Douglas Haig - Butcher Or Hero?

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Douglas Haig

Butcher Or Hero?

Douglas Haig has been blamed for the slaughter of thousands of men who were under his control in World War One. The Battle of the Somme was one of his worst fights were 55 000 British soldiers died in the first day alone. After the Battle of the Somme, Haig got the nickname "Butcher of the Somme"

This site is going to look at Haig and his life and help answer the Question "Was Douglas Haig a Butcher or a Hero?" It will also look at Haigs worst battle, the battle of the Somme. Douglas Haig was born on June 19th 1861. He was the son of John Haig, a wealthy owner of a whisky-distilling factory in Edinburgh. Douglas Haig was educated at Clifton College, Oxford and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.

After his education, Haig joined the 7th Hussars in 1885 and served in India. Haig also served at Egypt, South Africa and the Sudan and slowly worked up through the Ranks. In 1906 he got to the rank of Major General and was the youngest Major General in the British army at that time.

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When Haig returned to the United Kingdom he served as the director of Military Training and Director of Staff Duties. He was promoted to General, then returned to India for several years where he became Sir O'Moore Creagh's Chief of Staff of the Indian Army.

From 1912-1914 he served as General Officer Commanding (G.O.C.) at Aldershot.

In 1914 when World War One broke out Haig was given command of the First Army Corps in France.

John French who had originally been in charge if the British Expeditionary Forces (B.E.F.) made some critical errors in the way the ...

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Since this has been prepared for a website, it does not take the form of a structured essay, but still provides an interesting and well supported view on Haig's role. There is perhaps too much background information though; this could be replaced be more detailed analysis. 3 out of 5 stars.