Tag Archives: Robert Quilter Gilson

The dream of Geoffrey Bache Smith

Posted on 18 October 2021 by John Garth

It’s not often you stumble upon a piece of writing by a key member of Tolkien’s school circle, the T.C.B.S. Today I am pleased as Punch to be able to present such a piece by G.B. Smith, to mark his … Continue reading →

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Testing time for Tolkien, the Inklings and the T.C.B.S.

Posted on 12 June 2021 by John Garth

Even after 30-odd years it still happens. I’m in the middle of dusty nowhere trying to lug a broken television set across Spain, or I’m arguing with some bureaucrat who won’t let me get going, or I’m hopelessly lost in … Continue reading →

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Gardening the corner of a foreign field

Posted on 25 May 2017 by John Garth

As the Commonwealth War Graves Commission marks its centenary, I recall a 2014 visit to Flanders and northern France when I spoke to the gardeners who keep the cemeteries pristine. With its postcards of poppies and memorials, its hotels and … Continue reading →

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Robert Quilter Gilson, TCBS – a documentary

Posted on 11 May 2016 by John Garth

When Tolkien writes in the Foreword to The Lord of the Rings that ‘by 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead’, he is referring to his friends in a clique formed at school but later bonded by … Continue reading →

Posted in Research tangents, Tolkien in the First World War | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tolkien’s ‘immortal four’ meet for the last time

Posted on 25 September 2015 by John Garth

Best Article, Tolkien Society Awards 2016 Also available in Spanish and Portuguese. One hundred years ago today, four young men convened in an English town, not having seen each other for some time. What makes this trivial event significant is … Continue reading →

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Why World War One Is at the heart of Lord of the Rings

Posted on 29 July 2014 by John Garth

It’s sixty years since the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s first volume of The Lord of The Rings. Why was he so inspired by the Great War—and a group of schoolfriends? War runs like iron ore through the bones of Tolkien’s … Continue reading →

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