Which 1916 battle did J.R.R. Tolkien leave after falling ill while serving in the British Army?

J.R.R. Tolkien left the Battle of the Somme after falling ill while serving in the British Army in 1916.

Tolkien served as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers during the First World War. He went to France in June 1916 and took part in the Somme offensive, one of the war’s largest and deadliest campaigns. He served as a battalion signals officer, responsible for communication duties in combat conditions.

In October 1916, Tolkien became ill with trench fever and was sent back to England. Trench fever was an infectious disease spread by body lice, common among soldiers on the Western Front. He never returned to front-line service, although he remained in the army until the war ended.

The Somme later became an important part of how readers and biographers understood Tolkien’s experience. Claims that every feature of Middle-earth directly represents a specific wartime event are too simple, but the war clearly shaped his friendships, losses, and imagination.