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Remembered Today:

Sir Douglas Haig post 1917


Guest hotchris

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This is proberly a stupid question but i was wondering what other battles did sir douglas haig go on to do after Passchendaele, or did he leave the army etc.

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Hello hotchris, welcome to the forum. Like the name!

This is cut and pasted from my page on Haig on the Long, Long Trail. (Link top left of this page, go to Who's Who for the full article).

Haig commanded the BEF until the Armistice. He conducted the huge and notable campaigns on the Somme, at Arras, and at Third Ypres (Passchendaele), which successfully ground down the German Army, according to the accounts of his opponents. Perhaps, however, his most difficult opponent was the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. The latter formed an opinion that the fighting on the Western Front was not only hugely expensive, it was being conducted by military dolts who could not possibly win the war in this manner. This unfortunate difference of style and opinion - Haig was notoriously slow and tactiturn in speech, especially when up against the mercurial Lloyd George (although he wrote most fluently) - was to cost British troops dear. Lloyd George intrigued against Haig (and the CIGS,Robertson) and constantly supported alternative schemes - many of them simply impossible to carry out - for the Eastern and Mediterranean theatres. In particular, Lloyd George schemed to place the BEF under the command of Robert Nivelle, the French C-in-C successor to Joffre, and later to divide the British military by supporting the creation of a Supreme War Council that would have another senior British military representative. He forced Haig's hand into removing many of the General Staff of the BEF at the close of 1917, and took steps to ensure a minimum commitment of manpower for the Western Front. Lloyd George also accepted two important additions to the length of line occupied by British forces in France, early in 1918. Meanwhile, in the face of this constant political intrigue, and a resultant undersupply of manpower, Haig managed the continued growth and tactical development of the BEF.

The great German attacks of Spring 1918 almost broke the British Army, but inspired the creation of a single command of Allied forces on the Western Front under Foch. This was done at Haig's suggestion, and despite some differences of opinion and difficult moments in terms of deployment of reserves, it worked well enough to win the war on the Western Front in late 1918. Shortly after the great crisis, one of Haig's staff, Major-General Frederick Maurice, took the extraordinary step of writing to The Times newspaper to expose Lloyd George's twisting of the truth (some might allege it was rather worse) when he reported that the manpower of the Western Front was greater at January 1st 1918 than a year before. Lloyd George left the sacking of Maurice to the Army Council - quite properly - but carried out a vengeful campaign against Maurice thereafter. He got Robertson out - the great man resigning rather than be intrigued into a non-role alongside the devious Wilson. He wanted Haig out too, but could never find an adequate replacement and probably did not want to create a mutiny among the military hierarchy in the BEF.

Haig commanded a victorious British Army; the largest organisation ever produced by Great Britain.

After the war, Haig was amply rewarded - made an Earl, and granted a substantial sum. He was among the group that created the British Legion, before dying in 1928.

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Haig remained in overall command of the British and Dominion forces on the Western Front until the end of the war. Therefore, he had ultimate military responsibility for the defensive battles conducted by the British and Dominion forces during the Spring of 1918, as well as the 100 Days campaign against the retreating Germans.

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He visited Swansea in (from memory) 1920 or 1921 and was made a freeman of the Borough for his war services. Was 'cheered to the rafters' by a large body of ex-servicemen and laid the foundation stone of the town's war memorial - 2000+ names would appear on it.

Food for thought to think of the cheering when compared to the common public perception of him today, eh?! Suggest reading 'Douglais Haig - the Educated Soldier' for a measured view of the man, flaws and strongpoints considered.

Bernard Lewis

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Food for thought to think of the cheering when compared to the common public perception of him today, eh

Plus thousands of ex-soldiers lined the route for his funeral I believe.

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Food for thought to think of the cheering when compared to the common public perception of him today, eh

Plus thousands of ex-soldiers lined the route for his funeral I believe.

This is not to take LG's side of the fray ... and I have a picture of Haig's monument in my personal monuments section ... nor is it an attempt to Hijack the thread ... But, being cheered by one's ex-troops is not necessarily a tribute to good generalship.

Longstreet was cheered at every gathering of Confederate Veterans after the war ... (Republican Scaliwag that he was) and, am not really sure of this, but wasn't Burnside honored in the GAR? VFW types still respect Westmorland ... etc.

I think the idea of veterans cheering an old commander has more to do with the US vrs Them concept every military has - especially after the war is over and there is the inevitable renig on war-time promises, etc.

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Andy we can agree on this one!!

I pointed out in a thread about a year ago that there were many reasons why old soldiers may have cheered Haig or lined the route of his funeral, for example social pressure, peer pressure, in memory of their own dead comrades rather than attending for Haig the man etc. I was told at the time that I was doing a dis-service to the memory of old soldiers (I thought I was just asking the question "why" and interrogating the evidence but thats another story). Yet when I read first hand accounts from all ranks, many are less than complimentary - not least the War Poets - about their conditions, their supplies, and the battles and tactics they were forced to fight.

On the other hand, there were certainly soldiers that said they really admired and trusted Haig. The most common explanations I have found for this using the words of soldiers at the time, were along the lines that Haig was a fine looking man, or you could trust him because he had a firm jaw.

Makes you wonder ...

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On the other hand, there were certainly soldiers that said they really admired and trusted Haig.  The most common explanations I have found for this using the words of soldiers at the time, were along the lines that Haig was a fine looking man, or you could trust him because he had a firm jaw.

Makes you wonder ...

Isn't that one of the major reasons for Kitchener ?

A WWI Kitchener site

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These reasons might have also been used to describe Kitchener but the steely jaw explanation definitely refers to Haig as well. Another I recall for Haig is that he looked good on a horse - I really should write down my sources. The point, I think, is that there is little contemporary evidence to say that Haig was admired as a battlefield commander by his men at the time and that when pushed to say something positive about him, they referred to a physical or visual impression. Of course we all have different interpretations and I am not Haig's keenest supporter - and certainly not after December 1915.

I understood the normal reference for Kitchener's physical attributes was his height - was he 6'3 or thereabouts? I dont remember any reference to Kitchener's strong jaw - I would guess the walrus moustache would take emphasis away from his jaw, as possibly would his lazy eye (he did not have the eyes of steel as portrayed in the famous WW1 recruiting poster).

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