Tolkien's Great War
-
0:10 - 0:13John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,
was born on the 3rd January, 1892. -
0:16 - 0:18He and his brother Hilary,
experienced a difficult childhood; -
0:18 - 0:20when Tolkien was just four,
they lost their father, Arthur, -
0:22 - 0:24to rheumatic fever.
-
0:25 - 0:26As a widow with low income,
his mother Mabel, -
0:26 - 0:29home school the brothers and played
a vital role in their early education -
0:29 - 0:32and development.
-
0:33 - 0:35Tolkien was a smart young boy, with
a fascination and thirst for languages. -
0:40 - 0:42Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King
Edward's School, Birmingham and passed. -
0:45 - 0:47From the Autumn of 1900,
for a fee of 12 pounds a year, -
0:47 - 0:49Tolkien would be educated
in an environment -
0:49 - 0:52that would help fulfil
his academic potential. -
0:56 - 0:57John Garth: Going to King Edward's
was vitally important to Tolkien; -
0:57 - 0:59he was an exceptionally talented boy.
-
0:59 - 1:02King Edward's offered him
a vast amount of scope -
1:02 - 1:05and also the company of other boys
who were similarly talented. -
1:11 - 1:12Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien
-
1:12 - 1:14to find.
-
1:16 - 1:17Simon Stacey: Not only did he play rugby but
-
1:17 - 1:21he was a leading light in the debating society
-
1:21 - 1:24and the literary society; he was the life and
-
1:24 - 1:28soul really and he missed the school a
-
1:28 - 1:29great deal, I think, when he finally had
-
1:29 - 1:30to leave.
-
1:31 - 1:33VO: At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his
-
1:33 - 1:35brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,
-
1:36 - 1:39to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges
-
1:39 - 1:41himself into school life more energetically
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1:41 - 1:45than before. Academically he excels, but
-
1:45 - 1:47in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,
-
1:48 - 1:49Christopher Wiseman.
-
1:51 - 1:53John Garth: Tolkien met his greatest friend
-
1:53 - 1:55at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on
-
1:55 - 1:59the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician;
-
1:59 - 2:00quite different from Tolkien.
-
2:02 - 2:03They developed such a strong bond on the rugby
-
2:03 - 2:05field that they called themselves;
-
2:05 - 2:07"The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase
-
2:07 - 2:09from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord
-
2:10 - 2:10Macauley.
-
2:11 - 2:13Simon Stacey: They also were friendly rivals
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2:14 - 2:15in the school, both being very academic
-
2:15 - 2:17boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect
-
2:17 - 2:19and he was interested in a lot of the things
-
2:19 - 2:21that Tolkien was getting interested in;
-
2:21 - 2:24languages, I think he was looking at
-
2:24 - 2:27Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.
-
2:27 - 2:29John Garth: Tolkien and Wiseman must have
-
2:29 - 2:30helped define each other through their
-
2:30 - 2:32teenage years because they would argue;
-
2:32 - 2:33they would argue strongly about all their
-
2:33 - 2:35beliefs in life.
-
2:35 - 2:37Simon Stacey: Wiseman was a very talented
-
2:37 - 2:40musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone
-
2:40 - 2:41deaf but that didn't stop them getting on!
-
2:43 - 2:45VO: Tolkien also befriends, son of the
-
2:45 - 2:47headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman
-
2:47 - 2:51and Gilson, form a strong bond which will
-
2:51 - 2:54last throughout their school years and beyond.
-
2:56 - 2:58Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is
-
2:58 - 3:00about to change, yet again.
-
3:02 - 3:03John Garth: Tolkien was living in lodgings
-
3:03 - 3:05with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16
-
3:05 - 3:10he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19
-
3:10 - 3:13at the time. And she was a beautiful young
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3:13 - 3:18girl; talented pianist and also an orphan.
-
3:18 - 3:20And the two of them bonded on their shared
-
3:20 - 3:23sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams.
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3:24 - 3:28The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him,
-
3:28 - 3:31and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic
-
3:31 - 3:33and she was an Anglican.
-
3:34 - 3:36VO: Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan,
-
3:36 - 3:38a Catholic Priest, feels this is major
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3:38 - 3:41divide; and also believes that Edith will
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3:41 - 3:43distract Tolkien from his attempts to get
-
3:43 - 3:45into Oxford University.
