[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.06,0:00:12.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,John Ronald Reuel Tolkien,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.92,0:00:15.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was born on the 3rd January, 1892.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.44,0:00:18.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He and his brother Hilary, experienced
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.18,0:00:20.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.42,0:00:22.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just four, they lost their father, Arthur,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.18,0:00:24.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to rheumatic fever.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.57,0:00:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a widow with low income, his mother
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.10,0:00:28.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mabel, home school the brothers and played
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.80,0:00:31.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a vital role in their early education and
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.58,0:00:33.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,development.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.42,0:00:34.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.45,0:00:37.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fascination and thirst for languages.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.23,0:00:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.92,0:00:44.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edward's School, Birmingham and passed.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.93,0:00:46.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.98,0:00:49.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.19,0:00:52.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,educated in an environment that would help
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.47,0:00:54.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fulfil his academic potential.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.70,0:00:57.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Going to King Edward's was vitally
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.25,0:00:59.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,important to Tolkien; he was an
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.45,0:01:02.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.11,0:01:05.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,offered him a vast amount of scope and also
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.31,0:01:07.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the company of other boys who were
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.03,0:01:09.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,similarly talented.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.56,0:01:12.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.43,0:01:13.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to find.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.78,0:01:17.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.50,0:01:20.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was a leading light in the debating society
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.86,0:01:23.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the literary society; he was the life and
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.14,0:01:27.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,soul really and he missed the school a
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.67,0:01:29.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great deal, I think, when he finally had
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.20,0:01:30.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to leave.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.59,0:01:33.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.36,0:01:35.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.60,0:01:38.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.81,0:01:41.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,himself into school life more energetically
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.26,0:01:44.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than before. Academically he excels, but
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.66,0:01:47.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in 1905, meets his intellectual rival,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.51,0:01:49.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christopher Wiseman.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.82,0:01:53.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.08,0:01:54.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.95,0:01:58.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician;
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.07,0:02:00.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,quite different from Tolkien.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.60,0:02:03.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They developed such a strong bond on the rugby
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.29,0:02:04.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,field that they called themselves;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.95,0:02:06.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.73,0:02:09.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.50,0:02:10.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Macauley.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.28,0:02:13.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.63,0:02:15.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the school, both being very academic
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.23,0:02:17.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.47,0:02:19.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he was interested in a lot of the things
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.27,0:02:20.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Tolkien was getting interested in;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.04,0:02:23.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,languages, I think he was looking at
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.93,0:02:26.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.80,0:02:28.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.64,0:02:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,helped define each other through their
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.08,0:02:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,teenage years because they would argue;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.78,0:02:33.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they would argue strongly about all their
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.30,0:02:34.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beliefs in life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.47,0:02:36.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.100,0:02:39.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.72,0:02:41.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,deaf but that didn't stop them getting on!
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.90,0:02:44.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.93,0:02:46.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.87,0:02:50.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Gilson, form a strong bond which will
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.89,0:02:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,last throughout their school years and beyond.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.11,0:02:58.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.25,0:03:00.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about to change, yet again.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.61,0:03:03.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.16,0:03:05.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.14,0:03:09.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.13,0:03:13.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the time. And she was a beautiful young
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.42,0:03:17.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girl; talented pianist and also an orphan.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.80,0:03:20.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the two of them bonded on their shared
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.42,0:03:23.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.87,0:03:27.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.17,0:03:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.02,0:03:33.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she was an Anglican.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.09,0:03:36.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.34,0:03:38.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a Catholic Priest, feels this is major
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.35,0:03:40.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,divide; and also believes that Edith will
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.09,0:03:42.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,distract Tolkien from his attempts to get
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.11,0:03:44.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into Oxford University.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.71,0:03:47.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.83,0:03:49.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,them from seeing each other, or even from
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.86,0:03:53.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,communicating. He was thrown back upon his
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.17,0:03:55.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,friendships at King Edward's and it was
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.05,0:03:58.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this final phase of his time here, that he
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.94,0:04:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,began to flourish and make the place his
