WEBVTT 00:00:10.055 --> 00:00:12.795 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 00:00:12.922 --> 00:00:15.368 was born on the 3rd January, 1892. 00:00:16.441 --> 00:00:18.129 He and his brother Hilary, experienced 00:00:18.177 --> 00:00:20.420 a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:22.178 just four, they lost their father, Arthur, 00:00:22.182 --> 00:00:24.420 to rheumatic fever. 00:00:24.574 --> 00:00:26.001 As a widow with low income, his mother 00:00:26.103 --> 00:00:28.805 Mabel, home school the brothers and played 00:00:28.805 --> 00:00:31.576 a vital role in their early education and 00:00:31.576 --> 00:00:33.255 development. 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:34.797 Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a 00:00:35.450 --> 00:00:37.721 fascination and thirst for languages. 00:00:40.230 --> 00:00:41.918 Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King 00:00:41.918 --> 00:00:44.529 Edward's School, Birmingham and passed. 00:00:44.926 --> 00:00:46.823 From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of 00:00:46.981 --> 00:00:49.040 12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be 00:00:49.186 --> 00:00:52.336 educated in an environment that would help 00:00:52.474 --> 00:00:54.179 fulfil his academic potential. 00:00:55.704 --> 00:00:57.113 [John Garth] Going to King Edward's was vitally 00:00:57.250 --> 00:00:59.448 important to Tolkien; he was an 00:00:59.448 --> 00:01:02.111 exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's 00:01:02.111 --> 00:01:05.306 offered him a vast amount of scope and also 00:01:05.306 --> 00:01:07.498 the company of other boys who were 00:01:08.032 --> 00:01:09.507 similarly talented. 00:01:10.562 --> 00:01:12.163 Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien 00:01:12.429 --> 00:01:13.581 to find. 00:01:15.777 --> 00:01:17.343 [Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but 00:01:17.499 --> 00:01:20.749 he was a leading light in the debating society 00:01:20.865 --> 00:01:23.952 and the literary society; he was the life and 00:01:24.141 --> 00:01:27.567 soul really and he missed the school a 00:01:27.672 --> 00:01:29.199 great deal, I think, when he finally had 00:01:29.199 --> 00:01:30.359 to leave. 00:01:30.594 --> 00:01:33.231 [VO] At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his 00:01:33.363 --> 00:01:35.443 brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel, 00:01:35.595 --> 00:01:38.647 to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges 00:01:38.806 --> 00:01:41.097 himself into school life more energetically 00:01:41.264 --> 00:01:44.505 than before. Academically he excels, but 00:01:44.664 --> 00:01:47.386 in 1905, meets his intellectual rival, 00:01:47.508 --> 00:01:49.065 Christopher Wiseman. 00:01:50.822 --> 00:01:53.082 [John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend 00:01:53.082 --> 00:01:54.954 at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on 00:01:54.954 --> 00:01:58.916 the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician; 00:01:59.067 --> 00:02:00.293 quite different from Tolkien. 00:02:01.597 --> 00:02:03.161 They developed such a strong bond on the rugby 00:02:03.293 --> 00:02:04.842 field that they called themselves; 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:06.734 "The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase 00:02:06.734 --> 00:02:09.375 from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord 00:02:09.502 --> 00:02:10.315 Macauley. 00:02:11.284 --> 00:02:13.448 [Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals 00:02:13.631 --> 00:02:15.105 in the school, both being very academic 00:02:15.231 --> 00:02:17.328 boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect 00:02:17.470 --> 00:02:19.120 and he was interested in a lot of the things 00:02:19.269 --> 00:02:20.785 that Tolkien was getting interested in; 00:02:21.035 --> 00:02:23.765 languages, I think he was looking at 00:02:23.928 --> 00:02:26.639 Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics. 00:02:26.796 --> 00:02:28.519 [John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have 00:02:28.644 --> 00:02:29.977 helped define each other through their 00:02:30.079 --> 00:02:31.618 teenage years because they would argue; 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:33.248 they would argue strongly about all their 00:02:33.303 --> 00:02:34.569 beliefs in life. 00:02:35.471 --> 00:02:36.658 [Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented 00:02:36.999 --> 00:02:39.580 musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone 00:02:39.715 --> 00:02:41.382 deaf but that didn't stop them getting on! 00:02:42.904 --> 00:02:44.654 [VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the 00:02:44.933 --> 00:02:46.652 headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman 00:02:46.871 --> 00:02:50.778 and Gilson, form a strong bond which will 00:02:50.886 --> 00:02:53.680 last throughout their school years and beyond. 00:02:56.108 --> 00:02:58.147 Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is 00:02:58.250 --> 00:03:00.146 about to change, yet again. 00:03:01.610 --> 00:03:03.018 [John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings 00:03:03.165 --> 00:03:05.031 with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16 00:03:05.145 --> 00:03:09.971 he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19 00:03:10.129 --> 00:03:13.260 at the time. And she was a beautiful young 00:03:13.416 --> 00:03:17.630 girl; talented pianist and also an orphan. 00:03:17.799 --> 00:03:20.419 And the two of them bonded on their shared 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:23.108 sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams. 00:03:23.867 --> 00:03:27.721 The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him, 00:03:28.166 --> 00:03:30.897 and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic 00:03:31.024 --> 00:03:33.209 and she was an Anglican. 