Tolkien and the Great War (43 page)

RQG before battle: Pte. A. Bradnam to RCG, 14 July 1916 and undated [July 1916].

pp.153-5

11th Suffolks, 1 July: war diaries of the battalion, 101st Brigade and 34th Division; Peacock, ‘A Rendezvous with Death'. Stedman,
Somme: La Boisselle,
54-7; Murphy,
The History of the Suffolk Regiment;
Senescall memoir.

p.154

‘
dear, stupid, agricultural platoon
': RQG to Estelle King, 9 April 1915.

p.155

‘
I am astonished…
': RQG to MCG, undated, 1916. (Cf. Keegan,
The Face of Battle
, 234-6.)

‘
just like corn…
': Jimmy Walton, 11th Suffolks, in Peacock, ‘A Rendezvous with Death', 344.

‘
the most absolute barrier…
': RQG to EK, 5 February 1916.

Order not to assist wounded: 11th Suffolks war diary.

pp.155-6

RQG's death
: Capt. C. L. Morgan to RCG, 12 July 1916 (‘perfectly calmly…'); Pte. A. Bradnam to MCG, 14 July 1916; Major P. F. Morton to RCG, 12 July 1916; Lt. P. V. Emrys-Evans to RCG, 13 July; a wounded company commander (perhaps Major Morton himself) quoted in Murphy,
The History of the Suffolk Regiment
, Cpl. Ashley Hicks, statement to Red Cross, 8 August 1916. There is a measure of agreement between these accounts.

p.156

RQG dead in trench: Pte. G. Gordon to RCG, 20 July 1916. Other accounts say RQG was the first to be wounded as the 11th Suffolks went over the top (Pte. W. Prentice, statement to the Red Cross, 17 August 1916); that he was hit by gunfire as he cut the enemy wire (MCG to Rachel King, 10 July 1916). As late as the fourth week in July, Cpl. H. Spalding reported seeing him alive in England (RQG service record). Gilson household: MCG to RQG, 26 June 1916. He probably never received this letter.

‘
I hope I may never…
': RQG to EK, 6 May 1916. ‘in a big affair…': Lt. P. V. Emrys-Evans to RCG, 13 July 1916. ‘It was
the final…': 2nd Lt. A. R. Wright (later Sir Andrew Wright, governor of Cyprus) to RCG, 18 July 1916.

Only Wright unhurt: Lt. P. V. Emrys-Evans to RCG, 13 July 1916.

p.157

Mass
: JRRT diary. Padre averse to Catholics: Evers memoir. Chaplain in Royal Irish Rifles: Ferguson diary.

pp.157-8

Scenes and rumours at Warloy-Baillon and Bouzincourt, 1-4 July: Ferguson diary. Burials:
Biography
, 82.

p.158

‘
German captive-balloons…
': JRRT, ‘Philology: General Works', in Boas and Herford (eds.),
The Year's Work in English Studies 1924
, 51.

34th Division losses: Peacock, ‘A Rendezvous with Death', 329.

JRRT at Bouzincourt
:
Biography
, 82. ‘the fiery trial': GBS to JRRT, 9 June 1916; ‘You must expect…': ibid., 25 June 1916.

‘
ordeal
': RQG to JRRT, 22 June 1916.

74th Brigade movements, 5 July: 11th LF war diary;
Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 214. All four companies of the 11th LF left Bouzincourt (contrary to
Biography
, 83); as a matter of routine, some men remained behind.

pp.159-60

19th Lancashire Fusiliers, from June to 4 July: war diary, including GBS's intelligence reports; Stedman,
Salford Pals
, 93-6, 106-12; Latter,
Lancashire Fusiliers
, 134-6; Barlow,
Salford Brigade
, 74-5.

p.159

Intelligence officer
: 19th LF war diary. (GBS's predecessor had lost a hand while instructing a class in bombing; Latter,
Lancashire Fusiliers
, 120.)

GBS's location in wood: in his new role he would certainly have been with the commanding officer, Lt.-Col. J. M. A. Graham, who was here; Stedman,
Salford Pals
, 116.

p.161

GBS at Bouzincourt: perhaps arranging accommodation for his battalion, under the
ad hoc
personnel arrangements surrounding the battle. He was later official billeting officer (19th LF war diary).