-
3:46 - 3:48John Garth: Father Francis Morgan, forbade
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3:48 - 3:50them from seeing each other, or even from
-
3:50 - 3:53communicating. He was thrown back upon his
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3:53 - 3:56friendships at King Edward's and it was
-
3:56 - 3:59this final phase of his time here, that he
-
3:59 - 4:03began to flourish and make the place his
-
4:04 - 4:07own; he and his friends ruled the roost.
-
4:08 - 4:10VO: Making the most of his final year at
-
4:10 - 4:11King Edward's and the friendships he has
-
4:12 - 4:14formed, Tolkien and his peers create an
-
4:14 - 4:16informal society.
-
4:20 - 4:22These young intellectuals gather in the school
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4:22 - 4:24library and do what they are forbidden to do:
-
4:24 - 4:28brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet
-
4:28 - 4:30in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham
-
4:31 - 4:34and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves
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4:34 - 4:36the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"
-
4:36 - 4:39or the TCBS for short.
-
4:39 - 4:40(nostalgic music)
-
4:40 - 4:42John Garth: The core of the TCBS was probably
-
4:42 - 4:44Tolkien and Wiseman and the others
-
4:44 - 4:48gravitated around them. There was Robert
-
4:48 - 4:50Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster
-
4:50 - 4:54here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,
-
4:54 - 4:56he was perhaps the social glue of the group;
-
4:57 - 4:59he would welcome anyone and find common
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5:00 - 5:03cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow
-
5:03 - 5:05who loved to sketch.
-
5:05 - 5:09Simon Stacey: He was a gifted artist and
-
5:09 - 5:10had ambitions to be an architect.
-
5:11 - 5:14There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,
-
5:14 - 5:19who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic
-
5:19 - 5:21mythology; so this gave him common ground
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5:21 - 5:23with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's
-
5:23 - 5:24passions.
-
5:24 - 5:25Simon Stacey: Smith was quite an accomplished
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5:25 - 5:29and advanced poet who recommended contemporary
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5:29 - 5:32poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing
-
5:32 - 5:34poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,
-
5:34 - 5:37inspired by Smith and the wider group.
-
5:37 - 5:40And that was really the beginnings of
-
5:40 - 5:41Tolkien as a writer.
-
5:41 - 5:44John Garth: From the beginnings which were
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5:44 - 5:47mostly about fun, later on, during the war years,
-
5:47 - 5:51this developed into a fellowship from which
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5:51 - 5:54each of them drew tremendous strength and
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5:54 - 5:54comfort.
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5:55 - 5:58VO: Later that year, Tolkien's time at
-
5:58 - 6:00King Edward's comes to an end and he begins
-
6:00 - 6:02his first term at Oxford, having successfully
-
6:02 - 6:04gained entrance.
-
6:06 - 6:08On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his
-
6:08 - 6:10independence from Father Francis Morgan,
-
6:10 - 6:13Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a
-
6:13 - 6:16week later, they are re-united.
-
6:16 - 6:18Edith is engaged to marry another man,
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6:18 - 6:20but despite almost certain ridicule,
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6:20 - 6:22she agrees to break the engagement to be
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6:22 - 6:24with her Ronald.
-
6:25 - 6:27Over the next few months, a growing sense of
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6:27 - 6:29trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th
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6:29 - 6:34of June, 1914, everything changes.
-
6:35 - 6:38(gun shot sound)
-
6:39 - 6:40(solemn music)
-
6:41 - 6:43Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the
-
6:43 - 6:45assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
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6:45 - 6:50A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks,
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6:50 - 6:53Europe's major powers are at war.
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6:55 - 6:57Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares
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6:57 - 7:01war on Germany. Parliament issues a call
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7:01 - 7:03to arms from the British public.
-
7:04 - 7:05Paul Golightly: There isn't a rush to the
-
7:05 - 7:08colours straight away. It becomes much more
-
7:08 - 7:10obvious that people are willing to join
-
7:10 - 7:12up when atrocity stories start to emerge,
-
7:13 - 7:15then you get a much more concerted rush
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7:15 - 7:16to join.
-
7:16 - 7:18John Garth: There was an air of excitement
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7:18 - 7:20about the war, there was a naive sense that
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7:21 - 7:23this would allow young men to fulfil their
-
7:23 - 7:25potential in a way that wasn't possible in
-
7:26 - 7:28peace time. There was a tremendous sense
-
7:28 - 7:30of patriotism and a sense of duty towards
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7:30 - 7:33whatever England, or Britain, stood for.
-
7:34 - 7:36Paul Golightly: They are attracted to the
-
7:36 - 7:38idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans,
-
7:38 - 7:40or at least some of them will be. On the
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7:40 - 7:41whole, they thought they were going to give
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7:41 - 7:43the Germans a bloody nose.
-
7:43 - 7:45John Garth: "The Germans has been dastardly"
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7:45 - 7:48and needed to dealt with and shown their place.
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7:49 - 7:50Paul Golightly: Men join up out of economic
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7:50 - 7:53necessity and you'll find that in any war.
-
7:54 - 7:57Life is not very exciting and the romance
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7:57 - 8:00and colour of joining the army and being
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8:01 - 8:03part of something very big indeed, I'm sure
-
8:03 - 8:04has some allure.
-
8:05 - 8:07(solemn music) And they see things
-
8:07 - 8:09in rather romantic ways, which of course is
-
8:09 - 8:12doomed to fail; we all know what the First
-
8:12 - 8:14World War turns into. It's not a war of
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8:15 - 8:17movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry
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8:17 - 8:20charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid
-
8:21 - 8:23it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire
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8:23 - 8:25and the crump of artillery that's going to
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8:25 - 8:26dominate.
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8:30 - 8:32So they, I think, have expectations about what
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8:32 - 8:34the war will be like, and I think their main
-
8:34 - 8:36emotion was, will it be over before I can
-
8:36 - 8:37get to France.
-
8:39 - 8:42John Garth: Tolkien, who's reading covered
-
8:42 - 8:46ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly
-
8:46 - 8:51frank about what happens in war, went into
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8:51 - 8:55the war much more open-eyed. He described
-
8:55 - 8:57himself as a "young man with too much
-
8:57 - 9:00imagination" and so he did not relish battle
-
9:00 - 9:01in any sense.
-
9:02 - 9:03Paul Golightly: And I think that applies
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9:03 - 9:05to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it,
-
9:05 - 9:08but also the politicians and generals who
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9:08 - 9:10directed it; I think a lot of people
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9:10 - 9:12understood that this war could be terrible.
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9:14 - 9:15Simon Stacey: What you get in the letters
-
9:16 - 9:18between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and
-
9:18 - 9:21then in Smith's poetry, is a serious
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9:21 - 9:25determination to do their duty and that they
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9:25 - 9:27should be prepared to give their lives.
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9:28 - 9:31A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time
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9:31 - 9:33and that they've got to come through it.
-
9:35 - 9:37VO: G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join
-
9:37 - 9:40the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary,
-
9:41 - 9:44signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman
-
9:44 - 9:48joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a
-
9:48 - 9:50dilemma.
-
9:51 - 9:53Simon Stacey: Tolkien was in a difficult
-
9:53 - 9:55position when war broke out; he had a year
-
9:55 - 9:58of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien
-
9:58 - 10:01needed a degree badly because he wanted to
-
10:01 - 10:04pursue an academic career; he didn't have
-
10:04 - 10:08any money in his family unlike Gilson and
-
10:08 - 10:12therefore, having committed three years to
-
10:12 - 10:13the degree it was very important that he
-
10:14 - 10:16completed it. So he discovered a scheme
-
10:16 - 10:19whereby he could undergo some training
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10:19 - 10:21in the Officer Training Core whilst
-
10:21 - 10:24completing his degree, which he did triumphantly
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10:24 - 10:25with a first at Oxford.
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10:26 - 10:28VO: He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into
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10:28 - 10:31the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being
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10:31 - 10:32posted to the same battalion.
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10:34 - 10:35John Garth: Tolkien was looking for something
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10:35 - 10:39in the army through which he could use his
-
10:39 - 10:40particular talents, and his particular talents
-
10:41 - 10:44were languages and writing systems; he was
-
10:44 - 10:46fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was
-
10:46 - 10:49only natural that he would train up as a
-
10:49 - 10:50signaller.
-
10:50 - 10:51Paul Golightly: It would have meant that
-
10:52 - 10:53Tolkien was exposed to the technology
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10:53 - 10:55available at the time and it must have
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10:55 - 10:59interested him; so the use of the radio, the
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10:59 - 11:02use of signals, of semaphore.
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11:03 - 11:05Simon Stacey: He learnt morse code,
-
11:05 - 11:08he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field
-
11:08 - 11:10telephones; which of course went on largely
-
11:10 - 11:13to be ineffective or not to work.
-
11:13 - 11:14John Garth: He became Battalion Signalling
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11:15 - 11:18Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to
-
11:18 - 11:21oversee the communications of a Battalion
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11:21 - 11:24of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on
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11:24 - 11:26manpower at the time.
