Reasons why haig was a hero

General Douglas Haig. How important were Haig's tactics in bringing an end W Field Marshall Haig - 'The butcher of the Was General Haig a donkey or a great commander?

Not the one? Search for your essay title Causes of the General Strike On this occasion the Alliance did come through. General Douglas Haig This source does therefore support Keegan's statement. How important were Haig's tactics in bringing an end to WW1?

See more essays. Save Sign up now Want to read the rest? Read more The above preview is unformatted text. Found what you're looking for? Looking for expert help with your History work? Take me to free Study Guides. Or get inspiration from these FREE essays:. Britain went to war in August because the Government was committed to Why were the major cities of Britain bombed by the Germans in ? In , he joined the forces of Lord Kitchener in the Sudan.

A Presbyterian and firmly believing that God was on his side and therefore his decisions had to be right, Haig insisted on full frontal attacks, convinced that victory would come by military might alone. It is one of the criticisms levelled at Haig — that he was adverse to new technology. The evidence is contradictory. Aeroplanes and tanks are only accessories to the men and the horse, and I feel sure that as time goes on you will find just as much use for the horse—the well-bred horse—as you have ever done in the past.

On 15 September , during the Battle of the Somme, Haig had insisted on their use, despite advice to wait for more testing. He got his way and the introduction of 32 tanks met with mixed results — many broke down but a few managed to penetrate German lines. Some of the most vigorous statements were made by David Lloyd George. And yet the manner of the victory clearly demonstrates the military mistakes of the earlier years of the war.

A serious problem that Haig had to contend with was the poor quality of ammunition supplied for much of the war by British factories.

Shells would either not explode with sufficient force or not explode at all. And yet, even when this became clear, Haig continued to put far too much faith into the power of aerial bombardment and he consistently underestimated German defences. It took years for the British High Command to learn these lessons and to develop effective ways to use the new forms of military equipment available to them — aircraft, tanks and gas weapons.

The final German assault, which culminated in the Spring of , very nearly succeeded. But in the end the collapse of the Central Powers was unexpected. He was wrong again. After his death, Field Marshal Haig was buried at Dryburgh Abbey where a simple stone marks the grave of the general who led one of the biggest armies Britain had ever sent to war.

Image source, Universal History Archive. Image source, Fox Photos. Image source, PA. Haig's charger in the funeral procession, with the Field Marshal's boots reversed in the stirrups. Image source, AccuSoft Inc. Image source, Hulton Archive. A childhood portrait of Douglas Haig in Edinburgh from about The Field Marshal's interest in the welfare of injured servicemen led to the establishment of the Earl Haig Fund.