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.60,0:04:06.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,own; he and his friends ruled the roost.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.94,0:04:09.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Making the most of his final year at
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.79,0:04:11.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,King Edward's and the friendships he has
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.59,0:04:13.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,formed, Tolkien and his peers create an
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.03,0:04:16.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,informal society.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.78,0:04:21.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These young intellectuals gather in the school
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.94,0:04:24.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,library and do what they are forbidden to do:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.30,0:04:28.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.20,0:04:30.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.52,0:04:33.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.82,0:04:36.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.48,0:04:38.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the TCBS for short.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.66,0:04:39.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(nostalgic music)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.97,0:04:41.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.80,0:04:43.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien and Wiseman and the others
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.98,0:04:47.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gravitated around them. There was Robert
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.87,0:04:49.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.84,0:04:53.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.93,0:04:56.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he was perhaps the social glue of the group;
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.53,0:04:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he would welcome anyone and find common
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.59,0:05:02.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.76,0:05:04.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who loved to sketch.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.45,0:05:08.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.69,0:05:10.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had ambitions to be an architect.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.83,0:05:13.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.99,0:05:19.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.12,0:05:21.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mythology; so this gave him common ground
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.23,0:05:22.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.89,0:05:23.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,passions.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.74,0:05:25.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.46,0:05:28.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and advanced poet who recommended contemporary
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.67,0:05:31.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.64,0:05:34.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.18,0:05:37.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inspired by Smith and the wider group.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.33,0:05:39.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that was really the beginnings of
Dialogue: 0,0:05:39.79,0:05:41.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien as a writer.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.37,0:05:43.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] From the beginnings which were
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.67,0:05:47.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mostly about fun, later on, during the war years,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.41,0:05:50.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this developed into a fellowship from which
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.97,0:05:53.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,each of them drew tremendous strength and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.68,0:05:54.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comfort.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.46,0:05:57.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Later that year, Tolkien's time at
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.86,0:05:59.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,King Edward's comes to an end and he begins
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.06,0:06:02.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his first term at Oxford, having successfully
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.21,0:06:03.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gained entrance.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.92,0:06:08.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.49,0:06:10.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,independence from Father Francis Morgan,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.43,0:06:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.09,0:06:16.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,week later, they are re-united.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.13,0:06:18.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edith is engaged to marry another man,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.05,0:06:19.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but despite almost certain ridicule,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.82,0:06:22.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she agrees to break the engagement to be
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.37,0:06:23.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with her Ronald.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.89,0:06:26.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the next few months, a growing sense of
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.88,0:06:28.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.64,0:06:34.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of June, 1914, everything changes.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.42,0:06:37.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(gun shot sound)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.68,0:06:40.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(solemn music)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.78,0:06:42.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.77,0:06:45.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.32,0:06:50.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.24,0:06:52.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Europe's major powers are at war.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.56,0:06:57.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.45,0:07:00.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,war on Germany. Parliament issues a call
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.99,0:07:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to arms from the British public.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.09,0:07:04.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] There isn't a rush to the
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.15,0:07:08.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,colours straight away. It becomes much more
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.25,0:07:09.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,obvious that people are willing to join
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.66,0:07:12.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up when atrocity stories start to emerge,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.73,0:07:14.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you get a much more concerted rush
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.11,0:07:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to join.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.46,0:07:17.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] There was an air of excitement
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.80,0:07:20.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the war, there was a naive sense that
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.63,0:07:23.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this would allow young men to fulfil their
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.19,0:07:25.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,potential in a way that wasn't possible in
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.50,0:07:27.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,peace time. There was a tremendous sense
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.80,0:07:30.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of patriotism and a sense of duty towards
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.47,0:07:33.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whatever England, or Britain, stood for.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.29,0:07:35.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] They are attracted to the
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.94,0:07:37.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.06,0:07:39.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or at least some of them will be. On the
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.81,0:07:41.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whole, they thought they were going to give
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.46,0:07:42.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Germans a bloody nose.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.27,0:07:44.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] "The Germans has been dastardly"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.99,0:07:48.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and needed to dealt with and shown their place.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.30,0:07:50.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] Men join up out of economic
