Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig: War hero or butcher of the Somme?

Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig: War hero or butcher of the Somme?

Many historians see the Somme as one of, if not the most, significant

events of the war. The devastating casualties and deaths of the war

left thousands without their loved ones, a whole generation was lost

at the Somme. After the devastation of the war, many soldiers blamed

Haig. It was thought that Haig's leadership was to blame for the

tremendous amount of casualties and deaths of the Somme. The soldiers

were thought to have followed their orders courageously, precisely and

so that everything went exactly as planned, but they were let down by

their leaders.

However, many historians now believe that General Haig was not

entirely to blame for the failure at the Somme, and that it was not a

military disaster, but why?

There are many arguments for General Haig being the butcher of the

Somme, but also many for him being a hero.

Firstly General Haig was in charge of the attack from the British on

the first day of the Somme. This was a terrible failure. Many died due

to Haig expecting the artillery to work much better than what it did.

Barbed wire and areas of the enemy trenches were left fully intact

therefore allowing enemies much more ease in setting up weapons to

hold off attacks. The barbed wire was not destroyed mainly due to Haig

rarely visiting the front line. If he had have visited more often then

he would have seen the when barbed wire was hit by artillery it just

bounced up to fall back down in more of a tangle than what it was

originally. Also on the first day of the Somme General Haig ordered

the troops to walk steadily across no-mans land rather than...

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...ig's plans of attack getting better all the time, he

must have been doing something right. After all, the Battle of the

Somme caused more casualties on the Germans than the British so his

main aims of the battle, to kill and injure some of Germany's best

troops, had been achieved. The reason for planning this attack at all

was also achieved; Verdun was saved.

In my opinion, General Haig was neither a butcher nor a hero; he tried

to do his best by thorough planning. I personally think that others

reasons were to blame for his plan failing. Artillery experts and the

lack of technology meant that his well thought out plan did not go as

expected. Though a whole generation was lost, this section was not

planned and therefore not entirely his fault. Haig was not a hero,

definitely not a butcher; he was just a good general.