Signal office shelled: 25th Division signal company war diary. 19th LF reorganize:
Salford Pals
, 113. Bouzincourt reunion: JRRT diary;
Biography
, 83.

pp.161-2

La Boisselle and Ovillers, 7-10 July: 11th LF war diary;
Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 215-19. The dead: Ferguson diary.

p.162

Traffic figures: from a 21-22 July census at Fricourt; Taylor,
English History 1914-1945
, 60.

‘
That road was like…
': Carrington,
A Subaltern's War
, 36-7.

In eighty pages he describes a journey from Bouzincourt to battle at Ovillers on the same dates and almost exactly the same route as JRRT.

pp.162-4

To La Boisselle, 14 July: 11th LF war diary;
Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 220; Carrington,
A Subaltern's War
, 36-43; Brenan,
A Life of One's Own
, 205-7; Evers memoir; Gliddon,
When the Barrage Lifts.

p.163

‘
Something in the make…
': Masefield,
The Old Front Line.
‘like a volcano…':
The Times
, July 1916, 9.

pp.164-6

11th LF supports the 7th Brigade, 14-15 July: war diaries of 11th LF, 25th Division HQ, 74th and 7th Brigade HQs, and 8th Loyal North Lancashires and 10th Cheshires (the 7th Brigade battalions that fought alongside Tolkien's); Latter,
Lancashire Fusiliers
, 151;
Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 220-1.

p.164

First aid: Keegan,
The Face of Battle
, 266.

pp.164-5

La Boisselle and beyond, 14 July
: Ferguson diary; Carrington,
A Subaltern's War
, 39, 43-4 (‘a new country…'), 56 (the ambulance and the dead), 89.

p.165

JRRT at Ovillers:
Biography
, 84, asserts that JRRT's role was confined to signalling. In fact, in the face of high officer casualties, any subaltern faced possibly being put in charge of a platoon.

pp.165-6

Signals: Solano (ed.),
Signalling
, 11; ‘Summary of training circulars (advisory)' issued to JRRT (Bodleian Tolkien).

pp.166-8

11th LF in the 74th Brigade attack on Ovillers, 15-17 July: war diaries of the battalion and brigade, the 25th Division HQ and signal company, 13th Cheshires, 144th Brigade, 1/4th Gloucesters and 1/7th Worcesters, and the 143rd Brigade and 1/5th Royal Warwickshires; Kincaid-Smith,
The 25th Division in France
, 14; Latter,
Lancashire Fusiliers
, 151-2;
Lancashire
Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 221-2; ; Miles,
Military Operations
, 101; Stedman,
Somme: La Boisselle
, 95.

p.166

‘
a treacherous, chaotic region…
': Brenan,
A Life of One's Own
, 207 (on travelling to Ovillers via La Boisselle c.20-23 July).

p.167

Bodies and faces: Courtauld,
Daily Telegraph
, 10 November 1998 (interview with Norman Edwards of the 1/6th Gloucesters, who visited Ovillers on 20 July).

‘
The flies were buzzing…
': Carrington,
A Subaltern's War
, 106-7.

No enemy shelling
: 25th Division signal company diary. Sleep in dugout: JRRT diary. ‘Ours compared…': Evers memoir. ‘A' Company order: Bodleian Tolkien.

pp.167-8

1/5th Royal Warwickshires stranded: Carrington,
A Subaltern's War
, 87-8, and
Soldier from the Wars Returning
, 135; Brown,
Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme
, 138-9.

p.168

‘
I am quite well
': GBS to JRRT, 12 July 1916. ‘I am safe but…': ibid., 15 July 1916.

p.169

Somme offensive widely expected: Brown,
The Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme
, 260.

Field postcard
: RQG to RCG, 30 June 1916. ‘never sends anything…', etc.: RCG to RQG, 6 July 1916. Gilsons await news: MCG to Rachel King, 11 July 1916.

pp.169-70

Obituary
:
The Times
, 11 July 1916, 8. Gilsons' grief; ‘greatest friend': MCG to Rachel King, 11 July 1916.

p.170

‘
was loved by all those…
': Capt. A. Seddon to RCG, 3 July 1916. ‘loved by all the men…': Pte. A. Bradnam to MCG, 14 July 1914. ‘I am almost glad…': Major P. F. Morton to RCG, 12 July 1916. ‘everything to me…': 2nd Lt. A. R. Wright to RCG, 18 July 1916.

pp.170-1

Bouzincourt to Beauval, 17-19 July: JRRT diary, including mess accounts listing sums owed to him by the officers against payments made to Harrison, Arden, and Kershaw. Which batman was assigned to JRRT is not known. Officer details: service records of Lt. W. F. Waite and Capt. W. I. Edwards; Fawcett-Barry papers.

p.171

JRRT and batmen:
Biography
, 81. Letter from Pte. T. Gaskin's mother: Bodleian Tolkien (reproduced in Priestman,
Life and Legend
, 35).

