WEBVTT

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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,

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was born on the 3rd January, 1892.

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He and his brother Hilary, experienced

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a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was

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just four, they lost their father, Arthur,

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to rheumatic fever.

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As a widow with low income, his mother

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Mabel, home school the brothers and played

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a vital role in their early education and

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development.

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Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a

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fascination and thirst for languages.

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Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King

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Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.

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From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of

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12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be

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educated in an environment that would help

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fulfil his academic potential.

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

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important to Tolkien; he was an

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exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's

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offered him a vast amount of scope and also

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the company of other boys who were

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similarly talented.

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Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien

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to find.

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[Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but

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he was a leading light in the debating society

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and the literary society; he was the life and

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soul really and he missed the school a

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great deal, I think, when he finally had

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to leave.

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

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brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,

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to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges

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himself into school life more energetically

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than before. Academically he excels, but

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in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,

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Christopher Wiseman.

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[John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend

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at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on

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the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician;

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quite different from Tolkien.

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They developed such a strong bond on the rugby

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field that they called themselves;

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"The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase

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from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord

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Macauley.

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[Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals

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in the school, both being very academic

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boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect

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and he was interested in a lot of the things

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that Tolkien was getting interested in;

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languages, I think he was looking at

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Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.

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[John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have

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helped define each other through their

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teenage years because they would argue;

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they would argue strongly about all their

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beliefs in life.

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[Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented

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musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone

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deaf but that didn't stop them getting on!

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[VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the

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headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman

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and Gilson, form a strong bond which will

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last throughout their school years and beyond.

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

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about to change, yet again.

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[John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings

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with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16

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he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19

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at the time. And she was a beautiful young

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girl; talented pianist and also an orphan.

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And the two of them bonded on their shared

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sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams.

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The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him,

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and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic

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and she was an Anglican.

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

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a Catholic Priest, feels this is major

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divide; and also believes that Edith will

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distract Tolkien from his attempts to get

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into Oxford University.

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[John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade

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them from seeing each other, or even from

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communicating. He was thrown back upon his

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friendships at King Edward's and it was

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this final phase of his time here, that he

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began to flourish and make the place his

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own; he and his friends ruled the roost.

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[VO] Making the most of his final year at

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King Edward's and the friendships he has

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formed, Tolkien and his peers create an

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informal society.

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These young intellectuals gather in the school

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library and do what they are forbidden to do:

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brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet

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in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham

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and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves

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the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"

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or the TCBS for short.

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(nostalgic music)

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[John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably

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Tolkien and Wiseman and the others

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gravitated around them. There was Robert

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Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster

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here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,

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he was perhaps the social glue of the group;

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he would welcome anyone and find common

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cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow

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who loved to sketch.

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[Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and

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had ambitions to be an architect.

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There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,

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who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic

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mythology; so this gave him common ground

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with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's

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passions.

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[Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished

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and advanced poet who recommended contemporary

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poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing

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poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,

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inspired by Smith and the wider group.

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And that was really the beginnings of

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Tolkien as a writer.

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[John Garth] From the beginnings which were

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

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this developed into a fellowship from which

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each of them drew tremendous strength and

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comfort.

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

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King Edward's comes to an end and he begins

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his first term at Oxford, having successfully

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gained entrance.

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On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his

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independence from Father Francis Morgan,

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Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a

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week later, they are re-united.

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Edith is engaged to marry another man,

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but despite almost certain ridicule,

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she agrees to break the engagement to be

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with her Ronald.

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Over the next few months, a growing sense of

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trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th

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of June, 1914, everything changes.

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(gun shot sound)

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(solemn music)

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Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the

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assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

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A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks,

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Europe's major powers are at war.

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Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares

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war on Germany. Parliament issues a call

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to arms from the British public.

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

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colours straight away. It becomes much more

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obvious that people are willing to join

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up when atrocity stories start to emerge,

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then you get a much more concerted rush

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to join.

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[John Garth] There was an air of excitement

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about the war, there was a naive sense that

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this would allow young men to fulfil their

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potential in a way that wasn't possible in

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peace time. There was a tremendous sense

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of patriotism and a sense of duty towards

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whatever England, or Britain, stood for.

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[Paul Golightly] They are attracted to the

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idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans,

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or at least some of them will be. On the

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whole, they thought they were going to give

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the Germans a bloody nose.

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[John Garth] "The Germans has been dastardly"

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and needed to dealt with and shown their place.

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[Paul Golightly] Men join up out of economic

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necessity and you'll find that in any war.

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Life is not very exciting and the romance

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and colour of joining the army and being

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part of something very big indeed, I'm sure

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has some allure.

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(solemn music) And they see things

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in rather romantic ways, which of course is

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doomed to fail; we all know what the First

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

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

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charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid

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it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire

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and the crump of artillery that's going to

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dominate.

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So they, I think, have expectations about what

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the war will be like, and I think their main

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emotion was, will it be over before I can

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get to France.

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[John Garth] Tolkien, who's reading covered

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ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly

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frank about what happens in war, went into

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the war much more open-eyed. He described

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himself as a "young man with too much

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imagination" and so he did not relish battle

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in any sense.

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[Paul Golightly] And I think that applies

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

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but also the politicians and generals who

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directed it; I think a lot of people

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understood that this war could be terrible.

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[Simon Stacey] What you get in the letters

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between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and

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then in Smith's poetry, is a serious

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determination to do their duty and that they

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should be prepared to give their lives.

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A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time

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and that they've got to come through it.

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

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

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signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman

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joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a

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dilemma.

