MONDAY, MARCH 17, 1910 A GREAT SOLDIER.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 65, 17 March 1919, Page 4

MONDAY, MARCH 17, 1910 A GREAT SOLDIER.

On the occasion of Sir Douglas Haig's retirement from the Chief Command of the British Army on the Continent, it is right that Britons everywhere should pay a tribute to his genius and character, and express gratitude for his great services to bis country, the Empire, and

the world. We may note first the length of the ordeal through which he passed to complete victory. It is not only that he went to France with French at the

outbreak of the war, and won distinction in the critical days of Mons and Tpres. but that, of all the Allied com-manders-in-chief at the. end of the struggle he had served the longest period, ln judging his record as Com-mander-in-Chief, it is most important that one. should fully understand his difficulties. He took over the army at the end of 11)15, before the new armywas ready in its full strength, and shortly after the battle of Loos, with its heavy casualties and only partial success. In 1916, while the French were hard pressed at Verdun, he put his army at Joffre's disposal, but Joffre held him back until July. We know from his own dispatch that he did not consider the army ready for an offensive, but he

threw it into the battle of the Sommr, It was largely a raw army; what was

even more important than the rawness of the rank and tile and the regimental officers, was the inexperience of the staffs. In the ..omnie battle the new army was tested, and won that experience of war which- whs turned to good purpose in 1017, and to much better purpose in the year of victory. In 1017, which was to have been the year of victory. Sir Douglas Haig's plans were upset by the failure of Xivellc's strategy. He had planned his major attack in Flanders, but Nivelle'a troubles compelled him to fight at Arras longer than he had anticipated; consequently the Ypres offensive had to be postponed, and when it was launched, the weather was all against a decisive success. The British High Command has been much criticised for persisting in costly attacks that autumn—it was then that the Xew Zealanders lost so heavily at Passchcndaele. — but we do not yet know the whole truth about the military and political situation in those days. It may be conjectured that the situation was so seriou6 that something had to be done by the British Army, whatever the cost. Russia had collapsed, and during the summer the spirit of France had been severely affected br ' the failure in the spring and the intrigues of the "defeatists." In other words, probably Passchcndaele was more of a political than a military attack.

All this time Sir Douglas Haig had to fashion his instruments as he worked, while his opponents had theirs ready to hand. It is astonishing how people, in comparing the achievements of the British Army with that of the French and the (icrman. ignore this vital fact. As Mr. Frank Simonds says in his excellent appreciation of the Marshal, Haig's problems were far different from and more difficult than those of Joffre and Petain; "two-thirds of his work was construction, and it had to be done in the heat of battle, and under the stress ! of great campaigns." The result was a triumph. We may pas 6 over just now tbe question of the responsibility for the retreats of March and April last; suffice it to say that Sir Douglas Haig had had his divisions reduced in strength, that he had consented reluctantly to the Fifth Army taking over more of the line, and that this Fifth Army was called upon to do an impossible task. Tn those days the situation was grave, but the enemy was eventually held by the indomitable courage of the rank and file and the cool competence of its leaders. The reaction in August was the beginning of the most wonderful chapter in the history of the British Army. The chief credit, of course, goes to Marshal Foch as Generalissimo —we may note in passing that Haigh himself asked for the appointment of Foeh —but it is obvious that his plans could not have succeeded as they did if the leadership of the British Armj-, and the staff work at general and army headquarters, had not been brilliant. From that memorable. August S to the day when the. British entered Mons, there is no sign of a serious mistake. In battle after battle the enemy was not only out-fought, but out-gcneralled by the new army fashioned under Haig's direction. During that period the French, with 103 divisions, took 130.000 prisoners and 1,880 guns: but the British, j with only ii! divisions, took 155.700 prisoners, and _. 810 guns. Sir Douglas I Haig received his highest praise when, j after bis soldiers bad broken the Hmdenburg line, the French General Staff described the operations as models of the military art, and Foch himself said it was the blows of the British that had j forced the Germans to ask for peace. I It is too soon to give Sir Douglas Haig ! his place among great commanders. But we are sure that his reputation will I grow with time. The world is still far

(from appreciating at its true value the ; military genius that Britain has shown in this war; tributes to the courage and spirit of her troops are far more common than recognition of the high quality of her generals' achievements in the face of enormous difficulties. Marshal Haig has been described as "one of the least advertised Commanders-in-Chief whom the British Army has ever had." That is as he would wish. In character he is a man after the average Englishman's heart—cool, dogged, reserved, and goodhumoured, high-minded and chivalrous. He had the confidence of the nation and of his army, and in the dark days of last year that confidence was of incalculaFble value. The Army knew the competence and the rock-like character of its chief. His reputation as a man is as safe as his fame as a soldier, which cannot be said of every great commander.