Does General Haig Deserve to Be Remembered The Butcher of...

Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig (19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior commander in the First World War (WWI), and perhaps one of the most notable figures in British Military history. Although he served as the commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from 1915 to the end of the war – which was one of the greatest victories in Britain’s military history – the involvement during the Battle of the Somme, lead him to become one of the most criticized Commanders in the WWI. The Battle of the Somme is the battle with one of the highest casualties in Britain military history, alongside with the highest single casualties in the whole history of British military. General Haig was the commander of the BEF in the battle. Some of†¦show more content†¦Im very bitter; always have been and always will be and everybody else that knew him. He lived almost 50 kilometers behind the line and thats about as near as he got. I dont think he knew what a trench was like. And they made him an Earl and gave him  £100,000. I know what Id have given him.’ The source has clearly showed how Haig treats his soldiers – stay 50 kilometers away the front line and giving commands when he is feeling good. Alongside Fred, David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister during the First World War, writing in his War Memoirs (1935) had mentioned that ‘Haig was a second-rate Commander in unparalleled and unforeseen circumstances... He was not endowed with any of the elements of imagination and vision ... And he certainly had none of that personal magnetism which has enabled great leaders of men to inspire multitudes with courage, faith and a spirit of sacrifice ... He was incapable of planning vast campaigns on the scale demanded on so immense a battlefield.’ â€Å"Incapable† and the lack of kindness to his soldiers make him unavoidable to suit ‘the battle of the Somme’. Idealism perished on the Somme. A.J.P.Taylor, a socialist historian, writing in a specialist history book, The First World War, (1963), had also claimed that: ‘The enthusiastic volunteers were enthusiastic no longer. They had lost faith in their cause, in their leaders, inShow MoreRelate dHaigs Reputation as the Butcher of the Somme Essay654 Words   |  3 PagesHaigs Reputation as the Butcher of the Somme In the run up to the war, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was appointed the Director of Military Training. In an effort to create a reserve standard army which could double up as a home front defence force, plus a fighting unit for use abroad, he managed to achieve this by pushing for legislation that lead to the creation of the TA (Territory Army) and the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) which were to be later used in