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.40,0:07:52.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,necessity and you'll find that in any war.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.85,0:07:57.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life is not very exciting and the romance
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.48,0:08:00.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and colour of joining the army and being
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.57,0:08:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,part of something very big indeed, I'm sure
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.28,0:08:04.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has some allure.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.34,0:08:06.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(solemn music) And they see things
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.81,0:08:09.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in rather romantic ways, which of course is
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.18,0:08:11.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doomed to fail; we all know what the First
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.78,0:08:14.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,World War turns into. It's not a war of
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.62,0:08:16.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.100,0:08:20.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.51,0:08:22.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.94,0:08:24.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the crump of artillery that's going to
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.03,0:08:25.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dominate.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.88,0:08:31.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they, I think, have expectations about what
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.85,0:08:33.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war will be like, and I think their main
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.78,0:08:36.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,emotion was, will it be over before I can
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.28,0:08:37.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get to France.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.34,0:08:41.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien, who's reading covered
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.80,0:08:46.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.32,0:08:50.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,frank about what happens in war, went into
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.85,0:08:55.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war much more open-eyed. He described
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.36,0:08:57.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,himself as a "young man with too much
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.16,0:09:00.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,imagination" and so he did not relish battle
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.37,0:09:01.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in any sense.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.97,0:09:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] And I think that applies
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.14,0:09:05.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.43,0:09:07.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also the politicians and generals who
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.11,0:09:10.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,directed it; I think a lot of people
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.35,0:09:12.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,understood that this war could be terrible.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.58,0:09:15.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] What you get in the letters
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.66,0:09:18.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.16,0:09:20.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then in Smith's poetry, is a serious
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.09,0:09:25.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,determination to do their duty and that they
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.44,0:09:27.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,should be prepared to give their lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.94,0:09:30.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.79,0:09:33.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that they've got to come through it.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.95,0:09:37.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join
Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.17,0:09:40.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.59,0:09:43.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.67,0:09:48.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.46,0:09:49.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dilemma.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.99,0:09:52.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Tolkien was in a difficult
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.66,0:09:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,position when war broke out; he had a year
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.05,0:09:57.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.86,0:10:00.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,needed a degree badly because he wanted to
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.82,0:10:03.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pursue an academic career; he didn't have
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.64,0:10:07.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,any money in his family unlike Gilson and
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.97,0:10:11.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,therefore, having committed three years to
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.72,0:10:13.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the degree it was very important that he
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.54,0:10:16.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,completed it. So he discovered a scheme
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.21,0:10:18.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whereby he could undergo some training
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.06,0:10:21.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the Officer Training Core whilst
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.36,0:10:23.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,completing his degree, which he did triumphantly
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.67,0:10:25.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a first at Oxford.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.38,0:10:28.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.23,0:10:30.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.07,0:10:32.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,posted to the same battalion.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.09,0:10:35.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien was looking for something
Dialogue: 0,0:10:35.40,0:10:38.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the army through which he could use his
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.73,0:10:40.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particular talents, and his particular talents
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.56,0:10:43.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were languages and writing systems; he was
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.70,0:10:45.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.85,0:10:49.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only natural that he would train up as a
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.21,0:10:50.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,signaller.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.37,0:10:51.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] It would have meant that
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.61,0:10:53.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was exposed to the technology
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.40,0:10:55.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,available at the time and it must have
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.47,0:10:58.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interested him; so the use of the radio, the
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.14,0:11:02.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,use of signals, of semaphore.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.26,0:11:05.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] He learnt morse code,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.16,0:11:07.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.02,0:11:10.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,telephones; which of course went on largely
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.40,0:11:12.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be ineffective or not to work.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.18,0:11:14.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He became Battalion Signalling
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.57,0:11:18.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.46,0:11:20.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oversee the communications of a Battalion
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.90,0:11:23.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on
Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.71,0:11:25.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,manpower at the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.61,0:11:27.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] His basic job of course
