Events[]
Early[]
- ? - Being a linguist, Tolkien decides to specialise in signalling, and learns Morse code.
March[]
- 2 - J.R.R. Tolkien writes Letter 4.
- 16 - J.R.R. Tolkien receives his degree at the University of Oxford.
- 22 - J.R.R. Tolkien marries Edith Bratt.
April[]
- 29 - William Arthur Squire, who would play Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings (1978 film), is born.
June[]
- 2 - J.R.R. Tolkien receives orders to report in Folkestone, and prepare for embarking.
- 4 - Tolkien leaves for France.
- 27 - J.R.R. Tolkien leaves Étaples, and goes to the Somme front.
- ? - Tolkien might have written the poem Habbanan beneath the Stars.
July[]
- 1 - One of the bloodiest battles in recent history, the Battle of the Somme, starts. Robert Quilter Gilson is hit by a shell at La Boiselle on the first day; one of the first of the 360,000 British casualties of that battle.
- 14 - Tolkien's C-company is sent into action at the Somme front.
- 22 - Ralph Stuart "the Baby" Payton, one of the Tea Club, Barrovian Society, is killed in action.
August[]
- 12 - Tolkien writes Letter 5.
- 19 - Tolkien and Geoffrey Bache Smith meet at Acheux.
- 25 & 26 - Tolkien writes The Forest-walker poem.
September[]
- 13-24 - Revises the poem The Mermaid's Flute from 'The Lay of Earendel' and composes Stella Vespertina.
- 19 - Terence Rogers Tiller, writer of the 1955 radio series of The Lord of the Rings, is born.
October[]
- 26 - While in reserve, J.R.R. Tolkien's battalion is inspected by Sir Doulgas Haig, the British commander at the Battle of the Somme.
- 27 - Tolkien is struck by "pyrexia of unknown origin": trench fever.
- 31 Canon Norman Sandiford Power, an acquaintance of J.R.R. Tolkien, is born.
November[]
- 8 - Tolkien is repatriated, and is sent to a hospital in Birmingham.
- 22 - J.R.R. Tolkien signs a form for the War Office, confirming his return to England from France due to trench fever.
- 29 - Geoffrey Bache Smith is hit by shrapnel, and wounded on his right arm and thigh.