Which World War I regiment did J.R.R. Tolkien serve with?

J.R.R. Tolkien served with the Lancashire Fusiliers during the First World War. He was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in 1915 and joined the 11th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, on the Western Front.

Tolkien took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He served as a signals officer, a role involving communication between units under extremely dangerous conditions. He later contracted trench fever and was sent back to England for treatment, which ended his active service at the front.

Tolkien’s wartime experience is often connected with the grim atmosphere of parts of his fiction, including the Dead Marshes and the battles of Middle-earth. He resisted simple one-to-one interpretations, however. His stories draw on many sources, including mythology, philology, medieval literature, and personal experience.

Several members of Tolkien’s close school circle were killed in the war. This loss deeply affected him and formed part of the historical background to the friendships, endurance, and bereavement found throughout his writing.