A man whose Great War role has been the subject of considerable debate, with extreme views being expressed, both for and against. Here are the basic facts of his life.

Early career

Born in Edinburgh, 1861 to a wealthy family - the proprietors of the Haig whisky firm. Educated at Clifton College and Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1884 he entered Royal Military College, Sandhurst direct from University. He passed in less than a year, holding the Anson Memorial Sword as Senior Under-Officer. Haig then joined the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars, and spent the next 9 years as a regimental officer - mostly in India - without great distinction, although within 3 years he became Adjutant and in 1891 was selected to act as Brigade Major at a cavalry camp. He was also briefly attached to the Staff of the Bombay Army.

Haig left the regiment in 1894 and found an appointment as ADC to the Inspector-General of Cavalry in England. At this time he also undertook long study tours in France and Germany, as well as acting briefly as Staff Officer to (then) Colonel John French. In 1896 Haig entered Staff College at Camberley, after failing his first attempt the previous year due to failing in arithmetic and on the discovery that he was colour-blind. He passed in under two years. At this point he was a Captain, aged 36.

Haig was chosen as one of the few officers to take part in Kitchener's campaign against the Dervishes in the Sudan. For the next 5 years he was almost continually in the field. He saw action at both Atbara and Omdurman, and then after a brief interlude during which he became Brigade Major to the 1st Cavalry Brigade at Aldershot, in the Boer War in South Africa. He was a staff officer, with the acting rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, to (then) General John French in command of the cavalry. During the Boer War he was mentioned in despatches four times, and was appointed to command the 17th Lancers. On his return from South Africa in 1902, he became a brevet Colonel, and was awarded the CB.

Haig was summoned to India by Kitchener in 1903, when the latter was appointed Commander-in-Chief there, and he played an important part in reforming and training the cavalry. He was promoted to Major-General in 1904, gained the CVO, and married. Between 1906 and 1909 he acted as an advisor to Richard Haldane, the Minister of War who was then engaged in designing a reform of the British Army. Haig then became Chief of Staff in India until 1912, and then Commander-in-Chief at Aldershot, which consisted of the 1st and 2nd Divisions and the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the only formed Corps in the Empire at that time. In war, it was planned that this would become I Corps of the BEF. Haig was now holding the most prestigious field appointment in the army.

The Great War

Haig's I Corps was half of the original British Expeditionary Force, which first came into action at Mons - although Haig's Corps fought only a minor part of this action - and the subsequent retreat and then advance to the Aisne. Moved north to Flanders, the Corps was heavily engaged in First Ypres.

On Christmas Day 1914, Sir John French reorganised the BEF into two Armies. Haig was given command of First Army, which consisted at that time of I, IV and the Indian Corps. He led First Army through the undoubted trials of 1915 at Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, and Loos. In July 1915, Haig was awarded the GCB by the King.

The failure to break through at Loos led to a heightened tension between Haig and Sir John French, which ultimately led to French being replaced by Haig as Commander-in-Chief. The fulcrum of the argument was the positioning of a general reserve of troops. Haig wanted them close behind the attacking units to exploit early opportunities, French insisted they stay well to the rear for greater flexibility. In the event, French held sway and when the reserves were needed, they arrived too late to capitlaise on successes. They had been retained under the direct control of French, who was out of contact for several spells during the battle. (They also consisted of two New Army divisions, the 21st and 24th, who had arrived in France only very recently. After an exhausting movement to the battle area, they were ordered into chaos and suffered appalling casualties, to no good effect.) Disturbed by what he heard, Kitchener ordered a full report from French. On October 9th 1915, Lord Haldane arraived at First Army HQ with a mission to discover the facts. Haig 'gave him all the facts'. On the 24th, the King visited Haig: 'the King said that he had seen Generals Gough and Haking that afternoon, and they had told him startling truth's of French's unfitness for command.' On December 10th, 1915, Haig noted 'About 7pm I received a letter from the Prime Minister...it ran as follows 'Sir J.French has placed in my hands his resignation of the Office of Commander in Chief of the Forces in France. Subject to the King's approval, I have the pleasure of proposing to you that you should be his successor.' He took up the post on December 19th 1915.

Haig then commanded the BEF until after the Armistice. He conducted the huge and notable campaigns on the Somme, at Arras, and at Third Ypres (Passchendaele), which successfully ground down the German Army, according to the accounts of his opponents but at horrific and exhausting cost to the British. Perhaps, however, his most difficult opponent was the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. The latter formed an opinion that the fighting on the Western Front was not only hugely expensive, it was being conducted by military dolts who could not possibly win the war in this manner. This unfortunate difference of style and opinion - Haig was notoriously slow and tactiturn in speech, especially when up against the mercurial Lloyd George (although he wrote most fluently) - was to cost British troops dear. Lloyd George intrigued against Haig (and the CIGS, William Robertson) and constantly supported alternative schemes - many of them simply impossible to carry out - for the Eastern and Mediterranean theatres. In particular, Lloyd George schemed to place the BEF under the command of Robert Nivelle, the French C-in-C successor to Joffre, and later to divide the British military by supporting the creation of a Supreme War Council that would have another senior British military representative. He forced Haig's hand into removing many of the General Staff of the BEF at the close of 1917, and took steps to ensure a minimum commitment of manpower for the Western Front. Lloyd George also accepted two important additions to the length of line occupied by British forces in France, early in 1918. Meanwhile, in the face of this constant political intrigue, and a resultant undersupply of manpower, Haig managed the continued growth and tactical development of the BEF.

The great German attacks of Spring 1918 almost broke the British Army, but inspired the creation of a single command of Allied forces on the Western Front under Foch. This was done at Haig's suggestion, and despite some differences of opinion and difficult moments in terms of deployment of reserves, it worked well enough to win the war on the Western Front in late 1918. Shortly after the great crisis, one of Haig's staff, Major-General Frederick Maurice, took the extraordinary step of writing to The Times newspaper to expose Lloyd George's twisting of the truth (some might allege it was rather worse) when he reported that the manpower of the Western Front was greater at January 1st 1918 than a year before. Lloyd George left the sacking of Maurice to the Army Council - quite properly - but carried out a vengeful campaign against Maurice thereafter. He got Robertson out - the great man resigning rather than be intrigued into a non-role alongside the devious Wilson. He wanted Haig out too, but could never find an adequate replacement and probably did not want to create a mutiny among the military hierarchy in the BEF.

Haig commanded a victorious British Army; the largest organisation ever produced by Great Britain.

Haig's Final Despatch is an excellent summary of the war on the Western Front.

After the war

Haig was amply rewarded. He was made an Earl and granted a substantial sum. He was among the group of men that created the British Legion before he died in 1928.

For and Against

There are few middle-ground opinions about Haig.

Those "against" say that he was insensitive to losses, slow to adapt to new ideas, out of touch with battle reality and tunnel-visioned in terms of battle tactics.

Those in favour say that Haig was an educated soldier who led the great learning curve experienced by the British Army and who adopted new military methods that finally won the Great War.