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11:27 - 11:28Paul Golightly: His basic job of course
-
11:28 - 11:30was to act as a link between the various
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11:30 - 11:33layers of command, and that he would be
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11:33 - 11:36responsible for incoming orders and making sure
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11:36 - 11:37that the right people got those and of course
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11:37 - 11:41he'd be responsible for telling command further
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11:41 - 11:43up the line about the situation on his sector.
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11:44 - 11:46John Garth: So he was an absolute lynch pin
-
11:46 - 11:49in a war which depended absolutely on how
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11:49 - 11:52much information you had about your enemies
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11:52 - 11:52position.
-
11:53 - 11:55VO: In March of 1916 as his training nears
-
11:55 - 11:58its completion, both Tolkien and Edith
-
11:58 - 12:00become aware that he will soon be sent to
-
12:00 - 12:04the Front. They marry and just over two
-
12:04 - 12:06months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France.
-
12:07 - 12:10The two of them part, not knowing if they
-
12:10 - 12:11will ever see each other again.
-
12:20 - 12:36(Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting)
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12:37 - 12:40(ominous music)
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12:40 - 12:42VO: When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the
-
12:42 - 12:44War has been raging for almost two years.
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12:45 - 12:46The cost of the War is clear;
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12:46 - 12:49the countryside is scarred and the casualties
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12:49 - 12:51high.
-
12:52 - 12:53After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare
-
12:53 - 12:57throughout 1915, and with a new wave of
-
12:58 - 13:00thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is
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13:00 - 13:03clear the Big Push is imminent.
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13:03 - 13:05(marching feet)
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13:05 - 13:07Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but
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13:08 - 13:10he fears for the lives of his old school
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13:10 - 13:11friends who are at the Front.
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13:13 - 13:15Within a month of his arrival in France
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13:15 - 13:17the Allies launch the Somme Offensive.
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13:19 - 13:22At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July,
-
13:22 - 13:24the troops in the British Frontline,
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13:24 - 13:26go over the top.
-
13:27 - 13:30(whistle sound echoes)
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13:46 - 13:48On the first day of the Offensive alone,
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13:48 - 13:5220,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded
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13:52 - 13:55and over 2,000 are reported missing.
-
13:59 - 14:01Paul Golightly: The first casualty was
-
14:01 - 14:03the plan. It started to fall apart very
-
14:04 - 14:06rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out
-
14:07 - 14:09in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5
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14:09 - 14:12men who went into combat on the 1st of July
-
14:12 - 14:13was killed.
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14:14 - 14:16John Garth: It was the most disastrous day
-
14:16 - 14:19in the history of the British Army, and
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14:20 - 14:24a tragedy for the entire country. There were
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14:24 - 14:28villages that had lost all their young men.
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14:30 - 14:31Paul Golightly: It's marked as a loss of
-
14:31 - 14:35innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed
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14:35 - 14:38represent a turning point in British
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14:38 - 14:41consciousness and the relationship perhaps
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14:41 - 14:43between those who make decisions and those
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14:43 - 14:45who are forced to carry them out.
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14:51 - 14:52(soft piano music)
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14:54 - 14:55VO: Among the many men that are lost on that
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14:56 - 15:00day, is dear friend and TCBS member,
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15:00 - 15:02Robert Gilson.
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15:04 - 15:06John Garth: He led his Platoon over the top
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15:06 - 15:11took charge of his Company, but was shot
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15:11 - 15:13in the middle of No Man's Land.
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15:17 - 15:19Paul Golightly: He was in the fourth wave.
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15:19 - 15:21He saw the first wave go in and fail,
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15:22 - 15:24the second wave go in and fail,
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15:25 - 15:27the third wave go in and fail.
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15:28 - 15:31And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had
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15:31 - 15:35to go in; and they still went. And that
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15:35 - 15:37I think is the most poignant and probably
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15:37 - 15:39the most tragic thing about the 1st of July
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15:39 - 15:451916. That this generation, had so much faith
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15:45 - 15:48in their superiors, probably had so much
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15:48 - 15:51commitment to their fellows that they were
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15:51 - 15:53prepared to go, even though it meant certain
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15:53 - 15:53death.
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15:58 - 15:59John Garth: Tolkien heard about this
-
15:59 - 16:02after his first action on the Somme a couple
-
16:02 - 16:05of weeks later; and he was devastated.
