How Far Was Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig Responsible for the Failings of the British Army in 1916 and 1917?

How Far Was Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig Responsible for the Failings of the British Army in 1916 and 1917?

How far was Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig responsible for the failings of the British army in 1916 and 1917? There is no doubt that Sir Douglas Haig was considerable responsible for the ‘Failings’ of the British army in the years 1916 and 1917. However Sir Douglas Haig responsibility was limited because of the culpability of others, especially his general in charge of the 4th army on July 1st1916, his name was Sir Henry Rawlinson. For example it must be noted that Rawlinson issued the famous directive to use the walking ‘wave formation’ on the first day which made the attacking soldiers such an easy target for German machine gunners. However Haig’s responsibility is also affected by what the question terms ‘failings’ of Haig’s armies. Again these must be discussed because it will be argued here that the failings of the BEF were partly inevitable because of the nature of the ‘citizen army’ and the huge learning curve the army had to go through to gain final victory in 1918. Though it will be argued here that Haig was indeed to some extent responsible for the difficulties the BEF faced in these years but there are other causes that will be discussed in some depth of addition. Sir Douglas Haig has become one of the most controversial figures in British military history. Haig is interesting but the history of his commentators is just as interesting, he it is my purpose to describe his period as a commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, a position he attained in December 1915. While it is true that Sir Douglas Haig has been attacked since the Great War ended, very few of the ordinary soldiers who actually fought in the war would criticise him; in fact, he ended the war with his reputation very much intact. Haig was very much every inch of the cavalry man. He has always fought on horseback. He therefore had little idea of the infantry or the gunners when he became the Commander of the British Expeditionary Force in 1915. Haig had a lot to learn in...

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