176 Facts About Douglas Haig

Douglas Haig was commander during the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, the Third Battle of Ypres, the German Spring Offensive, and the Hundred Days Offensive.

Douglas Haig gained a favourable reputation during the immediate post-war years, with his funeral becoming a day of national mourning.

Douglas Haig was nicknamed "Butcher Haig" for the two million British casualties endured under his command.

Douglas Haig was born in a house on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh,.

Douglas Haig's education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Bateson's School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews.

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Douglas Haig devoted much of his time to socialising – he was a member of the Bullingdon Club – and equestrian sports.

Douglas Haig was one of the best young horsemen at Oxford and quickly found his way into the University polo team.

Douglas Haig was Senior Under-Officer, was awarded the Anson Sword, and passed out first in the order of merit.

Douglas Haig was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 7th Hussars on 7 February 1885.

Early in his military career, Douglas Haig played polo for England on a tour of the United States.

Douglas Haig would remain a polo enthusiast all his life, serving as Chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Committee from its reorganization in May 1914 until 1922.

Douglas Haig would be President of the Army Polo Committee and founder of the Indian Polo Association.

Douglas Haig then saw overseas service in India, where he was appointed the regiment's adjutant in 1888.

Douglas Haig was something of a disciplinarian, but impressed his superiors by his administrative skill and analysis of recent training exercises.

Douglas Haig left India in November 1892 to prepare for the entrance exam for the Staff College, Camberley, which he sat in June 1893.

Douglas Haig concealed this failure for the rest of his life and later recommended dropping the mathematics paper as a requirement.

Douglas Haig returned briefly to India as second-in-command of the squadron which he had himself commanded in 1892, then returned to the United Kingdom as Aide-de-camp to Sir Keith Fraser, Inspector General of Cavalry.

Fraser was one of those who had lobbied for Douglas Haig to enter the Staff College, and he was finally nominated in late 1894, a common practice in the day for promising candidates.

The careers of French and Douglas Haig were to be entwined for the next twenty-five years, and Douglas Haig helped French write the cavalry drillbook, published 1896.

Douglas Haig entered Staff College, Camberley in 1896, where he was apparently not popular with his peer group.

Douglas Haig was taught that victory must come from defeating the main enemy army in battle, and that as in Napoleonic warfare, attrition was merely a prelude to the commitment of reserves for a decisive battlefield victory; traces of this thought can be seen at Loos and the Somme.

Douglas Haig needed little encouragement to criticise his superiors – he was especially critical of Kitchener's dictatorial habits.

Kitchener's force was Anglo-Egyptian, and Douglas Haig was required to formally join the Egyptian Army, most of whose officers were British.

Unlike many British officers, Douglas Haig believed that the Egyptians could make good soldiers if properly trained and led.

Still without a formal position but accompanying the cavalry, Douglas Haig saw his first action in a skirmish south of Atbara.

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Douglas Haig distinguished himself at his second action, the Battle of Nukheila – where he supervised the redeployment of squadrons to protect the rear and then launch a flank attack, as Broadwood was busy in the front line.

Douglas Haig was present at the Battle of Atbara, after which he criticised Kitchener for launching a frontal attack without taking the Dervishes in flank as well.

Douglas Haig returned to the United Kingdom hoping for a position at the War Office, but was instead appointed brigade major to the 1st Cavalry Brigade at Aldershot.

Douglas Haig had recently lent £2,500 to the Brigade Commander John French to cover his losses from South African mining speculations.

Douglas Haig was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 26 June 1899.

French and Douglas Haig were ordered to leave Ladysmith as the four-month siege began, to take charge of the new Cavalry Division arriving from the United Kingdom.

Douglas Haig was briefly given command of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, then made AAG to the Cavalry Division at last after Erroll was moved to a different job.

Douglas Haig privately criticised Roberts for losses to horses and men and thought him a "silly old man".

In January 1901 Douglas Haig was given a column of 2,500 men with the local rank of brigadier-general, patrolling Cape Colony, and chasing Commandant Kritzinger.

Douglas Haig was mentioned in despatches four times for his service in South Africa, and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in November 1900.

Douglas Haig was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 17 July 1901.

Douglas Haig was appointed an Aide-de-Camp to King Edward VII in the October 1902 South Africa Honours list, with the brevet rank of colonel.

Douglas Haig continued as the commanding officer of the 17th Lancers until 1903, stationed in Edinburgh.

Douglas Haig was present at the Rawalpindi Parade 1905 to honour the Prince and Princess of Wales' visit to India.

Lord Roberts, now Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, warned Kitchener to be "very firm with Douglas Haig" on this issue, and wrote that Douglas Haig was a "clever, able fellow" who had great influence over Sir John French.

On leave from India, Douglas Haig married Hon Dorothy Maud Vivian on 11 July 1905 after a whirlwind courtship.

Douglas Haig was a daughter of Hussey Vivian, 3rd Baron Vivian and Louisa Duff.

Haldane later wrote that Douglas Haig had "a first rate general staff mind" and "gave invaluable advice" Douglas Haig in turn would later dedicate a volume of his despatches to Haldane, who by then had been hounded out of office for alleged pro-German sympathies in 1915.

Douglas Haig was intolerant of what he regarded as old-fashioned opinions and not good at negotiating with strangers.

Douglas Haig had wanted a reserve of 900,000 men, but Haldane settled for a more realistic 300,000.

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Douglas Haig required commanders to take the staff officers assigned to them and assigned staff officers to the new Territorial Army.

Douglas Haig supervised publication of "Field Service Regulations", which was later very useful in expanding the BEF in WW1, although it still stressed the importance of cavalry charging with sword and lance as well as fighting dismounted.

Douglas Haig was involved in setting up the Imperial General Staff, for which his work was praised by Haldane.

Douglas Haig passed the Director of Staff Duties job to his loyal follower Brigadier-General Kiggell, to whom he wrote with "advice" every fortnight.

Douglas Haig, who had been knighted for his work at the War Office, was promoted to lieutenant-general in November 1910.

Douglas Haig left India in December 1911, and took up an appointment as General Officer Commanding Aldershot Command in March 1912.

At dinner afterwards Douglas Haig abandoned his prepared text, and although he wrote that his remarks were "well received", John Charteris recorded that they were "unintelligible and unbearably dull" and that the visiting dignitaries fell asleep.

Douglas Haig stressed that the army's duty was to keep the peace and urged his officers not to dabble in politics.

Douglas Haig was so angry at this claim that he asked Cabinet Secretary Maurice Hankey to correct French's "inaccuracies".

However Douglas Haig rewrote his diary from this period, possibly to show himself in a better light and French in a poor one.

Hankey's notes of the meeting record that Douglas Haig suggested delaying or sending smaller forces, but was willing to send forces if France was in danger of defeat or if France wanted them.

Douglas Haig predicted that the war would last several years and that an army of a million men, trained by officers and NCOs withdrawn from the BEF, would be needed.

Douglas Haig had been appointed aide-de-camp to King George V in February 1914.

Douglas Haig later claimed that these doubts had gone back to the Boer War but there appears to have been an element of later embellishment about this; Haig had in fact praised French during the Boer War and had welcomed his appointment as CIGS in 1911.

Douglas Haig was irritated by Sir John French who was only concerned with the three German corps in front of the BEF at Mons and who ignored intelligence reports of German forces streaming westwards from Brussels, threatening an encirclement from the British left.

Douglas Haig was irritated by the high-handed behaviour of the French, seizing roads which they had promised for British use and refusing to promise to cover the British right flank.

Douglas Haig had wanted to rest his corps but was happy to resume the offensive when ordered.

Douglas Haig drove on his subordinates, including Ivor Maxse, when he thought them lacking in "fighting spirit".

At one point Douglas Haig mounted his white horse to encourage his men, who were retreating around Gheluvelt, although in the event the town had just been recaptured by a battalion of the Worcesters before Douglas Haig's ride.

Douglas Haig cemented his reputation at this battle and Ypres remained a symbolic piece of ground in later years.

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Douglas Haig was influenced by the fact that the Germans had called off their offensive when they were on the verge of success, and he drew the lesson that attacks needed to be kept up so long as there was any chance of success.

Douglas Haig travelled to London on French's behalf to consult Kitchener about the plan to expand the BEF and reorganise it into two armies.

Douglas Haig thought that Wilson, besides being too pro-French, had "no military knowledge" and recommended Quarter-Master General "Wully" Robertson for the vacancy.

At Neuve Chapelle, Douglas Haig wanted a quick bombardment and his subordinate Henry Rawlinson, a longer and more methodical one.