00:03:34.089 --> 00:03:36.189 [VO] Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan, 00:03:36.337 --> 00:03:38.217 a Catholic Priest, feels this is major 00:03:38.346 --> 00:03:40.969 divide; and also believes that Edith will 00:03:41.091 --> 00:03:42.988 distract Tolkien from his attempts to get 00:03:43.106 --> 00:03:44.549 into Oxford University. 00:03:45.712 --> 00:03:47.687 [John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade 00:03:47.832 --> 00:03:49.727 them from seeing each other, or even from 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:53.037 communicating. He was thrown back upon his 00:03:53.174 --> 00:03:55.916 friendships at King Edward's and it was 00:03:56.050 --> 00:03:58.502 this final phase of his time here, that he 00:03:58.943 --> 00:04:03.472 began to flourish and make the place his 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.689 own; he and his friends ruled the roost. 00:04:07.936 --> 00:04:09.629 [VO] Making the most of his final year at 00:04:09.794 --> 00:04:11.476 King Edward's and the friendships he has 00:04:11.590 --> 00:04:13.866 formed, Tolkien and his peers create an 00:04:14.033 --> 00:04:16.213 informal society. 00:04:19.780 --> 00:04:21.787 These young intellectuals gather in the school 00:04:21.935 --> 00:04:24.150 library and do what they are forbidden to do: 00:04:24.298 --> 00:04:28.073 brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet 00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:30.362 in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham 00:04:30.521 --> 00:04:33.651 and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves 00:04:33.820 --> 00:04:36.410 the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society" 00:04:36.483 --> 00:04:38.597 or the TCBS for short. 00:04:38.662 --> 00:04:39.680 (nostalgic music) 00:04:39.971 --> 00:04:41.667 [John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably 00:04:41.799 --> 00:04:43.860 Tolkien and Wiseman and the others 00:04:43.977 --> 00:04:47.731 gravitated around them. There was Robert 00:04:47.872 --> 00:04:49.743 Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster 00:04:49.845 --> 00:04:53.797 here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap, 00:04:53.929 --> 00:04:56.343 he was perhaps the social glue of the group; 00:04:56.529 --> 00:04:59.488 he would welcome anyone and find common 00:04:59.590 --> 00:05:02.610 cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow 00:05:02.760 --> 00:05:04.656 who loved to sketch. 00:05:05.448 --> 00:05:08.549 [Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and 00:05:08.689 --> 00:05:10.230 had ambitions to be an architect. 00:05:10.826 --> 00:05:13.855 There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith, 00:05:13.989 --> 00:05:19.116 who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic 00:05:19.116 --> 00:05:21.232 mythology; so this gave him common ground 00:05:21.232 --> 00:05:22.891 with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's 00:05:22.891 --> 00:05:23.523 passions. 00:05:23.742 --> 00:05:25.308 [Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished 00:05:25.465 --> 00:05:28.509 and advanced poet who recommended contemporary 00:05:28.667 --> 00:05:31.513 poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing 00:05:31.641 --> 00:05:34.037 poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent, 00:05:34.185 --> 00:05:37.227 inspired by Smith and the wider group. 00:05:37.329 --> 00:05:39.659 And that was really the beginnings of 00:05:39.789 --> 00:05:41.195 Tolkien as a writer. 00:05:41.367 --> 00:05:43.538 [John Garth] From the beginnings which were 00:05:43.671 --> 00:05:47.296 mostly about fun, later on, during the war years, 00:05:47.414 --> 00:05:50.819 this developed into a fellowship from which 00:05:50.967 --> 00:05:53.574 each of them drew tremendous strength and 00:05:53.676 --> 00:05:54.476 comfort. 00:05:55.465 --> 00:05:57.722 [VO] Later that year, Tolkien's time at 00:05:57.859 --> 00:05:59.927 King Edward's comes to an end and he begins 00:06:00.063 --> 00:06:02.115 his first term at Oxford, having successfully 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:03.707 gained entrance. 00:06:05.916 --> 00:06:08.362 On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his 00:06:08.488 --> 00:06:10.298 independence from Father Francis Morgan, 00:06:10.432 --> 00:06:13.000 Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a 00:06:13.089 --> 00:06:16.040 week later, they are re-united. 00:06:16.128 --> 00:06:18.048 Edith is engaged to marry another man, 00:06:18.048 --> 00:06:19.820 but despite almost certain ridicule, 00:06:19.820 --> 00:06:22.363 she agrees to break the engagement to be 00:06:22.373 --> 00:06:23.673 with her Ronald. 00:06:24.891 --> 00:06:26.775 Over the next few months, a growing sense of 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.635 trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th 00:06:28.635 --> 00:06:34.066 of June, 1914, everything changes. 00:06:35.421 --> 00:06:37.647 (gun shot sound) 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:40.279 (solemn music) 00:06:40.779 --> 00:06:42.590 Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the 00:06:42.766 --> 00:06:45.182 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.048 A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks, 00:06:50.241 --> 00:06:52.863 Europe's major powers are at war. 00:06:54.558 --> 00:06:57.318 Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares 00:06:57.453 --> 00:07:00.837 war on Germany. Parliament issues a call 00:07:00.987 --> 00:07:02.704 to arms from the British public. 00:07:04.087 --> 00:07:04.994 [Paul Golightly] There isn't a rush to the 00:07:05.151 --> 00:07:08.130 colours straight away. It becomes much more 00:07:08.248 --> 00:07:09.555 obvious that people are willing to join 00:07:09.665 --> 00:07:12.128 up when atrocity stories start to emerge, 00:07:12.728 --> 00:07:14.962 then you get a much more concerted rush 00:07:15.111 --> 00:07:15.861 to join. 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:17.664 [John Garth] There was an air of excitement 00:07:17.796 --> 00:07:20.473 about the war, there was a naive sense that 00:07:20.633 --> 00:07:23.085 this would allow young men to fulfil their 00:07:23.188 --> 00:07:25.350 potential in a way that wasn't possible in 00:07:25.503 --> 00:07:27.637 peace time. There was a tremendous sense 00:07:27.796 --> 00:07:30.331 of patriotism and a sense of duty towards 00:07:30.467 --> 00:07:33.195 whatever England, or Britain, stood for. 00:07:34.287 --> 00:07:35.790 [Paul Golightly] They are attracted to the 00:07:35.943 --> 00:07:37.909 idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans, 00:07:38.064 --> 00:07:39.651 or at least some of them will be. On the 00:07:39.812 --> 00:07:41.331 whole, they thought they were going to give 00:07:41.461 --> 00:07:42.599 the Germans a bloody nose. 00:07:43.267 --> 00:07:44.830 [John Garth] "The Germans has been dastardly" 00:07:44.989 --> 00:07:48.480 and needed to dealt with and shown their place. 00:07:49.298 --> 00:07:50.247 [Paul Golightly] Men join up out of economic 00:07:50.402 --> 00:07:52.865 necessity and you'll find that in any war. 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:57.324 Life is not very exciting and the romance 00:07:57.475 --> 00:08:00.422 and colour of joining the army and being 00:08:00.569 --> 00:08:03.118 part of something very big indeed, I'm sure 00:08:03.285 --> 00:08:04.474 has some allure. 00:08:05.340 --> 00:08:06.674 (solemn music) And they see things 00:08:06.808 --> 00:08:09.030 in rather romantic ways, which of course is 00:08:09.181 --> 00:08:11.608 doomed to fail; we all know what the First 00:08:11.775 --> 00:08:14.431 World War turns into. It's not a war of 00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:16.840 movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry 00:08:16.996 --> 00:08:20.376 charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid 00:08:20.510 --> 00:08:22.768 it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire 00:08:22.935 --> 00:08:24.916 and the crump of artillery that's going to 00:08:25.031 --> 00:08:25.711 dominate. 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:31.696 So they, I think, have expectations about what 00:08:31.851 --> 00:08:33.663 the war will be like, and I think their main 00:08:33.780 --> 00:08:36.137 emotion was, will it be over before I can 00:08:36.278 --> 00:08:37.219 get to France. 00:08:39.335 --> 00:08:41.652 [John Garth] Tolkien, who's reading covered 00:08:41.803 --> 00:08:46.154 ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly 00:08:46.325 --> 00:08:50.708 frank about what happens in war, went into 00:08:50.851 --> 00:08:55.232 the war much more open-eyed. He described 00:08:55.364 --> 00:08:57.052 himself as a "young man with too much 00:08:57.165 --> 00:09:00.229 imagination" and so he did not relish battle 00:09:00.366 --> 00:09:01.182 in any sense. 00:09:01.970 --> 00:09:02.984 [Paul Golightly] And I think that applies 00:09:03.140 --> 00:09:05.298 to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it, 00:09:05.431 --> 00:09:07.996 but also the politicians and generals who 00:09:08.110 --> 00:09:10.197 directed it; I think a lot of people 00:09:10.348 --> 00:09:12.311 understood that this war could be terrible. 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:15.333 [Simon Stacey] What you get in the letters 00:09:15.660 --> 00:09:18.070 between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and 00:09:18.163 --> 00:09:20.934 then in Smith's poetry, is a serious 00:09:21.093 --> 00:09:25.328 determination to do their duty and that they 00:09:25.445 --> 00:09:27.126 should be prepared to give their lives. 00:09:27.937 --> 00:09:30.642 A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time 00:09:30.788 --> 00:09:33.049 and that they've got to come through it. 00:09:34.948 --> 00:09:37.047 [VO] G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join 00:09:37.174 --> 00:09:40.466 the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary, 00:09:40.592 --> 00:09:43.542 signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman 00:09:43.667 --> 00:09:48.372 joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a 00:09:48.463 --> 00:09:49.555 dilemma. 00:09:50.990 --> 00:09:52.553 [Simon Stacey] Tolkien was in a difficult 00:09:52.657 --> 00:09:54.901 position when war broke out; he had a year 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:57.704 of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien 00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:00.684 needed a degree badly because he wanted to 00:10:00.818 --> 00:10:03.516 pursue an academic career; he didn't have 00:10:03.636 --> 00:10:07.830 any money in his family unlike Gilson and 00:10:07.967 --> 00:10:11.559 therefore, having committed three years to 00:10:11.715 --> 00:10:13.405 the degree it was very important that he 00:10:13.543 --> 00:10:16.049 completed it. So he discovered a scheme 00:10:16.208 --> 00:10:18.929 whereby he could undergo some training 00:10:19.056 --> 00:10:21.183 in the Officer Training Core whilst 00:10:21.359 --> 00:10:23.515 completing his degree, which he did triumphantly 00:10:23.667 --> 00:10:25.450 with a first at Oxford. 00:10:26.382 --> 00:10:28.104 [VO] He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into 00:10:28.227 --> 00:10:30.924 the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being 00:10:31.066 --> 00:10:32.472 posted to the same battalion. 00:10:34.089 --> 00:10:35.246 [John Garth] Tolkien was looking for something 00:10:35.400 --> 00:10:38.595 in the army through which he could use his 00:10:38.729 --> 00:10:40.387 particular talents, and his particular talents 00:10:40.560 --> 00:10:43.570 were languages and writing systems; he was 00:10:43.705 --> 00:10:45.763 fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was 00:10:45.853 --> 00:10:49.070 only natural that he would train up as a 00:10:49.213 --> 00:10:50.117 signaller. 