --> 00:31:35.860 and each of their stories is worth telling. 00:31:36.603 --> 00:31:38.976 Paul Golightly: The graveyards that you can 00:31:38.976 --> 00:31:42.427 walk around in northern France now have become 00:31:42.427 --> 00:31:45.447 almost 21st century cathedrals; where some 00:31:45.448 --> 00:31:47.663 really important questions need to be ask about 00:31:47.663 --> 00:31:50.434 the nature of war and the nature of 00:31:50.434 --> 00:31:55.264 sacrifice, and in the First World War's case, 00:31:55.997 --> 00:32:01.067 the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war 00:32:01.067 --> 00:32:05.913 could be worth that. 00:32:13.317 --> 00:32:27.917 (Piano Solo)