Douglas Haig displayed great interest in the potential of aircraft and met Major Trenchard of the Royal Flying Corps to organise photographic air reconnaissance and a map of German lines was obtained; aircraft were beginning to be used for artillery spotting – signalling to British batteries by Morse – observing enemy troop movements and bombing German rear areas.

Rawlinson had wanted to end the offensive after the first day and Douglas Haig felt that reserves should have been committed quicker.

On Rawlinson's suggestion Douglas Haig came close to sacking Major-General Joey Davies until it was found that Davies had followed Rawlinson's orders; Douglas Haig reprimanded Rawlinson but thought him too valuable to sack.

The attack was less successful than Neuve Chapelle as the forty-minute bombardment was over a wider front and against stronger defences; Douglas Haig was still focussed on winning a decisive victory by capturing key ground, rather than amassing firepower to inflict maximum damage on the Germans.

Sir John French was satisfied that the attacks had served to take pressure off the French at their request but Douglas Haig still felt that German reserves were being exhausted, bringing victory nearer.

Douglas Haig did not approve of the Northcliffe press attacks on Kitchener, whom he thought a powerful military voice against the folly of civilians like Churchill.

Douglas Haig was asked by Clive Wigram to smooth relations between French and Kitchener.

At Robertson's suggestion, Douglas Haig received Kitchener at his HQ, where they shared their concerns about French.

Over lunch with the King and Kitchener, Douglas Haig remarked that the best time to sack French would have been after the retreat to the Marne; it was agreed that the men would correspond in confidence and in response to the King's joke that this was inviting Douglas Haig to "sneak" like a schoolboy, Kitchener replied that "we are past schoolboy's age".

Douglas Haig had long thought French petty, jealous, unbalanced, overly quick to meddle in party politics and easily manipulated by Henry Wilson.

Douglas Haig was increasingly irritated by French's changes of orders and mercurial changes of mood as to the length of the war, which French now expected to last into 1916.

Douglas Haig still thought Germany might collapse by November, although at the same time he was sending a memo to the War Office recommending that the BEF, now numbering 25 divisions, be equipped with the maximum number of heavy guns, ready for a huge decisive battle, 36 divisions strong in 1916.

French and Douglas Haig would have preferred to renew the attack at Aubers Ridge.

Douglas Haig pushed for Aubers Ridge again – French at first agreed until dissuaded by Foch, who felt that only a British attack at Loos would pull in enough German reserves to allow the French to take Vimy Ridge.

French protested that time for the commitment of reserves had been on the second day; when told of this by Robertson Douglas Haig thought this evidence of French's "unreasoning brain".

Douglas Haig strengthened his case by reports that captured enemy officers had been astonished at the British failure to exploit the attack and by complaining about the government's foot-dragging at introducing conscription and the commitment of troops to sideshows like Salonika and Suvla Bay, at a time when the Germans were calling up their 1918 Class early.

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Douglas Haig claimed in his diary that a proposal that he be sent to report on the Gallipoli bridgehead, was shelved because of the imminence of French's removal.

Douglas Haig again told him that French should have been sacked in August 1914.

Douglas Haig saw himself as God's servant and was keen to have clergymen sent out whose sermons would remind the men that the war dead were martyrs in a just cause.

Douglas Haig thought that the Germans had already had plenty of "wearing out", that a decisive victory was possible in 1916 and urged Robertson to recruit more cavalry.

Douglas Haig's preference was to regain control of the Belgian coast by attacking in Flanders, to bring the coast and the naval bases at Bruges, Zeebrugge and Ostend into Allied hands and where the Germans would suffer great loss if they were reluctant to retreat.

Douglas Haig thought that politicians and the public might misunderstand a long period of attrition and thought that only a fortnight of "wearing out", not three months as Joffre had originally wanted, would be needed before the decisive offensive.

Douglas Haig decided that Verdun had "worn down" the Germans enough and that a decisive victory was possible at once.

Douglas Haig attended a Cabinet meeting in London where the politicians were more concerned with the political crisis over the introduction of conscription, which could bring down the government and Douglas Haig recorded that Asquith attended the meeting dressed for golf and clearly keen to get away for the weekend.

Douglas Haig opposed this, believing that cavalry would still be needed to exploit the imminent victory.