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[Simon Stacey] Tolkien was in a difficult

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position when war broke out; he had a year

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of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien

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needed a degree badly because he wanted to

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pursue an academic career; he didn't have

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any money in his family unlike Gilson and

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therefore, having committed three years to

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the degree it was very important that he

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completed it. So he discovered a scheme

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whereby he could undergo some training

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in the Officer Training Core whilst

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completing his degree, which he did triumphantly

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with a first at Oxford.

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

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the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being

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posted to the same battalion.

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[John Garth] Tolkien was looking for something

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in the army through which he could use his

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particular talents, and his particular talents

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were languages and writing systems; he was

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fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was

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only natural that he would train up as a

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signaller.

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[Paul Golightly] It would have meant that

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Tolkien was exposed to the technology

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available at the time and it must have

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interested him; so the use of the radio, the

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use of signals, of semaphore.

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[Simon Stacey] He learnt morse code,

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he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field

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telephones; which of course went on largely

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to be ineffective or not to work.

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[John Garth] He became Battalion Signalling

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Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to

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oversee the communications of a Battalion

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of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on

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manpower at the time.

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[Paul Golightly] His basic job of course

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was to act as a link between the various

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layers of command, and that he would be

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responsible for incoming orders and making sure

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that the right people got those and of course

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he'd be responsible for telling command further

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up the line about the situation on his sector.

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[John Garth] So he was an absolute lynch pin

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in a war which depended absolutely on how

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much information you had about your enemies

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position.

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[VO] In March of 1916 as his training nears

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its completion, both Tolkien and Edith

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become aware that he will soon be sent to

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the Front. They marry and just over two

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months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France.

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The two of them part, not knowing if they

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will ever see each other again.

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(Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting)

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(ominous music)

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[VO] When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the

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War has been raging for almost two years.

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The cost of the War is clear;

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the countryside is scarred and the casualties

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high.

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After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare

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throughout 1915, and with a new wave of

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thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is

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clear the Big Push is imminent.

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(marching feet)

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Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but

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he fears for the lives of his old school

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friends who are at the Front.

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Within a month of his arrival in France

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the Allies launch the Somme Offensive.

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At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July,

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the troops in the British Frontline,

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go over the top.

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(whistle sound echoes)

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On the first day of the Offensive alone,

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

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and over 2,000 are reported missing.

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[Paul Golightly] The first casualty was

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the plan. It started to fall apart very

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rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out

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

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men who went into combat on the 1st of July

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was killed.

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[John Garth] It was the most disastrous day

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in the history of the British Army, and

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a tragedy for the entire country. There were

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villages that had lost all their young men.

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

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innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed

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represent a turning point in British

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consciousness and the relationship perhaps

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between those who make decisions and those

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who are forced to carry them out.

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(soft piano music)

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

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day, is dear friend and TCBS member,

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Robert Gilson.

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[John Garth] He led his Platoon over the top

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took charge of his Company, but was shot

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in the middle of No Man's Land.

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[Paul Golightly] He was in the fourth wave.

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He saw the first wave go in and fail,

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the second wave go in and fail,

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the third wave go in and fail.

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And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had

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to go in; and they still went. And that

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I think is the most poignant and probably

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the most tragic thing about the 1st of July

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1916. That this generation, had so much faith

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in their superiors, probably had so much

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commitment to their fellows that they were

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prepared to go, even though it meant certain

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death.

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[John Garth] Tolkien heard about this

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after his first action on the Somme a couple

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of weeks later; and he was devastated.

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It shook him to the foundations of his

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beliefs. He had, as all of the members of

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the TCBS had, built up their group as a

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fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had

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something to give to the World. In which

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all four of them were vital parts, and now

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one of them was dead. So what did that mean

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about their overall purpose? And also his

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purpose.

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[Simon Stacey] Geoffrey Smith wrote him a

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letter in which, clearly Smith experiences

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feelings of devastation and a sense that the

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fellowship had been broken. Rob would never

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become an architect, he would never fulfil

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his part in whatever they dreamed of.

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[John Garth] And I think it took him quite

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some time to recover from that. The other

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two members, Wiseman and Smith, were

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determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS

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purpose continued and I think eventually

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Tolkien took heart from that.

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[VO] Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster

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at King Edward's school to offer his

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condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young

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man, a talented artist and most painfully

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of all; a dear friend.

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Tolkien's war has well and truly started and

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over the coming months he is subject to the

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many hardships of trench warfare.

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[John Garth] He spent his time in and out

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of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated

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from the Frontline to the reserve trenches

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to rest, as they laughably called it, but

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it wasn't really rest, it was training.

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Tolkien talked about the universal weariness

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of all this war. But during this period he

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was involved in three attacks, he was

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very fortunate not to have to go through the

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first day of the Somme; he was a few miles

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back from the Frontline at that time.

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His Battalion moved forward for a second

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wave of attacks, they were launched against a

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village called Ovier; which had been the

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German Frontline. One of the first things that

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he encountered was, complete chaos in the

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battlefield communications system. It was very

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primitive. It was only partly built; damaged

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by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers

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going across No Man's Land carrying flares

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to say, we have arrived. Further flares -

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"we have taken prisoners", they carried

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pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable

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method of communication. One of Tolkien's

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signallers won a military medal for managing

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to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and

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do the job correctly.

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[VO] The attack is a success and many

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prisoners are captured. Of all the combat

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Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant

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battles is also one of his last; an attack

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on Regina Trench.

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[John Garth] This was in October, by which

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time the battlefield had been reduced to mud.

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The attack had been delayed by heavy rain

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but on October 21st there was a cold snap

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so the ground was frozen hard and the

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attack was able to go ahead.

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(Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire)