How far does Source A prove that Haig did not care about the lives of his men?

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Dominic Chrominski         Assignment A          10MS          11th November 2001

How far does Source A prove that Haig did not care about the lives of his men?

I think source A completely suggests that Field Marshal Sir General Haig did not care about the lives of his men because after one day of fighting the Germans on the 1st of July 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, over 57,000 British troops had been killed.  The British only gained 750m.  The next day Haig still continued with the same tactic even though a large amount of the army had lost their lives the day before.  After suffering such heavy losses Haig still sent men out to their death every day.

In source A Haig himself writes, “The nation must be taught to bear losses”.  In every war there are losses but by writing this Haig gave no indications of just how many men he thought the nation would loose.  I think Haig didn’t care how many men were killed as long as his main objective to relieve pressure on the attack of Verdun was completed.  

“No amount of skill on the part of the higher commanders, no training however good, on the part of the officers and men, no superiority of arms and ammunition, however great, will enable victory to be won without the sacrifice of men’s lives.”  In the two books the World of War and Modern World History, both books suggest that one of Haig's chief subordinates Sir Henry Rawlinson was against the idea of a large offensive even before the Battle of the Somme begin.  Rawlinson suggested that the British should concentrate its operations on the Western Front by launching a series of small discreet attacks.  Inexperienced British troops would gain experience from these attacks while they could use the British industrial strength, which was now fully mobilised, to beat the Germans.  Instead Haig went against the suggestion by launching a great offensive followed by a massive tightly controlled infantry attack.

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“No amount of skill on the part of the higher commanders”.  I think Haig’s deputy Rawlinson did have a lot of skill.  He had good tactical idea but Haig choose not to use them.  “no training, however good, on the part of the officers and men”.  Rawlinson suggested small attacks to give the British troops experience.  “no superiority of arms and ammunition, however great will enable victories to be won.  From the Modern World History book it says, “Many of the shells supplied to the allied gunners were of poor quality.  There was certainly a vast bombardment but many ...

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