From 1 July to 18 November 1916, Douglas Haig directed the British portion of the Battle of the Somme.

Douglas Haig hoped to break through and liberate the North Sea coast of Belgium from which German U-Boats were operating, provided that there was assistance from the French, support from Britain and that Russia stayed in the war.

Douglas Haig was making similar complaints about Lloyd George, whom he privately compared to the Germans accusing the Allies of atrocities, of which they were guilty.

Douglas Haig wrote "I gave LG a good talking-to on several of the questions that he raised, and felt I got the best of the arguments", a view which does not reflect the later reputations of Douglas Haig and Lloyd George.

Douglas Haig's speech angered several leading politicians, Carson repudiated it and Derby assured Haig of his backing.

Douglas Haig thought that Lloyd George's political position was weak and he would not last another six weeks.

Douglas Haig knew that manpower was scarce in the BEF and at home and wrote to Robertson that an offensive at Cambrai would stem the flow of reinforcements to Italy; Robertson delayed the despatch of two divisions.

Douglas Haig visited the battlefield, inspecting the fighting at Bourlon Wood through his binoculars.

Douglas Haig complained that the lack of an extra two divisions had prevented a breakthrough, a view described by one biographer as "self-deception, pure and simple".

Lloyd George was particularly angry at the embarrassing Cambrai reverse, at the hands of "a few" German divisions, after Douglas Haig had insisted for the last two years that his offensives were weakening them.

When told of this, Douglas Haig wrote to Robertson that Lloyd George should either sack him or else cease his "carping criticism".

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Douglas Haig had recently been offended on a visit to GHQ, when Haig had been too busy to pay much attention to him.

Northcliffe warned Haig's aide Philip Sassoon that changes were required: "Sir Douglas is regarded with affection in the army, but everywhere people remark that he is surrounded by incompetents".

Douglas Haig claimed to his wife that Charteris' work had been excellent but he felt he had to sack him because he had "upset so many people".

Douglas Haig left the War Cabinet with the impression that he thought the Germans would launch small attacks on the scale of Cambrai.

Douglas Haig recommended that the British should keep the initiative and draw in German reserves by renewing the offensive around Ypres, a proposal which did not meet with political approval, and besides the logistical infrastructure was not available for a breakout from the Ypres salient.

Purge of Douglas Haig's staff continued, with the removal of Maxwell and Lt-Gen Launcelot Kiggell as BEF Chief of Staff.

Douglas Haig argued against a common command, claiming that it would be "unconstitutional" for him to take orders from a foreign general, and that he did not have the reserves to spare and suggested to Clemenceau that he might resign.

Douglas Haig offered Robertson a choice of remaining as CIGS with reduced powers or else accepting demotion to Deputy CIGS at Versailles – either way, Lloyd George would now have been able to cut him out of the decision-making loop.

Douglas Haig thought Robertson egotistical, coarse, power-crazed and not "a gentleman" and was unhappy at the way Robertson had allowed divisions to be diverted to other fronts, even though Robertson had in fact fought to keep such diversions to a minimum.

At this point Douglas Haig had 52 divisions in his front line Armies, and another 8 in GHQ reserve, and 3 cavalry divisions.

Douglas Haig privately thought the Guards Division "our only reliable reserve".

Douglas Haig thought the Canadians "really fine disciplined soldiers now and so smart and clean" compared to the Australians.

Douglas Haig inspected the Fifth Army and noted widespread concerns, which he shared, at lack of reserves – he released one division from Flanders to the Fifth Army and deployed another, under GHQ control, to its rear.

That day Douglas Haig arranged for reserves to be sent down from Flanders.

Tim Travers argues that Petain said at the meeting that he would only retreat on Paris if Douglas Haig retreated on the Channel Ports, and that Major-General Clive reported from the meeting that Petain had come away satisfied that Douglas Haig would not break contact.

Travers suggests that Douglas Haig had written off both Fifth Army and the link with the French at this point, that he called Henry Wilson over to France to discuss a retreat on the Channel Ports, and that he wanted the 20 French divisions at Amiens not to maintain the link with the French but to cover the British retreat or perhaps to counterattack.

Wilson claimed that Douglas Haig suggested Petain be appointed Allied generalissimo and that he proposed Foch over Douglas Haig's objections.

At the Doullens Conference, Douglas Haig accepted the appointment of Foch to coordinate reserves of all nationalities wherever he saw fit.

Wilson recorded that Douglas Haig seemed "10 years younger" that evening after Doullens.

Douglas Haig's objects are to separate us from the French, to take the Channel Ports and destroy the British Army.

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Douglas Haig recommended Cavan for the vacancy, and offered to resign.

Douglas Haig was suspicious of Foch's request to move British divisions to the French sector to free up French reserves, worrying that this might lead to "a permanent Amalgam" of French and British forces.

Douglas Haig had opposed Maurice in taking his concerns into public, but was disappointed at how Lloyd George was able to get off the hook with a "claptrap speech".

Douglas Haig threatened to appeal to the British Government if he felt Foch was demanding too many British troops, so it was agreed that Douglas Haig and Foch should meet more frequently, and in time they developed a good working relationship.

Douglas Haig felt that they would take credit for Foch's victory but might dismiss him if disaster befell the British forces.

Douglas Haig eventually agreed that the French could use XXII Corps if necessary "for exploitation".

Douglas Haig's forces continued to enjoy much success, but when they began to advance towards the Hindenburg Line Douglas Haig received a supposedly "personal" telegram from the CIGS Henry Wilson, warning him that he was not to take unnecessary losses in storming these fortifications.

Douglas Haig was irritated that Foch insisted that Plumer's Second Army remain part of an Army Group commanded by the King of the Belgians, so that the French and Belgians could take credit for liberating Brussels.

Douglas Haig urged moderation, suggesting that Germany only be asked to give up Belgium and Alsace-Lorraine, and warning that intelligence reports suggested that the German Army was still "far from beaten" and that humiliating terms might lead to a militarist backlash.

However, once Germany had accepted the strict armistice terms, Douglas Haig suggested Germany be split into independent states at the peace treaty.

In November 1918 Douglas Haig refused Lloyd George's offer of a viscountcy, partly as he felt it was another snub, as his predecessor Sir John French had been awarded the same rank on being removed from command of the BEF, and partly to use his refusal to bargain for better state financial aid for demobilised soldiers, who Henry Wilson told him were amply provided for by charity.

Douglas Haig held out despite being lobbied by the King, until Lloyd George backed down in March 1919, blaming a recently sacked pensions minister.

Douglas Haig accepted the advice of Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War, that exercising his right to shoot the ringleaders was not sensible.

For much of 1919, Douglas Haig served as Commander-in-Chief Home Forces in Great Britain, a key position as a General Strike seemed likely.

Douglas Haig kept a low profile in this job and insisted the Army be kept in reserve, not used for normal policing.

Lord Douglas Haig arranged for his Dispatches to be published in 1922 as the General Election loomed, although in the end his nemesis Lloyd George was ousted for unrelated reasons.

Douglas Haig pushed for the amalgamation of organisations, quashing a suggestion of a separate organisation for officers, into The British Legion which was founded in June 1921.

Douglas Haig visited South Africa in 1921, Newfoundland in 1924, and Canada in 1925 to promote ex-servicemen's interests.

Douglas Haig was instrumental in setting up the Haig Fund for the financial assistance of ex-servicemen and the Haig Homes charity to ensure they were properly housed; both continue to provide help many years after they were created.

An avid golf enthusiast, Douglas Haig was captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, from 1920 to 1921.

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Douglas Haig was president of The British Legion until his death and was chairman of the United Services Fund from 1921 until his death.

Douglas Haig died at 21 Prince's Gate, London, from a heart attack, aged 66, on 29 January 1928, and was given an elaborate funeral on 3 February.

Douglas Haig's body was buried at Dryburgh Abbey in the Scottish borders, the grave being marked with a plain stone tablet in the style of the standard headstones of the Imperial War Graves Commission issued to British military casualties in the First World War.

Douglas Haig was publicly lauded as the leader of a victorious army.

Douglas Haig's funeral in 1928 was a huge state occasion.

Winston Churchill, whose World Crisis was written during Douglas Haig's lifetime, suggested that greater use of tanks, as at Cambrai, could have been an alternative to blocking enemy machine-gun fire with "the breasts of brave men".

Douglas Haig sent Churchill extracts from his diaries and commented on drafts, to which Churchill was willing to make amendments.

Churchill told Douglas Haig that he was "a convinced and outspoken opponent to our offensive policy at Loos, on the Somme and at Passchendaele".

Douglas Haig thought the Somme "a welter of slaughter which … left the armies weaker in relation to the Germans than when it began".

Douglas Haig thought these views "most mischievous" but was willing to accept criticism of his command, although he argued that decisions he took in August and September 1918 were responsible for the war ending in November.

Lloyd George was more critical in his War Memoirs, published in 1936 when Douglas Haig was dead and Lloyd George was no longer a major political player.

Douglas Haig attributed his own "distrust of his capacity to fill such an immense position" to Haig's lack of a clear grasp even of the Western Front, let alone the needs of other fronts and his inability, given his preference for being surrounded by courteous "gentlemen", to select good advisers.

Douglas Haig criticised Haig for lacking the personal magnetism of a great commander, for his intrigues against his predecessor Sir John French, his willingness to scapegoat Hubert Gough for the defeat of March 1918, and his claims to have subsequently accepted the appointment of Foch as Allied Generalissimo, which Lloyd George claimed that Haig had opposed.

Gary Sheffield stated that although Terraine's arguments about Douglas Haig have been much attacked over forty years, Terraine's thesis "has yet to be demolished".

Australian historian Les Carlyon wrote that while Douglas Haig was slow to adapt to the correct use of artillery in sufficient quantities to support infantry attacks and was generally sceptical that the science of such doctrine had much place in military theory, he was fully supportive of excellent corps and field commanders such as Herbert Plumer, Arthur Currie and John Monash, who seem to best grasp and exercise these concepts, especially later in the war.

Critics like Alan Clark and Gerard De Groot argued that Douglas Haig failed to appreciate the critical science of artillery or supporting arms and that he was "unimaginative", although de Groot added that he has had the misfortune to be judged by the standards of a later age, in which the cause of Britain and her Empire were no longer thought worthy of such bloodshed.

Douglas Haig was stubborn, self-righteous, inflexible, intolerant—especially of the French—and quite humourless.

Indeed, one powerful legacy of Douglas Haig's performance is the conviction among the imaginative and intelligent today of the unredeemable defectiveness of all civil and military leaders.

Douglas Haig rejected claims that Haig was a traditionalist and focused only on cavalry tactics.

The tactics that Douglas Haig pursued were beyond the mobility and range of artillery, which contributed to operational failures and heavy losses.

Douglas Haig belonged to the lower officer corps of the pre-war army, yet he progressed along with other commanders of the Edwardian era from battalion, brigade, division and corps command, to the army group and commanders-in-chief of the First World War.

Douglas Haig has been criticised for the high casualties in British offensives, but it has been argued by historians like John Terraine that this was largely a function of the size of the battles, as British forces engaged the main body of the German Army on the Western Front after 1916.

Douglas Haig wrote that British perceptions were coloured by the terrible losses of 1 July 1916 but that it should be remembered that the British never suffered anything like the losses of June 1916, when the Austro-Hungarian Army had 280,000 casualties in a week, or of August 1914 when the French Army lost 211,000 in 16 days, or of March and April 1918 when the Germans lost nearly 350,000 in six weeks, or 1915 when Russia suffered 2 million casualties in a year.

Denis Winter in his book "Douglas Haig's Command", wrote that Douglas Haig protected his reputation by falsifying his diary, to mislead historians as to his thoughts and intentions.

Sheffield and Bourne wrote that all three versions of Douglas Haig's diary have been available in the National Library of Scotland since March 1961.

Winter doubted that Haig had passed out of Sandhurst top of his year or been awarded the Anson Sword but this was refuted by S J Anglim, who consulted the Sandhurst records.

Douglas Haig appeared as himself in the films Under Four Flags and Remembrance.

Douglas Haig is portrayed as being indifferent to the fate of the troops under his command, his goal being to wear the Germans down even at the cost of enormous losses and to prevail, since the Allies will have the last 10,000 men left.

Douglas Haig is portrayed sweeping up model soldiers from a large map with a dustpan and brush, and tossing them casually over his shoulder.

Douglas Haig was portrayed as a cold and aloof man whose scepticism about the fighting abilities of the Australian and New Zealand troops arriving on the Western Front in 1916 was aggravated by the conduct of the Australians behind the lines.

The series portrayed British Prime Minister Lloyd George having a strong dislike of Douglas Haig and wishing to see him removed from command in 1917.