What rank did J.R.R. Tolkien hold in the British Army during the First World War?

J.R.R. Tolkien held the rank of second lieutenant in the British Army during the First World War.

After graduating from Oxford in 1915, Tolkien joined the Lancashire Fusiliers. He trained as a signals officer and was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in 1916. He served on the Western Front during the Battle of the Somme and later became ill with trench fever.

Tolkien returned to England and was eventually declared medically unfit for general service. His wartime experience influenced the emotional background of some of his writing, although simple one-to-one identifications between specific characters and soldiers are usually misleading. Tolkien was not a general or senior field commander; his wartime commission was that of a junior officer.