00:10:50.367 --> 00:10:51.462 [Paul Golightly] It would have meant that 00:10:51.611 --> 00:10:53.280 Tolkien was exposed to the technology 00:10:53.404 --> 00:10:55.346 available at the time and it must have 00:10:55.469 --> 00:10:58.999 interested him; so the use of the radio, the 00:10:59.140 --> 00:11:02.398 use of signals, of semaphore. 00:11:03.256 --> 00:11:05.032 [Simon Stacey] He learnt morse code, 00:11:05.155 --> 00:11:07.864 he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field 00:11:08.016 --> 00:11:10.286 telephones; which of course went on largely 00:11:10.401 --> 00:11:12.643 to be ineffective or not to work. 00:11:13.175 --> 00:11:14.448 [John Garth] He became Battalion Signalling 00:11:14.572 --> 00:11:18.328 Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to 00:11:18.465 --> 00:11:20.771 oversee the communications of a Battalion 00:11:20.898 --> 00:11:23.575 of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on 00:11:23.710 --> 00:11:25.854 manpower at the time. 00:11:26.612 --> 00:11:27.614 [Paul Golightly] His basic job of course 00:11:27.767 --> 00:11:30.010 was to act as a link between the various 00:11:30.161 --> 00:11:32.690 layers of command, and that he would be 00:11:32.849 --> 00:11:35.626 responsible for incoming orders and making sure 00:11:35.802 --> 00:11:37.293 that the right people got those and of course 00:11:37.481 --> 00:11:40.619 he'd be responsible for telling command further 00:11:40.781 --> 00:11:43.368 up the line about the situation on his sector. 00:11:43.773 --> 00:11:45.633 [John Garth] So he was an absolute lynch pin 00:11:45.784 --> 00:11:49.215 in a war which depended absolutely on how 00:11:49.324 --> 00:11:51.521 much information you had about your enemies 00:11:51.675 --> 00:11:52.342 position. 00:11:53.217 --> 00:11:55.139 [VO] In March of 1916 as his training nears 00:11:55.266 --> 00:11:57.627 its completion, both Tolkien and Edith 00:11:57.770 --> 00:11:59.854 become aware that he will soon be sent to 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:03.555 the Front. They marry and just over two 00:12:03.712 --> 00:12:06.193 months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France. 00:12:07.076 --> 00:12:09.617 The two of them part, not knowing if they 00:12:09.716 --> 00:12:11.421 will ever see each other again. 00:12:20.449 --> 00:12:36.420 (Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting) 00:12:37.207 --> 00:12:39.754 (ominous music) 00:12:40.196 --> 00:12:41.978 [VO] When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the 00:12:42.089 --> 00:12:44.177 War has been raging for almost two years. 00:12:45.038 --> 00:12:46.217 The cost of the War is clear; 00:12:46.334 --> 00:12:49.156 the countryside is scarred and the casualties 00:12:49.293 --> 00:12:50.556 high. 00:12:51.910 --> 00:12:53.352 After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare 00:12:53.496 --> 00:12:57.354 throughout 1915, and with a new wave of 00:12:57.509 --> 00:13:00.259 thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is 00:13:00.406 --> 00:13:02.613 clear the Big Push is imminent. 00:13:03.273 --> 00:13:04.693 (marching feet) 00:13:05.137 --> 00:13:07.497 Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but 00:13:07.601 --> 00:13:09.513 he fears for the lives of his old school 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:10.963 friends who are at the Front. 00:13:13.132 --> 00:13:14.915 Within a month of his arrival in France 00:13:15.030 --> 00:13:17.107 the Allies launch the Somme Offensive. 00:13:18.548 --> 00:13:21.988 At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July, 00:13:22.135 --> 00:13:24.011 the troops in the British Frontline, 00:13:24.149 --> 00:13:25.698 go over the top. 00:13:26.583 --> 00:13:30.435 (whistle sound echoes) 00:13:45.886 --> 00:13:47.953 On the first day of the Offensive alone, 00:13:48.331 --> 00:13:51.998 20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded 00:13:52.368 --> 00:13:55.121 and over 2,000 are reported missing. 00:13:58.751 --> 00:14:00.630 [Paul Golightly] The first casualty was 00:14:00.834 --> 00:14:03.496 the plan. It started to fall apart very 00:14:03.624 --> 00:14:06.480 rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out 00:14:06.583 --> 00:14:09.104 in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5 00:14:09.227 --> 00:14:11.596 men who went into combat on the 1st of July 00:14:11.743 --> 00:14:12.868 was killed. 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:15.943 [John Garth] It was the most disastrous day 00:14:16.098 --> 00:14:19.390 in the history of the British Army, and 00:14:19.767 --> 00:14:23.847 a tragedy for the entire country. There were 00:14:23.959 --> 00:14:27.523 villages that had lost all their young men. 00:14:29.537 --> 00:14:30.858 [Paul Golightly] It's marked as a loss of 00:14:30.940 --> 00:14:34.855 innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed 00:14:34.991 --> 00:14:37.657 represent a turning point in British 00:14:37.769 --> 00:14:40.520 consciousness and the relationship perhaps 00:14:40.672 --> 00:14:42.949 between those who make decisions and those 00:14:43.070 --> 00:14:44.765 who are forced to carry them out. 00:14:50.716 --> 00:14:52.399 (soft piano music) 00:14:53.895 --> 00:14:55.458 [VO] Among the many men that are lost on that 00:14:55.595 --> 00:15:00.128 day, is dear friend and TCBS member, 00:15:00.444 --> 00:15:02.285 Robert Gilson. 