Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig - A Famous First World War Commander
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig of Bemersyde (1861-1928). British Field-Marshal of World War / Born in Edinburgh into the famous whisky-distilling family and educated at prep schools in St Andrews and in Warwickshire, Haig went on to Oxford University and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned in the 7th Hussars and saw active service in Egypt (1898) and in the South African War (1899-1902). Staff and command assignments in India led on to his appointment as General Officer Commanding, Aldershot (1911).
In World War I Haig took the 1st Corps of the British Expeditionary Force to France and succeeded Sir John French (1852-1925) as Commander-in-Chief on the Western Front in 1915. Circumstances led Haig to pursue a war of attrition with immense casualties, which has earned him much criticism from historians. After the war Haig became president for a while of the Royal British Legion and devoted himself to the care of ex-servicemen; he also introduced the Poppy Day Appeal.
Back to