Study source A. Does it prove that Haig did not care about the lives of his man?

     The second extract in Source B was written on the first day of the battle (1st July 1916). Haig says there that the attack was very successful and that it went “like clockwork” which means that it had went according to plan. We know that this is not true as 200,000 men were lost during the first morning of the attack. Here is also hard to say if he cares about the life of his man. He says that his troops are “in wonderful spirits and full of confidence” which means that he must care about them as he knows this sort of stuff. Than here is a fact that he did not go to see them himself, which could also mean that he was not interested enough to go to trenches and see how his man are doing. We know that he did not check this himself as if he did he would not write such a nonsense. He would write about the loss of lives and barely any land gained.

   Source A actually doesn’t approve any of the theories of Haig caring for the lives of his man or not, however it comes across as cold hearted we have to think about a reason for this article being written in such a way. Haig is trying to inform the public about the consequences of the war as well as about his understanding that he will be responsible for all those possible deaths. He tells the public that “No amount of skills 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 victories to be won without the sacrifices of men’s lives”. Which means that no trainging, no abilities of commanders, no ammunition no matter how good, will allow victory to be gained without soldiers dying? He shows the public that he is being realistic and serious about his job-meaning that he might care.

    In Source B the problem about this extracts is that it was based on false information given to the general by his messenger John Charters. This could explain Haig’s mistake of carrying on with the war to some people but other will say like John Lathin that Haig had never “dirtied his boots” which means that the general never actually went to the trenches to check the situation personally.

    I think that Haig took his job very seriously but had little experience it that kind of war. He might come across as cold hearted person but I think that he had to teach himself to be this way as all the lives of his man are under his control and this is a huge responsibility.  I think that if he had gone to the trenches himself he might had changed his plan, but at the same time, not being  inside the trenches meant that he could take a look and control the entire trenches . I personally think that he was trying to do the best that he could, but it was hard without any experience in that kind of “new” war.