00:15:03.795 --> 00:15:06.110 [John Garth] He led his Platoon over the top 00:15:06.231 --> 00:15:10.774 took charge of his Company, but was shot 00:15:10.941 --> 00:15:13.112 in the middle of No Man's Land. 00:15:16.871 --> 00:15:18.717 [Paul Golightly] He was in the fourth wave. 00:15:19.301 --> 00:15:21.157 He saw the first wave go in and fail, 00:15:22.093 --> 00:15:24.346 the second wave go in and fail, 00:15:24.627 --> 00:15:26.585 the third wave go in and fail. 00:15:28.358 --> 00:15:30.840 And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had 00:15:30.975 --> 00:15:34.684 to go in; and they still went. And that 00:15:34.828 --> 00:15:37.041 I think is the most poignant and probably 00:15:37.181 --> 00:15:39.151 the most tragic thing about the 1st of July 00:15:39.282 --> 00:15:45.127 1916. That this generation, had so much faith 00:15:45.254 --> 00:15:48.139 in their superiors, probably had so much 00:15:48.275 --> 00:15:50.503 commitment to their fellows that they were 00:15:50.654 --> 00:15:52.554 prepared to go, even though it meant certain 00:15:52.905 --> 00:15:53.407 death. 00:15:57.633 --> 00:15:58.983 [John Garth] Tolkien heard about this 00:15:59.130 --> 00:16:02.014 after his first action on the Somme a couple 00:16:02.135 --> 00:16:05.045 of weeks later; and he was devastated. 00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:07.819 It shook him to the foundations of his 00:16:07.977 --> 00:16:11.084 beliefs. He had, as all of the members of 00:16:11.222 --> 00:16:14.631 the TCBS had, built up their group as a 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:19.192 fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had 00:16:19.347 --> 00:16:22.126 something to give to the World. In which 00:16:22.285 --> 00:16:26.210 all four of them were vital parts, and now 00:16:26.369 --> 00:16:28.090 one of them was dead. So what did that mean 00:16:28.227 --> 00:16:30.847 about their overall purpose? And also his 00:16:31.006 --> 00:16:32.169 purpose. 00:16:33.063 --> 00:16:34.352 [Simon Stacey] Geoffrey Smith wrote him a 00:16:34.462 --> 00:16:39.199 letter in which, clearly Smith experiences 00:16:39.326 --> 00:16:42.861 feelings of devastation and a sense that the 00:16:42.999 --> 00:16:47.644 fellowship had been broken. Rob would never 00:16:47.772 --> 00:16:51.539 become an architect, he would never fulfil 00:16:51.683 --> 00:16:55.217 his part in whatever they dreamed of. 00:16:56.563 --> 00:16:57.440 [John Garth] And I think it took him quite 00:16:57.593 --> 00:17:02.065 some time to recover from that. The other 00:17:02.235 --> 00:17:04.959 two members, Wiseman and Smith, were 00:17:05.044 --> 00:17:08.004 determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS 00:17:08.167 --> 00:17:10.373 purpose continued and I think eventually 00:17:10.531 --> 00:17:12.423 Tolkien took heart from that. 00:17:14.051 --> 00:17:16.247 [VO] Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster 00:17:16.373 --> 00:17:19.865 at King Edward's school to offer his 00:17:19.973 --> 00:17:23.113 condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young 00:17:23.251 --> 00:17:25.965 man, a talented artist and most painfully 00:17:26.101 --> 00:17:29.420 of all; a dear friend. 00:17:33.954 --> 00:17:36.757 Tolkien's war has well and truly started and 00:17:36.865 --> 00:17:38.565 over the coming months he is subject to the 00:17:38.696 --> 00:17:40.633 many hardships of trench warfare. 00:17:41.745 --> 00:17:43.843 [John Garth] He spent his time in and out 00:17:43.978 --> 00:17:47.022 of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated 00:17:47.185 --> 00:17:50.445 from the Frontline to the reserve trenches 00:17:50.588 --> 00:17:54.119 to rest, as they laughably called it, but 00:17:54.275 --> 00:17:56.046 it wasn't really rest, it was training. 00:17:56.764 --> 00:17:58.417 Tolkien talked about the universal weariness 00:17:58.583 --> 00:18:01.731 of all this war. But during this period he 00:18:01.851 --> 00:18:04.537 was involved in three attacks, he was 00:18:04.663 --> 00:18:07.384 very fortunate not to have to go through the 00:18:07.495 --> 00:18:09.805 first day of the Somme; he was a few miles 00:18:09.963 --> 00:18:11.866 back from the Frontline at that time. 00:18:12.694 --> 00:18:14.073 His Battalion moved forward for a second 00:18:14.216 --> 00:18:16.183 wave of attacks, they were launched against a 00:18:16.318 --> 00:18:18.527 village called Ovier; which had been the 00:18:18.648 --> 00:18:21.600 German Frontline. One of the first things that 00:18:21.727 --> 00:18:24.547 he encountered was, complete chaos in the 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:27.634 battlefield communications system. It was very 00:18:27.811 --> 00:18:31.253 primitive. It was only partly built; damaged 00:18:31.365 --> 00:18:34.264 by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers 00:18:34.389 --> 00:18:38.518 going across No Man's Land carrying flares 00:18:38.656 --> 00:18:42.046 to say, we have arrived. Further flares - 00:18:42.169 --> 00:18:44.079 "we have taken prisoners", they carried 00:18:44.217 --> 00:18:46.445 pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable 00:18:46.602 --> 00:18:49.046 method of communication. One of Tolkien's 00:18:49.718 --> 00:18:52.542 signallers won a military medal for managing 00:18:52.669 --> 00:18:56.035 to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and 00:18:56.167 --> 00:18:57.488 do the job correctly. 00:18:58.309 --> 00:18:59.748 [VO] The attack is a success and many 00:18:59.892 --> 00:19:02.332 prisoners are captured. Of all the combat 00:19:02.483 --> 00:19:05.214 Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant 00:19:05.358 --> 00:19:08.298 battles is also one of his last; an attack 00:19:08.462 --> 00:19:10.554 on Regina Trench. 00:19:11.441 --> 00:19:12.824 [John Garth] This was in October, by which 00:19:12.985 --> 00:19:15.065 time the battlefield had been reduced to mud. 00:19:15.242 --> 00:19:19.093 The attack had been delayed by heavy rain 00:19:19.174 --> 00:19:22.225 but on October 21st there was a cold snap 00:19:22.336 --> 00:19:25.434 so the ground was frozen hard and the 00:19:25.502 --> 00:19:26.999 attack was able to go ahead. 