John Ronald Reuel TOLKIEN CBE, FRSL (Famous for the Novels and films The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Born 3rd January 1892 died 29th November 1971 aged 82
Commissioned Temporary second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers on 15 July 1915
Trained with 13th Reserve Battalion at Cannock Chase Training Camp, Staffordshire.
London Gazette dated 2nd November 1920
The undermentioned temp. Lts. Relinquish their commissions on completion of service, 3 Nov. 1920, and retain the rank of
Lt.: — J. R. .R. Tolkien and two others
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/7663189
Credit extract from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
First World War
In August 1914 the United Kingdom entered the First World War. Tolkien's relatives were shocked when he elected not to immediately volunteer for the British Army. In a 1941 letter to his son Michael, Tolkien recalled, "In those days chaps joined up, or were scorned publicly. It was a nasty cleft to be in for a young man with too much imagination and little physical courage
He was then commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers on 15 July 1915.[50][51] He trained with the 13th (Reserve) Battalion on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, for eleven months. In a letter to Edith, Tolkien complained, "Gentlemen are rare among the superiors, and even human beings rare indeed. Following their wedding, Lieutenant and Mrs. Tolkien took up lodgings near the training camp.
On 2 June 1916, Tolkien received a telegram summoning him to Folkestone for posting to France. The Tolkiens spent the night before his departure in a room at the Plough & Harrow Hotel in Birmingham.
France
On 5 June 1916, Tolkien boarded a troop transport for an overnight voyage to Calais. Like other soldiers arriving for the first time, he was sent to the British Expeditionary Force's (BEF) base depot at Étaples. On 7 June, he was informed that he had been assigned as a signals officer to the 11th (Service) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers. The battalion was part of the 74th Brigade, 25th Division.
He left Étaples on 27 June 1916 and joined his battalion at Rubempré, near Amiens He found himself commanding enlisted men who were drawn mainly from the mining, milling, and weaving towns of Lancashire According to John Garth, he "felt an affinity for these working class men", but military protocol forbade him from developing friendships with "other ranks". Instead, he was required to "take charge of them, discipline them, train them, and probably censor their letters
On 27 October 1916, as his battalion attacked Regina Trench, Tolkien came down with trench fever, a disease carried by the lice. He was invalided to England on 8 November 1916.
