DEVOUT HERO

Northern Advocate, 3 February 1928, Page 5

DEVOUT HERO

EARL HAIG’S SACRIFICE SAVED ALLIED LINE. CHAPLAIN’S GLOWING TESTIMONY. (United Press Assn, Copyright.) (Received 9 a.m.) LONDON, February 1, A new story of Earl Haig’s intense devoutness is revealed by Professor George Duncan, of St. Andrew’s, who was Presbyterian Chaplain at British headquarters during wartime. The Presbyterian Church consisted of a small wooden hut, which Earl Haig attended every Sunday morning. Professor Duncan states: “But on that black Sunday following the outbreak of the German offensive in March, 1918, I realised that he could not come. I could scarcely believe my eyesight when he appeared outside the hut, as calm and resolute as ever. I said I hoped that.things were not too bad. “Earl Haig replied: 'Things will never be too bad,” adding: “It is what you read in the Book of Chronicles: ‘Be not afraid nor dismayed’ (chapter 20, verse 15). He then went into the church. “That same evening Earl Haig did the biggest thing in his career. _ He had a fruitless consultation with General Petain, which revealed that the French commanders were mostly concerned with the defence of Paris. Earl Haig returned to headquarters and wired forthwith to London, urging the appointment of a Generalissimo for the whole front. It was for him a supreme sacrifice, but it saved the Allied line.” —A.P.A. and Sun. SILENT MOURNING. BEREFT LIFE PARTNER. (Received 1 p.m.) LONDON, February 2, Lady Haig, wearing a Flanders poppy, knelt for half an hour in silent devotion in the morning in front of the coffin. A few min,utes afterwards a party of Scottish Borderers took over the guard. Meanwhile another queue waited outside, the earliest arrivals including ex-servicemen, n’urses and Chelsea Pensioners. —A. and N.Z. GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S TRIBUTE. “HE DID HIS JOB WELL.” LOVED BY ALL. CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. In ian address to the Veterans’ Association, the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, in referring to the death of Earl Hailg, said: — “I would like to pay my respects to our old comrade —a very great man, and a very great gentleman. It was my good fortune to have known Earl Haig and it was also my good luck to have served under him. in tho Sudan War. He .was then a subaltern in the 7th Hpssars, Thereafter, we soldiered together and I constantly met him. He was not a man who was showy, and it was quite contrary to his nature to go in for theatriealism. He did his job well. He was not a man to put himself out to secure cheap popularity. Those who knew him loved him. Even if one cannot say that he' was one of the great figures of history, one can say that he was tremendously beloved by every man in the Annies.” —Press Assn.