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:33.542 (Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire) 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:41.671 (Gunfire, bullets zipping by) 00:19:42.176 --> 00:19:46.730 (solemn music) 00:19:48.029 --> 00:19:51.630 [John Garth] He saw violent death, he also 00:19:51.755 --> 00:19:54.286 saw and felt extreme terror. 00:19:56.907 --> 00:19:59.571 He never, as far as we know, described at 00:19:59.738 --> 00:20:03.559 length what trench warfare was like but he 00:20:03.714 --> 00:20:05.583 summed it up in two words, in one of his 00:20:05.744 --> 00:20:08.045 letters, and this was; "animal horror". 00:20:09.871 --> 00:20:13.378 It would reduce you from humanity and 00:20:13.524 --> 00:20:16.785 turn you into a retched beast desperate only 00:20:16.935 --> 00:20:20.156 to cower and survive. And it's very 00:20:20.282 --> 00:20:22.198 interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings 00:20:22.287 --> 00:20:25.104 whenever the characters are in situations of 00:20:25.278 --> 00:20:27.465 extreme fear, they're always described as 00:20:27.594 --> 00:20:34.634 stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror. 00:20:36.021 --> 00:20:37.240 [Paul Golightly] A lot of British trenches 00:20:37.389 --> 00:20:39.072 were deliberately uncomfortable because 00:20:39.214 --> 00:20:41.046 the Generals wanted the men to believe 00:20:41.194 --> 00:20:42.796 that they were only temporary, that they 00:20:42.942 --> 00:20:44.603 would be advancing beyond this, that this 00:20:44.763 --> 00:20:46.116 wasn't their home. 00:20:48.237 --> 00:20:50.174 [VO] Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels 00:20:50.325 --> 00:20:53.008 isolated from home and letters to, and from, 00:20:53.125 --> 00:20:56.328 Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of 00:20:56.446 --> 00:20:58.723 strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden 00:20:58.842 --> 00:21:02.169 from sharing his location in his letters, so 00:21:02.282 --> 00:21:04.558 he devises a code of dots to keep Edith 00:21:04.708 --> 00:21:06.400 informed of where he is. 00:21:07.433 --> 00:21:08.843 [John Garth] He simply found the letters 00:21:08.948 --> 00:21:12.189 of the alphabet within what he wrote to her 00:21:12.331 --> 00:21:14.410 and put a dot above the relevant ones to 00:21:14.546 --> 00:21:16.704 spell out the name of the place where he was 00:21:16.841 --> 00:21:20.964 currently located. And Edith kept a map 00:21:21.121 --> 00:21:24.119 on her wall and pins to show where he was 00:21:24.291 --> 00:21:25.690 at that time. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.134 [VO] After the successful attack on Regina 00:21:30.306 --> 00:21:32.221 Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the 00:21:32.393 --> 00:21:34.915 front and paraded in front of the top brass. 00:21:35.594 --> 00:21:37.996 Tolkien however, falls ill. 00:21:38.801 --> 00:21:40.361 [John Garth] It was trench fever. And this 00:21:40.495 --> 00:21:43.649 was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic 00:21:43.764 --> 00:21:44.935 conditions in the trenches. 00:21:45.167 --> 00:21:47.018 [Paul Golightly] It spread through contact 00:21:47.168 --> 00:21:50.229 with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant 00:21:50.344 --> 00:21:53.596 It gives you a headache, you can have stomach 00:21:53.726 --> 00:21:56.375 cramps, you can have pain in you joints 00:21:56.528 --> 00:21:59.155 and in your bones, you can get lesions on 00:21:59.439 --> 00:22:02.494 your skin; it's not fatal but it can become 00:22:02.629 --> 00:22:04.877 very debilitating. So debilitating you can't 00:22:05.003 --> 00:22:08.283 be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very 00:22:08.395 --> 00:22:10.524 bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.695 "back to Blighty" as they put it. 00:22:13.222 --> 00:22:14.705 And in fact it was the end of his war. 00:22:14.994 --> 00:22:16.483 [John Garth] It saved Tolkien's life, it took 00:22:16.585 --> 00:22:20.072 him out of the battlefield and back to Britain. 00:22:20.426 --> 00:22:23.469 He was shipped home to Birmingham, to 00:22:23.604 --> 00:22:25.626 The First Southern General Hospital as it 00:22:25.732 --> 00:22:27.734 was called at the time, which was actually set 00:22:27.864 --> 00:22:29.803 up in the grounds of Birmingham University. 00:22:30.605 --> 00:22:33.302 And it was there that Tolkien was re-united 00:22:33.427 --> 00:22:36.919 with his wife, Edith and where he began 00:22:37.058 --> 00:22:40.189 writing the first stories of Middle-Earth. 00:22:41.513 --> 00:22:44.015 His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional 00:22:44.122 --> 00:22:47.559 and was an inspiration for various pieces of 00:22:47.681 --> 00:22:49.677 writing in his mythology, notably the 00:22:49.826 --> 00:22:53.001 story of Luthien and Beren; which features 00:22:53.146 --> 00:22:54.886 in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in 00:22:54.999 --> 00:22:57.193 The Lord of The Rings. A love story between 00:22:57.310 --> 00:23:00.740 a mortal man and an immortal elf. 00:23:01.600 --> 00:23:03.075 (Gentle Piano Music) 00:23:03.766 --> 00:23:05.932 [VO] However, Tolkien's respite is short lived. 00:23:06.096 --> 00:23:08.879 Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien 00:23:09.022 --> 00:23:10.673 learns from Christopher Wiseman, that 00:23:10.836 --> 00:23:14.153 good friend G.B.Smith has been killed. 00:23:18.533 --> 00:23:19.692 [John Garth] The Battle of the Somme was 00:23:19.811 --> 00:23:22.977 over, and Smith had been organising a 00:23:23.137 --> 00:23:25.739 football match for his men about four miles 00:23:25.890 --> 00:23:28.551 behind the Frontline, when a stray shell 00:23:28.707 --> 00:23:30.142 exploded near him. 00:23:31.955 --> 00:23:35.619 He was hit by shrapnel and developed what 00:23:35.758 --> 00:23:38.115 they called Gas Gangrene, which killed 00:23:38.265 --> 00:23:41.919 him within a few days. Early in 1916, while 00:23:42.047 --> 00:23:44.143 Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter 00:23:44.299 --> 00:23:47.513 G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches 00:23:47.643 --> 00:23:49.827 in France. 