Geoffrey Bache Smith

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Lieutenant Geoffrey Bache Smith (October 18th, 1894 - December 3rd, 1916) was a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien and Smith attended King Edward's School in Birmingham together. Smith would also become one of the core members of the T.C.B.S., but not until after Vincent Trought's death. He was at that time already enrolled at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, close to Tolkien's Exeter College. The two became close friends there, because most other Edwardians went to Cambridge.

Smith joined the 11th Reserve Battalion of the Lancashire Fusilliers, the "3rd Salford Pals", and participated in the Battle of the Somme. He was hit by shrapnel on November 29, 1916, and died four days later.

In 1918, a collection of poetry by Smith, titled A Spring Harvest, was published. Tolkien wrote the preface.

References