Tolkien wrote a lovely letter to a fan about Sam and the soldiers he served alongside on the Western Front: "My ‘Samwise’ is indeed (as you note) largely a ref

Tolkien wrote a lovely letter to a fan about Sam and the soldiers he served alongside on the Western Front: "My ‘Samwise’ is indeed (as you note) largely a reflexion of the English soldier—grafted on the village-boys of early days, the memory of the privates and my batmen that I knew in the 1914 War, and recognized as so far superior to myself." https://johngarth.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/sam-gamgee-and-tolkiens-batmen/ https://johngarth.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/sam-gamgee-and-to...