World War I
From Tolkien Gateway
- "Who battled have with bloody hands
Through evil times in barren lands,
To whom the voice of guns
Speaks and no longer stuns..." - ― Geoffrey Bache Smith, A Spring Harvest
J.R.R. Tolkien served in the British Army during World War I (or the "Great War"), most notably in the bloody Battle of the Somme. The earliest works of the Legendarium—collected in The Book of Lost Tales Part Two—were began during the conflict. The extent to which the war and Tolkien's experience of it are reflected in his written work is a matter of much interest in Tolkien scholarship.
Participants
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- Christopher Wiseman
- Robert Gilson†[1]
- G.B. Smith†[1]
- T.K. Barnsley†[1]
- Ralph Payton†[1]
Others
- C.S. Lewis[2]
- Hilary Tolkien[1]
- Hugo Dyson, wounded at Passchendaele[3]
Timeline
- See also Timeline of World War I at Wikipedia
1914
- June 28 - The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo.[4]
- July 28 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Russia mobilizes. The Great War begins.[4]
- August 4 - The British Empire declares war on Germany, following tension and conflict on the mainland in July.[4]
- August - Hilary Tolkien joins the army as a bugler. Geoffrey Bache Smith and Robert Gilson join the army. Christopher Wiseman joins the navy instead. J.R.R. Tolkien plans to finish his education.[1]
1915
- June 10 - Exams start at Oxford University. Because of the war, only Tolkien and 24 others remain in the entire University. Tolkien passes.[1]
- June 28 - Tolkien applies at the Oxford recruiting office to join the army.[1]
- July 15 - Tolkien becomes a second lieutenant, and is appointed to the 13th Service Battalion of the Lancashire Fusilliers.[1]
- September 25 - The Big Four of the T.C.B.S. - Tolkien, Smith, Wiseman and Gilson - have their last meeting.[1]
- November 21 - G.B. Smith is shipped to France.[1]
Ooga booga
ooga booga
1918
- October 11 - Tolkien is officially released from Brooklands Hospital, Birmingham.[1]
- November 11 - The War comes to an end in a cease-fire.[4]
1919
- February 17 - Hilary Tolkien returns home.[5]
- June 28 - The war officially ends, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.[4]
- July 15 - Tolkien is released from service.[1]
- July 16 - Tolkien is officially demobilized.[1]
External links
- J.R.R. Tolkien's army commission application
- Why World War One Is at the heart of Lord of the Rings by John Garth
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War
- ↑ The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C.S. Lewis
- ↑ Colin Duriez, Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, "People and Places in His Life"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 World War I at Wikipedia
- ↑ Hilary Tolkien, Angela Gardner (ed.), Black & White Ogre Country, page 50