Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme occurred in 1916 during World War I, around the river Somme in France.
It was one of the largest and indeed the bloodiest battle of the First World War. J.R.R. Tolkien participated in the battle and witnessed firsthand the carnage, suffering, and remarkable loss of life. It would have a profound effect on Tolkien's writings, most notably The Lord of the Rings and his earlier account of the Fall of Gondolin. 
Tolkien's good friends Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Bache Smith were killed in this battle. 
==History==
The battle started on July 1, 1916 after a heavy artillery bombardment on German lines that had begun a week before, on June 24. The battle was intended to be a decisive breakthrough for the allies against the Central Powers, but it did not turn out that way. The battle ended on November 18, 1916. In the space of just over four months, the battle produced over one million casualties and was indecisive and although the allies gained ground (only five miles total) they did not break through the German lines and win the war.
The battle was fought on the Western Front in the north-central Somme and southeastern Pas-de-Calais Départements, of France. 
===Tolkien's role===
Tolkien's involvement in the battle lasted from July to October 1916 during which he served as a Battalion Signalling Officer to the 11 of The Lancashire Fusiliers. His unit operated mainly in the northern section of the Somme and was stationed in the Beaumont-Hamel, Serre, and Leipzig salient trenches. He was in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge and helped captured the Regina Trench from the Germans for a time. The filthy and wretched conditions of the trenches and areas of battle along with stress caused Tolkien to come down with Trench fever and Trench foot, which put him out of the war permanently.John Garth, Tolkien and the Great WarHumphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, Part Two, chs. 7 & 8
== Documentaries ==
The Battle of the Somme's relationship with Tolkien is a focus of most documentaries concerning Tolkien, especially in the respective section of War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme (2014) which concerns Tolkien and other poets who had participated.
==External link==
*
*The Somme and Tolkien, a point of view BBC article about Tolkien and the Somme
*John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Personal stories
==References==
Category:Real world events
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