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.77,0:11:30.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was to act as a link between the various
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.16,0:11:32.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,layers of command, and that he would be
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.85,0:11:35.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,responsible for incoming orders and making sure
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.80,0:11:37.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the right people got those and of course
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.48,0:11:40.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he'd be responsible for telling command further
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.78,0:11:43.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up the line about the situation on his sector.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.77,0:11:45.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] So he was an absolute lynch pin
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.78,0:11:49.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a war which depended absolutely on how
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.32,0:11:51.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,much information you had about your enemies
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.68,0:11:52.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,position.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.22,0:11:55.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] In March of 1916 as his training nears
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.27,0:11:57.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its completion, both Tolkien and Edith
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.77,0:11:59.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become aware that he will soon be sent to
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.01,0:12:03.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Front. They marry and just over two
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.71,0:12:06.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.08,0:12:09.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The two of them part, not knowing if they
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.72,0:12:11.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will ever see each other again.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.45,0:12:36.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.21,0:12:39.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(ominous music)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:40.20,0:12:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.09,0:12:44.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,War has been raging for almost two years.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.04,0:12:46.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The cost of the War is clear;
Dialogue: 0,0:12:46.33,0:12:49.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the countryside is scarred and the casualties
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.29,0:12:50.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,high.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.91,0:12:53.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.50,0:12:57.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,throughout 1915, and with a new wave of
Dialogue: 0,0:12:57.51,0:13:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is
Dialogue: 0,0:13:00.41,0:13:02.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,clear the Big Push is imminent.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.27,0:13:04.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(marching feet)
Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.14,0:13:07.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.60,0:13:09.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he fears for the lives of his old school
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.64,0:13:10.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,friends who are at the Front.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:13.13,0:13:14.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Within a month of his arrival in France
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.03,0:13:17.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Allies launch the Somme Offensive.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.55,0:13:21.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:22.14,0:13:24.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the troops in the British Frontline,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:24.15,0:13:25.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,go over the top.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:26.58,0:13:30.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(whistle sound echoes)
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.89,0:13:47.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the first day of the Offensive alone,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.33,0:13:51.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded
Dialogue: 0,0:13:52.37,0:13:55.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and over 2,000 are reported missing.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:58.75,0:14:00.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] The first casualty was
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.83,0:14:03.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the plan. It started to fall apart very
Dialogue: 0,0:14:03.62,0:14:06.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out
Dialogue: 0,0:14:06.58,0:14:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5
Dialogue: 0,0:14:09.23,0:14:11.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,men who went into combat on the 1st of July
Dialogue: 0,0:14:11.74,0:14:12.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was killed.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:14.21,0:14:15.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was the most disastrous day
Dialogue: 0,0:14:16.10,0:14:19.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the history of the British Army, and
Dialogue: 0,0:14:19.77,0:14:23.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a tragedy for the entire country. There were
Dialogue: 0,0:14:23.96,0:14:27.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,villages that had lost all their young men.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.54,0:14:30.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] It's marked as a loss of
Dialogue: 0,0:14:30.94,0:14:34.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed
Dialogue: 0,0:14:34.99,0:14:37.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,represent a turning point in British
Dialogue: 0,0:14:37.77,0:14:40.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consciousness and the relationship perhaps
Dialogue: 0,0:14:40.67,0:14:42.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between those who make decisions and those
Dialogue: 0,0:14:43.07,0:14:44.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who are forced to carry them out.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:50.72,0:14:52.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(soft piano music)
Dialogue: 0,0:14:53.90,0:14:55.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Among the many men that are lost on that
Dialogue: 0,0:14:55.60,0:15:00.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,day, is dear friend and TCBS member,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:00.44,0:15:02.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Robert Gilson.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:03.80,0:15:06.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He led his Platoon over the top
Dialogue: 0,0:15:06.23,0:15:10.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took charge of his Company, but was shot
Dialogue: 0,0:15:10.94,0:15:13.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the middle of No Man's Land.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.87,0:15:18.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] He was in the fourth wave.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:19.30,0:15:21.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He saw the first wave go in and fail,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.09,0:15:24.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the second wave go in and fail,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:24.63,0:15:26.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the third wave go in and fail.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.36,0:15:30.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had
Dialogue: 0,0:15:30.98,0:15:34.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to go in; and they still went. And that
Dialogue: 0,0:15:34.83,0:15:37.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think is the most poignant and probably
Dialogue: 0,0:15:37.18,0:15:39.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the most tragic thing about the 1st of July
Dialogue: 0,0:15:39.28,0:15:45.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,1916. That this generation, had so much faith
Dialogue: 0,0:15:45.25,0:15:48.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their superiors, probably had so much
Dialogue: 0,0:15:48.28,0:15:50.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,commitment to their fellows that they were
Dialogue: 0,0:15:50.65,0:15:52.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prepared to go, even though it meant certain
Dialogue: 0,0:15:52.90,0:15:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,death.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:57.63,0:15:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Tolkien heard about this
Dialogue: 0,0:15:59.13,0:16:02.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after his first action on the Somme a couple
Dialogue: 0,0:16:02.14,0:16:05.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of weeks later; and he was devastated.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:06.11,0:16:07.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It shook him to the foundations of his
Dialogue: 0,0:16:07.98,0:16:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beliefs. He had, as all of the members of
Dialogue: 0,0:16:11.22,0:16:14.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the TCBS had, built up their group as a