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16:06 - 16:08It shook him to the foundations of his
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16:08 - 16:11beliefs. He had, as all of the members of
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16:11 - 16:15the TCBS had, built up their group as a
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16:15 - 16:19fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had
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16:19 - 16:22something to give to the World. In which
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16:22 - 16:26all four of them were vital parts, and now
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16:26 - 16:28one of them was dead. So what did that mean
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16:28 - 16:31about their overall purpose? And also his
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16:31 - 16:32purpose.
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16:33 - 16:34Simon Stacey: Geoffrey Smith wrote him a
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16:34 - 16:39letter in which, clearly Smith experiences
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16:39 - 16:43feelings of devastation and a sense that the
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16:43 - 16:48fellowship had been broken. Rob would never
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16:48 - 16:52become an architect, he would never fulfil
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16:52 - 16:55his part in whatever they dreamed of.
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16:57 - 16:57John Garthm: And I think it took him quite
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16:58 - 17:02some time to recover from that. The other
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17:02 - 17:05two members, Wiseman and Smith, were
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17:05 - 17:08determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS
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17:08 - 17:10purpose continued and I think eventually
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17:11 - 17:12Tolkien took heart from that.
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17:14 - 17:16VO: Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster
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17:16 - 17:20at King Edward's school to offer his
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17:20 - 17:23condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young
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17:23 - 17:26man, a talented artist and most painfully
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17:26 - 17:29of all; a dear friend.
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17:34 - 17:37Tolkien's war has well and truly started and
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17:37 - 17:39over the coming months he is subject to the
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17:39 - 17:41many hardships of trench warfare.
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17:42 - 17:44John Garth: He spent his time in and out
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17:44 - 17:47of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated
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17:47 - 17:50from the Frontline to the reserve trenches
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17:51 - 17:54to rest, as they laughably called it, but
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17:54 - 17:56it wasn't really rest, it was training.
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17:57 - 17:58Tolkien talked about the universal weariness
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17:59 - 18:02of all this war. But during this period he
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18:02 - 18:05was involved in three attacks, he was
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18:05 - 18:07very fortunate not to have to go through the
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18:07 - 18:10first day of the Somme; he was a few miles
-
18:10 - 18:12back from the Frontline at that time.
-
18:13 - 18:14His Battalion moved forward for a second
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18:14 - 18:16wave of attacks, they were launched against a
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18:16 - 18:19village called Ovier; which had been the
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18:19 - 18:22German Frontline. One of the first things that
-
18:22 - 18:25he encountered was, complete chaos in the
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18:25 - 18:28battlefield communications system. It was very
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18:28 - 18:31primitive. It was only partly built; damaged
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18:31 - 18:34by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers
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18:34 - 18:39going across No Man's Land carrying flares
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18:39 - 18:42to say, we have arrived. Further flares -
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18:42 - 18:44"we have taken prisoners", they carried
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18:44 - 18:46pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable
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18:47 - 18:49method of communication. One of Tolkien's
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18:50 - 18:53signallers won a military medal for managing
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18:53 - 18:56to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and
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18:56 - 18:57do the job correctly.
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18:58 - 19:00VO: The attack is a success and many
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19:00 - 19:02prisoners are captured. Of all the combat
-
19:02 - 19:05Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant
-
19:05 - 19:08battles is also one of his last; an attack
-
19:08 - 19:11on Regina Trench.
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19:11 - 19:13John Garth: This was in October, by which
-
19:13 - 19:15time the battlefield had been reduced to mud.
-
19:15 - 19:19The attack had been delayed by heavy rain
-
19:19 - 19:22but on October 21st there was a cold snap
-
19:22 - 19:25so the ground was frozen hard and the
-
19:26 - 19:27attack was able to go ahead.
-
19:28 - 19:34(Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire)
-
19:34 - 19:42(Gunfire, bullets zipping by)
-
19:42 - 19:47(solemn music)
-
19:48 - 19:52John Garth: He saw violent death, he also
-
19:52 - 19:54saw and felt extreme terror.
-
19:57 - 20:00He never, as far as we know, described at
-
20:00 - 20:04length what trench warfare was like but he
-
20:04 - 20:06summed it up in two words, in one of his
-
20:06 - 20:08letters, and this was; "animal horror".
-
20:10 - 20:13It would reduce you from humanity and
-
20:14 - 20:17turn you into a retched beast desperate only
-
20:17 - 20:20to cower and survive. And it's very
-
20:20 - 20:22interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings
-
20:22 - 20:25whenever the characters are in situations of
-
20:25 - 20:27extreme fear, they're always described as
-
20:28 - 20:35stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror.