Acting lieutenant
:
The Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 222.
Ad hoc
promotions (not reflected in official papers) accompanying a more responsible job were the norm because of the high casualty rate. (C. E. Munday, 8 November 1916, addresses JRRT as Lieutenant; but a handwritten order from Lt.-Col. L. G. Bird, 7 August 1916, refers to him as Second Lieutenant; Bodleian Tolkien.)

pp.171-2

Signal officer's staff and duties: 25th Division signal company diary; Solano (ed.),
Signalling
, 11-12. Signals under scrutiny: ‘Communications in the 25th Division'.

p.172

Attack order found at Ovillers: Macdonald,
The Somme
, 169-70. Capt. J. C. P. E. Metcalfe: service record; Hayter (ed.),
Charlton and Newbottle;
the Reverend Roger Bellamy to the author;
Quarterly Army List.

pp.172-3

Auchonvillers, 24-30 July: on the front line between Praed Street and Broadway. War diaries of 11th LF, 74th Brigade and 25th Division signal company;
The Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 222-3.

p.173

Mailly-Maillet, 30 July-5 August: ibid., 223; 11th LF war diary. Order to JRRT: from Lt.-Col. L. G. Bird, 7 August 1916 (Bodleian Tolkien).

Sucrerie
trenches, 5-10 August: referred to by JRRT as ‘our second bout of trenches',
Letters
9; they were between Egg Street and Flag Avenue, and the communication (access) trench was called Cheer'oh (‘goodbye') Avenue. 11th LF war diary;
Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 223-4.

Bus-lès-Artois, 10-15 July
^:
JRRT diary; 11th LF war diary;
The Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 224. Nights in wood:
Letters
, 9.

pp.173-4

Poem
: GBS to JRRT, 25 July 1916, identifies it only as ‘your thing about England'.

p.174

Brief letter from CLW: not extant because JRRT returned it to GBS. An empty envelope from GBS, postmarked 4 August 1916, implies that it was sent with no accompanying note.

‘
such a life…
': GBS to JRRT, 11 August 1916.

‘No filter of sentiment…': quoted in ibid.

‘
Save that poetic fire
': GBS,
A Spring Harvest
, 72. The poem appears above in full.

p.175

‘
Blighters
': Sassoon,
The War Poems
, 68.

‘
To the Cultured
': GBS,
A Spring Harvest
, 72.

‘
the entirety…
': quoted in GBS to JRRT, 19 August 1916.

‘
the great work
': CLW to JRRT, 4 February 1916. ‘doubting Thomas': GBS to JRRT, 19 August 1916.

p.176

‘the universal weariness…', etc.
: JRRT to GBS, 12-13 August 1916 (
Letters
, 10).

Lt. J. Bowyer (footnote):
The Lancashire Fusiliers' Annual 1917
, 313.

p.177

‘
and I can't help thinking…', ‘He will come out…
': CLW to JRRT, 1 March 1916.

‘
we shall not see it…
': RQG to JRRT, 31 October 1915.

‘
the death of one…
': GBS to JRRT, 3 February 1916.

19th LF at Ovillers, 12-14 July: Latter,
Lancashire Fusiliers
, 150; war diary. ‘They were lost…': GBS intelligence report, ibid.

GBS's duties: ‘Instructions for and duties of Brigade and Battalion Intelligence Officers' (appendix to 1 July operation orders), 19th LF war diary.

Corpses
: ‘Many German dead in trench 8b43 to 8c56', said a report (25th Division war diary) on 14 July, before the 19th LF vacated it. They had seized half of this 640-yard stretch of trench; 19th LF war diary.

‘
I am truly afraid…
': GBS to JRRT, 25 July 1916.

p.178

19th LF, 15 July-13 August: war diary. Conversion: Mitchinson,
Pioneer Battalions in the Great War
, 65.

‘
Tonight I cannot sleep…
': GBS to JRRT, 15 August 1916. Search for JRRT: ibid., 19 August 1916.