00:23:49.968 --> 00:23:52.284 [VO] Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol. 00:23:52.397 --> 00:23:54.320 The officer who had led the patrol the night before 00:23:54.444 --> 00:23:57.087 had been captured and most likely killed. 00:23:58.615 --> 00:23:59.931 [John Garth] It was about the most dangerous 00:24:00.067 --> 00:24:02.699 activity that you could do on the Western Front 00:24:02.833 --> 00:24:04.627 and Smith was about to go into it and he took 00:24:04.761 --> 00:24:07.749 the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and 00:24:07.945 --> 00:24:14.303 tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol, 00:24:14.415 --> 00:24:19.085 I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of 00:24:19.191 --> 00:24:22.145 what you've written and what you will write" 00:24:23.269 --> 00:24:25.180 He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen, 00:24:25.344 --> 00:24:30.424 and you must publish." 00:24:33.835 --> 00:24:35.558 Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth 00:24:35.698 --> 00:24:36.603 fan. 00:24:38.176 --> 00:24:39.868 [Simon Stacey] Smith says in the letter that 00:24:40.002 --> 00:24:44.884 death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to 00:24:44.996 --> 00:24:48.502 the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien 00:24:48.632 --> 00:24:53.153 may say the things that he had wanted to 00:24:53.280 --> 00:24:56.178 say, long after he is there to say them. 00:24:56.328 --> 00:25:00.932 That's very moving because Tolkien, although 00:25:01.067 --> 00:25:05.170 very much his own individual artistic self, 00:25:05.341 --> 00:25:08.662 I think did see his later career as an 00:25:08.820 --> 00:25:11.296 attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that 00:25:11.433 --> 00:25:12.961 they'd shared. 00:25:13.838 --> 00:25:16.634 [John Garth] He was able to gather his strength 00:25:16.796 --> 00:25:24.389 and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to. 00:25:25.592 --> 00:25:27.912 [VO] In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and 00:25:28.073 --> 00:25:30.649 Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and 00:25:30.802 --> 00:25:32.743 have them published in a small volume, 00:25:32.881 --> 00:25:36.295 entitled; "A Spring Harvest". 00:25:38.272 --> 00:25:40.497 Tolkien's war is over, but the impact of his 00:25:40.601 --> 00:25:43.427 experiences will stay with him forever, and 00:25:43.557 --> 00:25:46.053 will even feature in his future writings. 00:25:46.626 --> 00:25:48.256 [John Garth] The whole experience of the War 00:25:48.389 --> 00:25:51.840 had an ongoing affect on much of Tolkien's 00:25:51.956 --> 00:25:54.548 mythology. As soon as Tolkien returned from 00:25:54.666 --> 00:25:56.115 the Somme he started writing a story called, 00:25:56.239 --> 00:25:58.529 "The Fall of Gondolin" which was the first 00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:01.302 element of his mythology that dealt with battle. 00:26:02.687 --> 00:26:04.725 And the fascinating thing about it is that the 00:26:04.866 --> 00:26:08.235 attacking forces use things that are termed 00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:10.596 by Tolkien, "dragons" or "beasts" or "monsters" 00:26:10.684 --> 00:26:13.957 but they're described as metallic and rolling 00:26:14.531 --> 00:26:16.612 and they spout fire and some of them have 00:26:16.737 --> 00:26:18.855 troops inside them, and it's pretty clear that 00:26:18.986 --> 00:26:22.377 this is a kind of mythologising of the Tank. 00:26:22.681 --> 00:26:24.565 Which was Britains secret weapon, which 00:26:24.706 --> 00:26:26.428 had just been launched on the Somme while 00:26:26.536 --> 00:26:27.420 Tolkien was there. 00:26:28.375 --> 00:26:31.304 The Lord of The Rings focusses on a fellowship, 00:26:31.416 --> 00:26:33.682 they're separated on different battlefronts, 00:26:33.812 --> 00:26:35.548 much like the TCBS were. 00:26:35.986 --> 00:26:37.052 [Simon Stacey] It's almost unimaginable that, 00:26:37.222 --> 00:26:39.743 in writing of the breaking of the fellowship, 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:42.275 in The Lord of The Rings, that Tolkien wouldn't 00:26:42.422 --> 00:26:45.798 have been influenced by his own loss during 00:26:45.935 --> 00:26:47.745 the First World War and the breaking of the 00:26:47.892 --> 00:26:49.480 TCBS fellowship. 00:26:50.538 --> 00:26:53.043 There is a late letter in which he mentions 00:26:53.177 --> 00:26:55.729 that the dead marshes, through which Frodo, 00:26:55.859 --> 00:26:59.685 Sam and Gollum travel, owe something to 00:26:59.877 --> 00:27:02.105 northern France, in the area of the Somme 00:27:02.234 --> 00:27:03.520 where he fought. 00:27:04.241 --> 00:27:06.321 [John Garth] Frodo and Sam are very much 00:27:06.470 --> 00:27:10.152 the equivalent of an officer and his batman; his 00:27:10.251 --> 00:27:13.144 servant. And Tolkien actually said that, "my 00:27:13.261 --> 00:27:17.857 Sam Gamgee is inspired by the Privates and 00:27:17.968 --> 00:27:21.246 Batmen I knew in the First World War". 00:27:22.040 --> 00:27:25.523 Frodo represents really, the feelings of a young 00:27:25.659 --> 00:27:28.215 man like Tolkien himself, thrown into a war 00:27:28.307 --> 00:27:30.715 unwillingly and having to shoulder a terrible 00:27:30.853 --> 00:27:34.541 burden; a burden of duty. You can see that 00:27:34.604 --> 00:27:40.118 Frodo develops symptoms of what we would now 00:27:40.264 --> 00:27:42.931 call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or 00:27:43.080 --> 00:27:45.202 War Trauma, or what they called then, 00:27:45.351 --> 00:27:48.310 Shell Shock. He becomes withdrawn from 00:27:48.462 --> 00:27:51.722 the World, increasingly enclosed within himself 00:27:51.832 --> 00:27:55.583 he says he can't remember what grass was like, 00:27:55.714 --> 00:27:57.118 what sunlight was like. 00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:00.250 When the war is over in The Lord of The Rings, 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.514 Frodo does not strut his stuff as a hero, 00:28:03.669 --> 00:28:05.760 he is visibly traumatised by the whole 00:28:05.888 --> 00:28:09.371 experience. This was very true of many of the 00:28:09.516 --> 00:28:11.653 soldiers who returned from the Western 00:28:11.811 --> 00:28:14.819 Front, unable to talk about the experiences 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.845 that had affected them so deeply. 