-
20:36 - 20:37Paul Golightly: A lot of British trenches
-
20:37 - 20:39were deliberately uncomfortable because
-
20:39 - 20:41the Generals wanted the men to believe
-
20:41 - 20:43that they were only temporary, that they
-
20:43 - 20:45would be advancing beyond this, that this
-
20:45 - 20:46wasn't their home.
-
20:48 - 20:50VO: Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels
-
20:50 - 20:53isolated from home and letters to, and from,
-
20:53 - 20:56Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of
-
20:56 - 20:59strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden
-
20:59 - 21:02from sharing his location in his letters, so
-
21:02 - 21:05he devises a code of dots to keep Edith
-
21:05 - 21:06informed of where he is.
-
21:07 - 21:09John Garth: He simply found the letters
-
21:09 - 21:12of the alphabet within what he wrote to her
-
21:12 - 21:14and put a dot above the relevant ones to
-
21:15 - 21:17spell out the name of the place where he was
-
21:17 - 21:21currently located. And Edith kept a map
-
21:21 - 21:24on her wall and pins to show where he was
-
21:24 - 21:26at that time.
-
21:28 - 21:30VO: After the successful attack on Regina
-
21:30 - 21:32Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the
-
21:32 - 21:35front and paraded in front of the top brass.
-
21:36 - 21:38Tolkien however, falls ill.
-
21:39 - 21:40John Garth: It was trench fever. And this
-
21:40 - 21:44was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic
-
21:44 - 21:45conditions in the trenches.
-
21:45 - 21:47Paul Golightly: It spread through contact
-
21:47 - 21:50with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant
-
21:50 - 21:54It gives you a headache, you can have stomach
-
21:54 - 21:56cramps, you can have pain in you joints
-
21:57 - 21:59and in your bones, you can get lesions on
-
21:59 - 22:02your skin; it's not fatal but it can become
-
22:03 - 22:05very debilitating. So debilitating you can't
-
22:05 - 22:08be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very
-
22:08 - 22:11bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided
-
22:11 - 22:13"back to Blighty" as they put it.
-
22:13 - 22:15And in fact it was the end of his war.
-
22:15 - 22:16John Garth: It saved Tolkien's life, it took
-
22:17 - 22:20him out of the battlefield and back to Britain.
-
22:20 - 22:23He was shipped home to Birmingham, to
-
22:24 - 22:26The First Southern General Hospital as it
-
22:26 - 22:28was called at the time, which was actually set
-
22:28 - 22:30up in the grounds of Birmingham University.
-
22:31 - 22:33And it was there that Tolkien was re-united
-
22:33 - 22:37with his wife, Edith and where he began
-
22:37 - 22:40writing the first stories of Middle-Earth.
-
22:42 - 22:44His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional
-
22:44 - 22:48and was an inspiration for various pieces of
-
22:48 - 22:50writing in his mythology, notably the
-
22:50 - 22:53story of Luthien and Beren; which features
-
22:53 - 22:55in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in
-
22:55 - 22:57The Lord of The Rings. A love story between
-
22:57 - 23:01a mortal man and an immortal elf.
-
23:02 - 23:03(Gentle Piano Music)
-
23:04 - 23:06VO: However, Tolkien's respite is short lived.
-
23:06 - 23:09Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien
-
23:09 - 23:11learns from Christopher Wiseman, that
-
23:11 - 23:14good friend G.B.Smith has been killed.
-
23:19 - 23:20John Garth: The Battle of the Somme was
-
23:20 - 23:23over, and Smith had been organising a
-
23:23 - 23:26football match for his men about four miles
-
23:26 - 23:29behind the Frontline, when a stray shell
-
23:29 - 23:30exploded near him.
-
23:32 - 23:36He was hit by shrapnel and developed what
-
23:36 - 23:38they called Gas Gangrene, which killed
-
23:38 - 23:42him within a few days. Early in 1916, while
-
23:42 - 23:44Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter
-
23:44 - 23:48G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches
-
23:48 - 23:50in France.
-
23:50 - 23:52VO: Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol.
-
23:52 - 23:54The officer who had led the patrol the night before
-
23:54 - 23:57had been captured and most likely killed.