Dialogue: 0,0:16:14.78,0:16:19.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had
Dialogue: 0,0:16:19.35,0:16:22.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something to give to the World. In which
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.28,0:16:26.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all four of them were vital parts, and now
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.37,0:16:28.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of them was dead. So what did that mean
Dialogue: 0,0:16:28.23,0:16:30.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about their overall purpose? And also his
Dialogue: 0,0:16:31.01,0:16:32.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,purpose.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:33.06,0:16:34.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Geoffrey Smith wrote him a
Dialogue: 0,0:16:34.46,0:16:39.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,letter in which, clearly Smith experiences
Dialogue: 0,0:16:39.33,0:16:42.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feelings of devastation and a sense that the
Dialogue: 0,0:16:42.100,0:16:47.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fellowship had been broken. Rob would never
Dialogue: 0,0:16:47.77,0:16:51.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become an architect, he would never fulfil
Dialogue: 0,0:16:51.68,0:16:55.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his part in whatever they dreamed of.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:56.56,0:16:57.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] And I think it took him quite
Dialogue: 0,0:16:57.59,0:17:02.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some time to recover from that. The other
Dialogue: 0,0:17:02.24,0:17:04.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,two members, Wiseman and Smith, were
Dialogue: 0,0:17:05.04,0:17:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS
Dialogue: 0,0:17:08.17,0:17:10.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,purpose continued and I think eventually
Dialogue: 0,0:17:10.53,0:17:12.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien took heart from that.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.05,0:17:16.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster
Dialogue: 0,0:17:16.37,0:17:19.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at King Edward's school to offer his
Dialogue: 0,0:17:19.97,0:17:23.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young
Dialogue: 0,0:17:23.25,0:17:25.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,man, a talented artist and most painfully
Dialogue: 0,0:17:26.10,0:17:29.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of all; a dear friend.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:33.95,0:17:36.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's war has well and truly started and
Dialogue: 0,0:17:36.86,0:17:38.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the coming months he is subject to the
Dialogue: 0,0:17:38.70,0:17:40.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many hardships of trench warfare.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:41.74,0:17:43.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He spent his time in and out
Dialogue: 0,0:17:43.98,0:17:47.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated
Dialogue: 0,0:17:47.18,0:17:50.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the Frontline to the reserve trenches
Dialogue: 0,0:17:50.59,0:17:54.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to rest, as they laughably called it, but
Dialogue: 0,0:17:54.28,0:17:56.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it wasn't really rest, it was training.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:56.76,0:17:58.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien talked about the universal weariness
Dialogue: 0,0:17:58.58,0:18:01.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of all this war. But during this period he
Dialogue: 0,0:18:01.85,0:18:04.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was involved in three attacks, he was
Dialogue: 0,0:18:04.66,0:18:07.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very fortunate not to have to go through the
Dialogue: 0,0:18:07.50,0:18:09.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first day of the Somme; he was a few miles
Dialogue: 0,0:18:09.96,0:18:11.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,back from the Frontline at that time.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:12.69,0:18:14.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His Battalion moved forward for a second
Dialogue: 0,0:18:14.22,0:18:16.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wave of attacks, they were launched against a
Dialogue: 0,0:18:16.32,0:18:18.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,village called Ovier; which had been the
Dialogue: 0,0:18:18.65,0:18:21.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,German Frontline. One of the first things that
Dialogue: 0,0:18:21.73,0:18:24.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he encountered was, complete chaos in the
Dialogue: 0,0:18:24.68,0:18:27.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,battlefield communications system. It was very
Dialogue: 0,0:18:27.81,0:18:31.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,primitive. It was only partly built; damaged
Dialogue: 0,0:18:31.36,0:18:34.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers
Dialogue: 0,0:18:34.39,0:18:38.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going across No Man's Land carrying flares
Dialogue: 0,0:18:38.66,0:18:42.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to say, we have arrived. Further flares -
Dialogue: 0,0:18:42.17,0:18:44.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"we have taken prisoners", they carried
Dialogue: 0,0:18:44.22,0:18:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable
Dialogue: 0,0:18:46.60,0:18:49.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,method of communication. One of Tolkien's
Dialogue: 0,0:18:49.72,0:18:52.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,signallers won a military medal for managing
Dialogue: 0,0:18:52.67,0:18:56.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and
Dialogue: 0,0:18:56.17,0:18:57.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do the job correctly.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:58.31,0:18:59.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] The attack is a success and many
Dialogue: 0,0:18:59.89,0:19:02.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prisoners are captured. Of all the combat
Dialogue: 0,0:19:02.48,0:19:05.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant
Dialogue: 0,0:19:05.36,0:19:08.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,battles is also one of his last; an attack
Dialogue: 0,0:19:08.46,0:19:10.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on Regina Trench.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:11.44,0:19:12.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] This was in October, by which
Dialogue: 0,0:19:12.98,0:19:15.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,time the battlefield had been reduced to mud.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:15.24,0:19:19.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The attack had been delayed by heavy rain
Dialogue: 0,0:19:19.17,0:19:22.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but on October 21st there was a cold snap
Dialogue: 0,0:19:22.34,0:19:25.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the ground was frozen hard and the
Dialogue: 0,0:19:25.50,0:19:26.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attack was able to go ahead.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:27.74,0:19:33.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire)
Dialogue: 0,0:19:33.98,0:19:41.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Gunfire, bullets zipping by)
Dialogue: 0,0:19:42.18,0:19:46.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(solemn music)
Dialogue: 0,0:19:48.03,0:19:51.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He saw violent death, he also
Dialogue: 0,0:19:51.76,0:19:54.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,saw and felt extreme terror.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:56.91,0:19:59.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He never, as far as we know, described at
Dialogue: 0,0:19:59.74,0:20:03.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,length what trench warfare was like but he
Dialogue: 0,0:20:03.71,0:20:05.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,summed it up in two words, in one of his
Dialogue: 0,0:20:05.74,0:20:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,letters, and this was; "animal horror".
Dialogue: 0,0:20:09.87,0:20:13.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It would reduce you from humanity and
Dialogue: 0,0:20:13.52,0:20:16.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,turn you into a retched beast desperate only
Dialogue: 0,0:20:16.94,0:20:20.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to cower and survive. And it's very
Dialogue: 0,0:20:20.28,0:20:22.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings
Dialogue: 0,0:20:22.29,0:20:25.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whenever the characters are in situations of
Dialogue: 0,0:20:25.28,0:20:27.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,extreme fear, they're always described as
Dialogue: 0,0:20:27.59,0:20:34.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:36.02,0:20:37.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] A lot of British trenches
Dialogue: 0,0:20:37.39,0:20:39.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were deliberately uncomfortable because
Dialogue: 0,0:20:39.21,0:20:41.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Generals wanted the men to believe
Dialogue: 0,0:20:41.19,0:20:42.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they were only temporary, that they
Dialogue: 0,0:20:42.94,0:20:44.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would be advancing beyond this, that this
Dialogue: 0,0:20:44.76,0:20:46.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wasn't their home.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:48.24,0:20:50.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels
Dialogue: 0,0:20:50.32,0:20:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,isolated from home and letters to, and from,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:53.12,0:20:56.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of
