Tolkien at the Somme

[Alcuin]

Today, July 1st, is the 100th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. It was the largest battle of World War I. The first day of the battle remains the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army: 19,240 were killed on just the fist day.

JRR Tolkien fought in the battle shortly after he arrived in France. His experiences are the inspiration for Mordor, and especially for Dagorlad, the Battle Plain before the Gate of the Morannon.

• From the London Telegraph, an as-it-happened reconstruction. (Gruesome reading.)
• From the New York Times, “How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western Front”
• From the Stafforshire Newsletter, “Tolkien Exhibition reveals how Somme shaped Middle-Earth”. Tolkien grew up in Stafforshire; if anyone in England lives near, you might consider looking in on the exhibit.
• From a gentleman named John Garth, a “Chronology: Tolkien on the Somme, 1916”, detailing his experiences. (He arrived in France four weeks before the battle began, and was on the front lines the second day.)
• Another article from the London Telegraph, “Battle of the Somme: the 'animal horror' that inspired JRR Tolkien”
• The website for the battlefield memorial. Besides this page on Tolkien, it has detail on the battle itself.
• Wikipedia page. The battle lasted over 4½ months. Over 300,000 men died; more than three-quarters of a million were wounded. Altogether, there were well over one million casualties.

The 16-mile front (26 km) advanced 6 miles (not quite 10 km). The cost was over 3200 dead per square mile – think of a fairly heavily-settled town in which every single person was dead, or a very heavily-settled area (built-up suburbs of New York or London or Brussels) in which everyone was either dead or wounded, with about 2 of every 7 was dead.

One thing I was unable to discover: How many men fought in the battle? There were over a million casualties; but I’ve no idea how many people were actually in the battle.