-
23:59 - 24:00John Garth: It was about the most dangerous
-
24:00 - 24:03activity that you could do on the Western Front
-
24:03 - 24:05and Smith was about to go into it and he took
-
24:05 - 24:08the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and
-
24:08 - 24:14tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol,
-
24:14 - 24:19I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of
-
24:19 - 24:22what you've written and what you will write"
-
24:23 - 24:25He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen,
-
24:25 - 24:30and you must publish."
-
24:34 - 24:36Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth
-
24:36 - 24:37fan.
-
24:38 - 24:40Simon Stacey: Smith says in the letter that
-
24:40 - 24:45death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to
-
24:45 - 24:49the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien
-
24:49 - 24:53may say the things that he had wanted to
-
24:53 - 24:56say, long after he is there to say them.
-
24:56 - 25:01That's very moving because Tolkien, although
-
25:01 - 25:05very much his own individual artistic self,
-
25:05 - 25:09I think did see his later career as an
-
25:09 - 25:11attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that
-
25:11 - 25:13they'd shared.
-
25:14 - 25:17John Garth: He was able to gather his strength
-
25:17 - 25:24and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to.
-
25:26 - 25:28VO: In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and
-
25:28 - 25:31Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and
-
25:31 - 25:33have them published in a small volume,
-
25:33 - 25:36entitled; "A Spring Harvest".
-
25:38 - 25:40Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his
-
25:41 - 25:43experiences will stay with him forever, and
-
25:44 - 25:46will even feature in his future writings.
-
25:47 - 25:48John Garth: The whole experience of the War
-
25:48 - 25:52had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's
-
25:52 - 25:55mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from
-
25:55 - 25:56the Somme he started writing a story called,
-
25:56 - 25:59"The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first
-
25:59 - 26:01element of his mythology that dealt with battle.
-
26:03 - 26:05And the fascinating thing about it is that the
-
26:05 - 26:08attacking forces use things that are termed
-
26:08 - 26:11by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters"
-
26:11 - 26:14but they're described as metallic and rolling
-
26:15 - 26:17and they spout fire and some of them have
-
26:17 - 26:19troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that
-
26:19 - 26:22this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank.
-
26:23 - 26:25Which was Britains secret weapon, which
-
26:25 - 26:26had just been launched on the Somme while
-
26:27 - 26:27Tolkien was there.
-
26:28 - 26:31The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship,
-
26:31 - 26:34they're separated on different battlefronts,
-
26:34 - 26:36much like the TCBS were.
-
26:36 - 26:37Simon Stacey: It's almost unimaginable that,
-
26:37 - 26:40in writing of the breaking of the fellowship,
-
26:40 - 26:42in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't
-
26:42 - 26:46have been influenced by his own loss during
-
26:46 - 26:48the First World War and the breaking of the
-
26:48 - 26:49TCBS fellowship.
-
26:51 - 26:53There is a late letter in which he mentions
-
26:53 - 26:56that the dead marshes, through which Frodo,
-
26:56 - 27:00Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to
-
27:00 - 27:02northern France, in the area of the Somme
-
27:02 - 27:04where he fought.
-
27:04 - 27:06John Garth: Frodo and Sam are very much
-
27:06 - 27:10the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his
-
27:10 - 27:13servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my
-
27:13 - 27:18Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and
-
27:18 - 27:21Batmen I knew in the First World War".
-
27:22 - 27:26Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young
-
27:26 - 27:28man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war
-
27:28 - 27:31unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible
-
27:31 - 27:35burden; a burden of duty. You can see that
-
27:35 - 27:40Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now
-
27:40 - 27:43call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or
-
27:43 - 27:45War Trauma, or what they called then,
-
27:45 - 27:48Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from
-
27:48 - 27:52the World, increasingly enclosed within himself
-
27:52 - 27:56he says he can't remember what grass was like,
-
27:56 - 27:57what sunlight was like.
-
27:58 - 28:00When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings,
-
28:00 - 28:04Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero,
-
28:04 - 28:06he is visibly traumatised by the whole
-
28:06 - 28:09experience. This was very true of many of the
-
28:10 - 28:12soldiers who returned from the Western
-
28:12 - 28:15Front, unable to talk about the experiences
-
28:15 - 28:18that had affected them so deeply.
-
28:19 - 28:20(retrospective piano music)
-
28:23 - 28:24Paul Golightly: The generation that fights
-
28:25 - 28:27the First World War, should be called courageous.
-
28:29 - 28:30Simon Stacey: The sacrifice of that generation
-
28:30 - 28:32was extraordinary.
-
28:33 - 28:35John Garth: It was a tragic loss not only for
-
28:35 - 28:39families, for friends, but for civilisation as
-
28:39 - 28:46a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and
-
28:46 - 28:49assumptions in honour and glory.
