What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s wartime military role in World War I?

J.R.R. Tolkien served as a signals officer during World War I.

After graduating from Oxford, Tolkien received a commission in the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1915. He trained in signalling, a vital military function involving communication between units, and served with the 11th Service Battalion during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

He became ill with trench fever and was sent back to England later that year. His wartime experiences affected his life and writing, although it is too simple to treat Middle-earth as a direct allegory of the First World War.

Tolkien’s military service is sometimes described loosely as frontline infantry service without mentioning his specialist role. He was an officer attached to infantry forces, but his formal wartime specialty was signalling.