00:28:18.689 --> 00:28:20.494 (retrospective piano music) 00:28:23.457 --> 00:28:24.441 [Paul Golightly] The generation that fights 00:28:24.571 --> 00:28:27.339 the First World War, should be called courageous. 00:28:28.516 --> 00:28:30.066 [Simon Stacey] The sacrifice of that generation 00:28:30.209 --> 00:28:31.808 was extraordinary. 00:28:32.685 --> 00:28:35.169 [John Garth] It was a tragic loss not only for 00:28:35.303 --> 00:28:38.766 families, for friends, but for civilisation as 00:28:38.903 --> 00:28:45.844 a whole. It shook long-held beliefs and 00:28:45.993 --> 00:28:48.614 assumptions in honour and glory. 00:28:48.748 --> 00:28:51.478 [Simon Stacey] It is the first thorough 00:28:51.614 --> 00:28:56.488 going war of the machines. So many 00:28:56.636 --> 00:28:59.459 thousands and ultimately millions of men 00:28:59.620 --> 00:29:03.541 could be wiped out, could be destroyed without 00:29:03.722 --> 00:29:06.869 necessarily facing their individual enemy. 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:08.352 [Paul Golightly] These men don't have 00:29:08.531 --> 00:29:11.584 the privilege of dying one at a time, they die 00:29:11.772 --> 00:29:15.634 on mass; and it's those numbers that I think 00:29:15.808 --> 00:29:17.524 traumatise us so much. That's why we have 00:29:17.614 --> 00:29:20.921 the memorials at Thiepval and Menin Gate; 00:29:21.297 --> 00:29:23.840 where it's just one long list of names. 00:29:24.796 --> 00:29:27.102 These bodies have simply disappeared, and 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:28.758 they're all separate lives but they've all 00:29:28.891 --> 00:29:30.461 vanished at once. 00:29:31.899 --> 00:29:33.527 [John Garth] When you read the King Edward's 00:29:33.641 --> 00:29:37.848 School Chronicle, as I have to research 00:29:37.998 --> 00:29:42.892 Tolkien's life here, you get to know the boys 00:29:43.029 --> 00:29:45.511 with whom he grew up and you see their 00:29:45.627 --> 00:29:47.654 achievements, you see what they were learning, 00:29:47.790 --> 00:29:50.609 you see how wonderfully intelligent, potentially 00:29:50.773 --> 00:29:54.781 creative and brilliant they were. And then 00:29:54.937 --> 00:29:57.161 the First World War; and you see that they're 00:29:57.311 --> 00:29:58.382 heading for this. 00:29:59.899 --> 00:30:01.208 [Paul Golightly] These young men, with their 00:30:01.356 --> 00:30:03.868 whole lives in front of them, have, yes it's 00:30:03.997 --> 00:30:06.183 a phrase that we all know, have been cut off 00:30:06.321 --> 00:30:08.486 in their prime. They were full of potential, 00:30:08.767 --> 00:30:10.768 full of life, full of vigour, full of plans, 00:30:10.881 --> 00:30:13.020 full of ambition; wanting to do all kinds of 00:30:13.146 --> 00:30:14.854 things with their professional lives and 00:30:14.999 --> 00:30:17.124 their personal lives, and denied that opportunity. 00:30:17.996 --> 00:30:19.115 [John Garth] When you look at the fortunes 00:30:19.271 --> 00:30:21.005 of war, it's quite astonishing that Tolkien 00:30:21.164 --> 00:30:23.914 survived and went on to produce the great 00:30:24.059 --> 00:30:26.657 works of literature that he did; works that 00:30:26.807 --> 00:30:28.637 have shaped our culture. And one does 00:30:28.786 --> 00:30:32.680 wonder how many others didn't survive, 00:30:32.814 --> 00:30:35.103 what potential was locked inside them that 00:30:35.290 --> 00:30:38.036 they never had time to bring out of themselves. 00:30:39.234 --> 00:30:42.774 So there is an uncountable loss there. 00:30:45.106 --> 00:30:47.607 [Simon Stacey] G.B.Smith gives a brief glimpse 00:30:47.773 --> 00:30:52.796 of a young life snuffed out and only very 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:56.778 incompletely communicating its dreams. 00:30:58.176 --> 00:30:59.273 [Paul Golightly] This is a generation that did 00:30:59.421 --> 00:31:01.755 not talk about the way it felt. So in that 00:31:01.911 --> 00:31:04.449 sense I think the psychological affect was 00:31:04.584 --> 00:31:07.589 long lasting. A number of veterans surived 00:31:07.735 --> 00:31:10.361 the war only to find that they couldn't survive 00:31:10.474 --> 00:31:11.977 the peace. 00:31:12.765 --> 00:31:14.807 [VO] In the chapel at King Edward's School, 00:31:14.970 --> 00:31:17.079 eight brass plaques hold the names of 00:31:17.231 --> 00:31:21.307 245 Old Edwardians who lost their lives during 00:31:21.434 --> 00:31:24.881 the First World War. Tolkien and his TCBS 00:31:25.026 --> 00:31:27.079 friends, are just four of almost 00:31:27.221 --> 00:31:29.562 fifteen hundred Old Edwardians who answered 00:31:29.689 --> 00:31:32.810 their country's call and fought in The Great War, 00:31:33.659 --> 00:31:36.454 and each of their stories is worth telling. 00:31:37.810 --> 00:31:38.905 [Paul Golightly] The graveyards that you can 00:31:39.026 --> 00:31:41.907 walk around in northern France now have become 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:45.585 almost 21st century cathedrals; where some 00:31:45.742 --> 00:31:48.026 really important questions need to be ask about 00:31:48.194 --> 00:31:50.512 the nature of war and the nature of 00:31:50.669 --> 00:31:56.710 sacrifice, and in the First World War's case, 00:31:56.848 --> 00:32:01.005 the scale of that sacrifice. Whether any war 00:32:01.195 --> 00:32:03.954 could be worth that.