Dialogue: 0,0:20:56.45,0:20:58.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden
Dialogue: 0,0:20:58.84,0:21:02.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from sharing his location in his letters, so
Dialogue: 0,0:21:02.28,0:21:04.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he devises a code of dots to keep Edith
Dialogue: 0,0:21:04.71,0:21:06.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,informed of where he is.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:07.43,0:21:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He simply found the letters
Dialogue: 0,0:21:08.95,0:21:12.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the alphabet within what he wrote to her
Dialogue: 0,0:21:12.33,0:21:14.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and put a dot above the relevant ones to
Dialogue: 0,0:21:14.55,0:21:16.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,spell out the name of the place where he was
Dialogue: 0,0:21:16.84,0:21:20.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,currently located. And Edith kept a map
Dialogue: 0,0:21:21.12,0:21:24.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on her wall and pins to show where he was
Dialogue: 0,0:21:24.29,0:21:25.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at that time.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:28.16,0:21:30.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] After the successful attack on Regina
Dialogue: 0,0:21:30.31,0:21:32.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the
Dialogue: 0,0:21:32.39,0:21:34.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,front and paraded in front of the top brass.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:35.59,0:21:37.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien however, falls ill.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:38.80,0:21:40.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was trench fever. And this
Dialogue: 0,0:21:40.50,0:21:43.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic
Dialogue: 0,0:21:43.76,0:21:44.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,conditions in the trenches.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:45.17,0:21:47.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] It spread through contact
Dialogue: 0,0:21:47.17,0:21:50.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant
Dialogue: 0,0:21:50.34,0:21:53.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It gives you a headache, you can have stomach
Dialogue: 0,0:21:53.73,0:21:56.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cramps, you can have pain in you joints
Dialogue: 0,0:21:56.53,0:21:59.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in your bones, you can get lesions on
Dialogue: 0,0:21:59.44,0:22:02.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your skin; it's not fatal but it can become
Dialogue: 0,0:22:02.63,0:22:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very debilitating. So debilitating you can't
Dialogue: 0,0:22:05.00,0:22:08.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very
Dialogue: 0,0:22:08.40,0:22:10.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided
Dialogue: 0,0:22:10.70,0:22:12.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"back to Blighty" as they put it.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:13.22,0:22:14.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact it was the end of his war.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:14.99,0:22:16.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It saved Tolkien's life, it took
Dialogue: 0,0:22:16.58,0:22:20.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,him out of the battlefield and back to Britain.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:20.43,0:22:23.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was shipped home to Birmingham, to
Dialogue: 0,0:22:23.60,0:22:25.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The First Southern General Hospital as it
Dialogue: 0,0:22:25.73,0:22:27.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was called at the time, which was actually set
Dialogue: 0,0:22:27.86,0:22:29.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up in the grounds of Birmingham University.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:30.60,0:22:33.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it was there that Tolkien was re-united
Dialogue: 0,0:22:33.43,0:22:36.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with his wife, Edith and where he began
Dialogue: 0,0:22:37.06,0:22:40.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing the first stories of Middle-Earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:41.51,0:22:44.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional
Dialogue: 0,0:22:44.12,0:22:47.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was an inspiration for various pieces of
Dialogue: 0,0:22:47.68,0:22:49.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing in his mythology, notably the
Dialogue: 0,0:22:49.83,0:22:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,story of Luthien and Beren; which features
Dialogue: 0,0:22:53.15,0:22:54.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in
Dialogue: 0,0:22:54.100,0:22:57.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Lord of The Rings. A love story between
Dialogue: 0,0:22:57.31,0:23:00.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a mortal man and an immortal elf.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:01.60,0:23:03.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Gentle Piano Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:23:03.77,0:23:05.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] However, Tolkien's respite is short lived.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:06.10,0:23:08.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:23:09.02,0:23:10.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,learns from Christopher Wiseman, that
Dialogue: 0,0:23:10.84,0:23:14.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,good friend G.B.Smith has been killed.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:18.53,0:23:19.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] The Battle of the Somme was
Dialogue: 0,0:23:19.81,0:23:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over, and Smith had been organising a
Dialogue: 0,0:23:23.14,0:23:25.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,football match for his men about four miles
Dialogue: 0,0:23:25.89,0:23:28.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,behind the Frontline, when a stray shell
Dialogue: 0,0:23:28.71,0:23:30.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exploded near him.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:31.96,0:23:35.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was hit by shrapnel and developed what
Dialogue: 0,0:23:35.76,0:23:38.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they called Gas Gangrene, which killed
Dialogue: 0,0:23:38.26,0:23:41.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,him within a few days. Early in 1916, while
Dialogue: 0,0:23:42.05,0:23:44.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter
Dialogue: 0,0:23:44.30,0:23:47.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches
Dialogue: 0,0:23:47.64,0:23:49.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in France.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:49.97,0:23:52.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:52.40,0:23:54.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The officer who had led the patrol the night before
Dialogue: 0,0:23:54.44,0:23:57.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had been captured and most likely killed.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:58.62,0:23:59.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was about the most dangerous
Dialogue: 0,0:24:00.07,0:24:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,activity that you could do on the Western Front
Dialogue: 0,0:24:02.83,0:24:04.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Smith was about to go into it and he took
Dialogue: 0,0:24:04.76,0:24:07.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and
Dialogue: 0,0:24:07.94,0:24:14.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:14.42,0:24:19.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of
Dialogue: 0,0:24:19.19,0:24:22.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what you've written and what you will write"
Dialogue: 0,0:24:23.27,0:24:25.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:25.34,0:24:30.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you must publish."
Dialogue: 0,0:24:33.84,0:24:35.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth
Dialogue: 0,0:24:35.70,0:24:36.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fan.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:38.18,0:24:39.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] Smith says in the letter that
Dialogue: 0,0:24:40.00,0:24:44.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to
Dialogue: 0,0:24:44.100,0:24:48.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:24:48.63,0:24:53.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may say the things that he had wanted to
Dialogue: 0,0:24:53.28,0:24:56.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,say, long after he is there to say them.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:56.33,0:25:00.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's very moving because Tolkien, although
Dialogue: 0,0:25:01.07,0:25:05.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very much his own individual artistic self,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:05.34,0:25:08.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think did see his later career as an
Dialogue: 0,0:25:08.82,0:25:11.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that
Dialogue: 0,0:25:11.43,0:25:12.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they'd shared.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:13.84,0:25:16.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] He was able to gather his strength
Dialogue: 0,0:25:16.80,0:25:24.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:25.59,0:25:27.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and
Dialogue: 0,0:25:28.07,0:25:30.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and
Dialogue: 0,0:25:30.80,0:25:32.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have them published in a small volume,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:32.88,0:25:36.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,entitled; "A Spring Harvest".
