Letters
TCG Letter #1539
From
Army Headquarters, Cannock Chase
To
J.R.R. Tolkien
Date
2 June 1916
Type
Telegram
Transcript
Unknown
Tolkien is informed by telegram that he is to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. He must first report to the Embarkation Staff Officer at Folkstone on 5 June and has been granted 48 hours leave.he and Edith spend the night at the Plough and Harrow Hotel at Hagley Road, Edgbaston and the next day, in the afternoon he and Edith say goodbye and he makes his way to london by train.[1] It is noted in Chronology, p. 89, that Tolkien "sends frequent letters to Edith, but as these are read by the censor Tolkien cannot say too much. He and Edith, however, have devised a secret code of dots which enables her to know roughly where he is." It is unlikely that the dates for all of Edith and Tolkien's correspondence will be gathered together here at the guide or elsewhere, at this point that Tolkien knows that he is to join the war effort in France, it appears a good place to note this detail.[2]
1 he and Edith spend the night at the Plough and Harrow Hotel at Hagley Road, Edgbaston and the next day, in the afternoon he and Edith say goodbye and he makes his way to london by train. ↩
2 It is noted in Chronology, p. 89, that Tolkien "sends frequent letters to Edith, but as these are read by the censor Tolkien cannot say too much. He and Edith, however, have devised a secret code of dots which enables her to know roughly where he is." It is unlikely that the dates for all of Edith and Tolkien's correspondence will be gathered together here at the guide or elsewhere, at this point that Tolkien knows that he is to join the war effort in France, it appears a good place to note this detail. ↩