Tolkien was a religious man and he incorporates a lot of religion into his story, but I don't know if that is really what you are looking for in this thread or not?
As a quick WW1 scene I think Tolkien's writing on Mordor, or in particulare Gorgoroth seems like his memories of "no mans land."
Quote:
The Land of Shadow
Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder on this hateful land. Between them and and the smoking mountain, and about it nor and south, all seemed ruinous and dead, a desert burned and choked.
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This short discription would seem like the dreaded "no mans land." The words "gazed" could be Tolkien remembering of his past as he looked out upon the land. Then "burned" and "choked" are great descriptive words. There's more however...
Same paragraph
Quote:
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They wondered how the Lord of this Realm maintained and fed his slaves and his armies.
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Skip one paragraph
Quote:
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Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave-worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake Nurnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon-trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves.
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Could this be Tolkien looking beyond "no mans land?"