Dialogue: 0,0:25:38.27,0:25:40.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his
Dialogue: 0,0:25:40.60,0:25:43.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,experiences will stay with him forever, and
Dialogue: 0,0:25:43.56,0:25:46.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will even feature in his future writings.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:46.63,0:25:48.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] The whole experience of the War
Dialogue: 0,0:25:48.39,0:25:51.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's
Dialogue: 0,0:25:51.96,0:25:54.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from
Dialogue: 0,0:25:54.67,0:25:56.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Somme he started writing a story called,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:56.24,0:25:58.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first
Dialogue: 0,0:25:58.68,0:26:01.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,element of his mythology that dealt with battle.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:02.69,0:26:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the fascinating thing about it is that the
Dialogue: 0,0:26:04.87,0:26:08.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attacking forces use things that are termed
Dialogue: 0,0:26:08.35,0:26:10.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters"
Dialogue: 0,0:26:10.68,0:26:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they're described as metallic and rolling
Dialogue: 0,0:26:14.53,0:26:16.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they spout fire and some of them have
Dialogue: 0,0:26:16.74,0:26:18.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that
Dialogue: 0,0:26:18.99,0:26:22.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:22.68,0:26:24.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which was Britains secret weapon, which
Dialogue: 0,0:26:24.71,0:26:26.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had just been launched on the Somme while
Dialogue: 0,0:26:26.54,0:26:27.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien was there.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:28.38,0:26:31.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:31.42,0:26:33.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're separated on different battlefronts,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:33.81,0:26:35.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,much like the TCBS were.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:35.99,0:26:37.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] It's almost unimaginable that,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:37.22,0:26:39.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in writing of the breaking of the fellowship,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:39.88,0:26:42.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't
Dialogue: 0,0:26:42.42,0:26:45.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have been influenced by his own loss during
Dialogue: 0,0:26:45.94,0:26:47.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War and the breaking of the
Dialogue: 0,0:26:47.89,0:26:49.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,TCBS fellowship.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:50.54,0:26:53.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a late letter in which he mentions
Dialogue: 0,0:26:53.18,0:26:55.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the dead marshes, through which Frodo,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:55.86,0:26:59.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to
Dialogue: 0,0:26:59.88,0:27:02.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,northern France, in the area of the Somme
Dialogue: 0,0:27:02.23,0:27:03.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he fought.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:04.24,0:27:06.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] Frodo and Sam are very much
Dialogue: 0,0:27:06.47,0:27:10.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his
Dialogue: 0,0:27:10.25,0:27:13.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my
Dialogue: 0,0:27:13.26,0:27:17.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and
Dialogue: 0,0:27:17.97,0:27:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Batmen I knew in the First World War".
Dialogue: 0,0:27:22.04,0:27:25.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young
Dialogue: 0,0:27:25.66,0:27:28.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war
Dialogue: 0,0:27:28.31,0:27:30.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible
Dialogue: 0,0:27:30.85,0:27:34.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,burden; a burden of duty. You can see that
Dialogue: 0,0:27:34.60,0:27:40.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now
Dialogue: 0,0:27:40.26,0:27:42.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or
Dialogue: 0,0:27:43.08,0:27:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,War Trauma, or what they called then,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:45.35,0:27:48.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from
Dialogue: 0,0:27:48.46,0:27:51.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the World, increasingly enclosed within himself
Dialogue: 0,0:27:51.83,0:27:55.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he says he can't remember what grass was like,
Dialogue: 0,0:27:55.71,0:27:57.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what sunlight was like.
Dialogue: 0,0:27:58.06,0:28:00.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:00.40,0:28:03.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero,
Dialogue: 0,0:28:03.67,0:28:05.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he is visibly traumatised by the whole
Dialogue: 0,0:28:05.89,0:28:09.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,experience. This was very true of many of the
Dialogue: 0,0:28:09.52,0:28:11.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,soldiers who returned from the Western
Dialogue: 0,0:28:11.81,0:28:14.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Front, unable to talk about the experiences
Dialogue: 0,0:28:14.96,0:28:17.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that had affected them so deeply.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:18.69,0:28:20.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(retrospective piano music)
Dialogue: 0,0:28:23.46,0:28:24.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] The generation that fights
Dialogue: 0,0:28:24.57,0:28:27.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War, should be called courageous.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:28.52,0:28:30.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] The sacrifice of that generation
Dialogue: 0,0:28:30.21,0:28:31.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was extraordinary.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:32.68,0:28:35.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] It was a tragic loss not only for
Dialogue: 0,0:28:35.30,0:28:38.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,families, for friends, but for civilisation as
Dialogue: 0,0:28:38.90,0:28:45.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and
Dialogue: 0,0:28:45.99,0:28:48.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,assumptions in honour and glory.
