Which First World War battle did J.R.R. Tolkien experience as a British Army officer in 1916?

J.R.R. Tolkien experienced the Battle of the Somme as a British Army officer 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 bloodiest campaigns. The battle began on 1 July 1916 and continued until November.

Tolkien later suffered from trench fever and was returned to England for treatment. Most of the other officers in his battalion were killed, an experience that affected him deeply. Scholars and biographers have discussed the war’s influence on Tolkien’s writing, particularly its images of desolation, comradeship, loss, and industrial destruction. The Battle of the Somme should not be confused with Verdun, which was fought mainly between French and German forces in 1916.