-
28:49 - 28:51Simon Stacey: It is the first thorough
-
28:52 - 28:56going war of the machines. So many
-
28:57 - 28:59thousands and ultimately millions of men
-
29:00 - 29:04could be wiped out, could be destroyed without
-
29:04 - 29:07necessarily facing their individual enemy.
-
29:07 - 29:08Paul Golightly: These men don't have
-
29:09 - 29:12the privilege of dying one at a time, they die
-
29:12 - 29:16on mass; and it's those numbers that I think
-
29:16 - 29:18traumatise us so much. That's why we have
-
29:18 - 29:21the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate;
-
29:21 - 29:24where it's just one long list of names.
-
29:25 - 29:27These bodies have simply disappeared, and
-
29:27 - 29:29they're all separate lives but they've all
-
29:29 - 29:30vanished at once.
-
29:32 - 29:34John Garth: When you read the King Edward's
-
29:34 - 29:38School Chronicle, as I have to research
-
29:38 - 29:43Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys
-
29:43 - 29:46with whom he grew up and you see their
-
29:46 - 29:48achievements, you see what they were learning,
-
29:48 - 29:51you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially
-
29:51 - 29:55creative and brilliant they were. And then
-
29:55 - 29:57the First World War; and you see that they're
-
29:57 - 29:58heading for this.
-
30:00 - 30:01Paul Golightly: These young men, with their
-
30:01 - 30:04whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's
-
30:04 - 30:06a phrase that we all know, have been cut off
-
30:06 - 30:08in their prime. They were full of potential,
-
30:09 - 30:11full of life, full of vigour, full of plans,
-
30:11 - 30:13full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of
-
30:13 - 30:15things with their professional lives and
-
30:15 - 30:17their personal lives, and denied that opportunity.
-
30:18 - 30:19John Garth: When you look at the fortunes
-
30:19 - 30:21of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien
-
30:21 - 30:24survived and went on to produce the great
-
30:24 - 30:27works of literature that he did; works that
-
30:27 - 30:29have shaped our culture. And one does
-
30:29 - 30:33wonder how many others didn't survive,
-
30:33 - 30:35what potential was locked inside them that
-
30:35 - 30:38they never had time to bring out of themselves.
-
30:39 - 30:43So there is an uncountable loss there.
-
30:45 - 30:48Simon Stacey: G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse
-
30:48 - 30:53of a young life snuffed out and only very
-
30:53 - 30:57incompletely communicating its dreams.
-
30:58 - 30:59Paul Golightly: This is a generation that did
-
30:59 - 31:02not talk about the way it felt. So in that
-
31:02 - 31:04sense I think the psychological affect was
-
31:05 - 31:08long lasting. A number of veterans surived
-
31:08 - 31:10the war only to find that they couldn't survive
-
31:10 - 31:12the peace.
-
31:13 - 31:15VO: In the chapel at King Edward's School,
-
31:15 - 31:17eight brass plaques hold the names of
-
31:17 - 31:21245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during
-
31:21 - 31:25the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS
-
31:25 - 31:27friends, are just four of almost
-
31:27 - 31:30fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered
-
31:30 - 31:33their country's call and fought in The Great War,
-
31:34 - 31:36and each of their stories is worth telling.
-
31:38 - 31:39Paul Golightly: The graveyards that you can
-
31:39 - 31:42walk around in northern France now have become
-
31:42 - 31:46almost 21st century cathedrals; where some
-
31:46 - 31:48really important questions need to be ask about
-
31:48 - 31:51the nature of war and the nature of
-
31:51 - 31:57sacrifice, and in the First World War's case,
-
31:57 - 32:01the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war
-
32:01 - 32:04could be worth that.
- Title:
- Tolkien's Great War
- Description:
-
Tolkien's Great War
A half hour documentary on JRR Tolkien's experiences during the First World War produced for a centenary exhibition at King Edward's School, Birmingham. For more information, please visit www.kes.org.uk/great-war-exhibition
Produced & Directed by:
Elliot Weaver & Zander Weaver 2014
www.EllianderPictures.co.uk - Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 32:58
![]() |
Kelsey Mitchell edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Maggie S (Amara staff) edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Arvind Patil edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Joanna Lam edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Gaal Galaa edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Enji Mitchel edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Enji Mitchel edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War | |
![]() |
Enji Mitchel edited English subtitles for Tolkien's Great War |