Dialogue: 0,0:28:48.75,0:28:51.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] It is the first thorough
Dialogue: 0,0:28:51.61,0:28:56.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going war of the machines. So many
Dialogue: 0,0:28:56.64,0:28:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thousands and ultimately millions of men
Dialogue: 0,0:28:59.62,0:29:03.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be wiped out, could be destroyed without
Dialogue: 0,0:29:03.72,0:29:06.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,necessarily facing their individual enemy.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:07.36,0:29:08.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] These men don't have
Dialogue: 0,0:29:08.53,0:29:11.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the privilege of dying one at a time, they die
Dialogue: 0,0:29:11.77,0:29:15.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on mass; and it's those numbers that I think
Dialogue: 0,0:29:15.81,0:29:17.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,traumatise us so much. That's why we have
Dialogue: 0,0:29:17.61,0:29:20.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate;
Dialogue: 0,0:29:21.30,0:29:23.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where it's just one long list of names.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:24.80,0:29:27.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These bodies have simply disappeared, and
Dialogue: 0,0:29:27.20,0:29:28.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're all separate lives but they've all
Dialogue: 0,0:29:28.89,0:29:30.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,vanished at once.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:31.90,0:29:33.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] When you read the King Edward's
Dialogue: 0,0:29:33.64,0:29:37.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,School Chronicle, as I have to research
Dialogue: 0,0:29:37.100,0:29:42.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys
Dialogue: 0,0:29:43.03,0:29:45.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with whom he grew up and you see their
Dialogue: 0,0:29:45.63,0:29:47.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,achievements, you see what they were learning,
Dialogue: 0,0:29:47.79,0:29:50.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially
Dialogue: 0,0:29:50.77,0:29:54.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,creative and brilliant they were. And then
Dialogue: 0,0:29:54.94,0:29:57.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War; and you see that they're
Dialogue: 0,0:29:57.31,0:29:58.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,heading for this.
Dialogue: 0,0:29:59.90,0:30:01.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] These young men, with their
Dialogue: 0,0:30:01.36,0:30:03.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's
Dialogue: 0,0:30:03.100,0:30:06.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a phrase that we all know, have been cut off
Dialogue: 0,0:30:06.32,0:30:08.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in their prime. They were full of potential,
Dialogue: 0,0:30:08.77,0:30:10.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of life, full of vigour, full of plans,
Dialogue: 0,0:30:10.88,0:30:13.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of
Dialogue: 0,0:30:13.15,0:30:14.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things with their professional lives and
Dialogue: 0,0:30:14.100,0:30:17.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their personal lives, and denied that opportunity.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:17.100,0:30:19.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[John Garth] When you look at the fortunes
Dialogue: 0,0:30:19.27,0:30:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien
Dialogue: 0,0:30:21.16,0:30:23.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,survived and went on to produce the great
Dialogue: 0,0:30:24.06,0:30:26.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,works of literature that he did; works that
Dialogue: 0,0:30:26.81,0:30:28.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have shaped our culture. And one does
Dialogue: 0,0:30:28.79,0:30:32.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wonder how many others didn't survive,
Dialogue: 0,0:30:32.81,0:30:35.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what potential was locked inside them that
Dialogue: 0,0:30:35.29,0:30:38.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they never had time to bring out of themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:39.23,0:30:42.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there is an uncountable loss there.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:45.11,0:30:47.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Simon Stacey] G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse
Dialogue: 0,0:30:47.77,0:30:52.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a young life snuffed out and only very
Dialogue: 0,0:30:52.94,0:30:56.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,incompletely communicating its dreams.
Dialogue: 0,0:30:58.18,0:30:59.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] This is a generation that did
Dialogue: 0,0:30:59.42,0:31:01.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not talk about the way it felt. So in that
Dialogue: 0,0:31:01.91,0:31:04.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sense I think the psychological affect was
Dialogue: 0,0:31:04.58,0:31:07.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,long lasting. A number of veterans surived
Dialogue: 0,0:31:07.74,0:31:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war only to find that they couldn't survive
Dialogue: 0,0:31:10.47,0:31:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the peace.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:12.76,0:31:14.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[VO] In the chapel at King Edward's School,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:14.97,0:31:17.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eight brass plaques hold the names of
Dialogue: 0,0:31:17.23,0:31:21.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during
Dialogue: 0,0:31:21.43,0:31:24.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS
Dialogue: 0,0:31:25.03,0:31:27.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,friends, are just four of almost
Dialogue: 0,0:31:27.22,0:31:29.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered
Dialogue: 0,0:31:29.69,0:31:32.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their country's call and fought in The Great War,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:33.66,0:31:36.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and each of their stories is worth telling.
Dialogue: 0,0:31:37.81,0:31:38.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Paul Golightly] The graveyards that you can
Dialogue: 0,0:31:39.03,0:31:41.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,walk around in northern France now have become
Dialogue: 0,0:31:42.07,0:31:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,almost 21st century cathedrals; where some
Dialogue: 0,0:31:45.74,0:31:48.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,really important questions need to be ask about
Dialogue: 0,0:31:48.19,0:31:50.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the nature of war and the nature of
Dialogue: 0,0:31:50.67,0:31:56.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sacrifice, and in the First World War's case,
Dialogue: 0,0:31:56.85,0:32:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war
Dialogue: 0,0:32:01.20,0:32:03.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be worth that.