SIR DOUGLAS HAIG

North Otago Times, Volume CIV, Issue 13662, 2 September 1916, Page 8

SIR DOUGLAS HAIG

INCIDENTS IN HIS CAREER, MANY ESCAPES FROM DEATH. BELOVED BY BRITISH ARMiT. "Form the General to the rawest Tommy in the trenches," said a captain of Hussars to the writer a few days l ago, "there is no British soldier at the front who does not swear by Haig. Sir John French in one of his despatches said, '1 cannot speak too highly of the valuable services rendered by Sir Douglas Haig; he is a leader of the greatest ability and power'; and if you ask Tommy's opinion of French's successor, he will answer enthusiastically, 'Oh, Vs a bit of orl right! Give 'in 'arf a chaunce and you'll see; he'll make things 'nm!'"

Probably no commander of an army in the field ever inspired more universal confidence or better deserved it; for if ever there were a born soldier and leader of men it is certainly Sir Douglas Haig, And, indeed, it would be strange'if it were not'so, for he has in his veins the blood of centuries of as gallant men as ever dealt lusty blows in battle, In the Hussars. Haig had not long worn the uniform of a Hussar subaltern before his smartness 1 and zeal and soldierly qualities won the high appreciation- of his seniors; but he had many years to serve before the Soudan campaign, in 1898, gave him the first opportunity of showing 'the stuff he was made of. He took a conspicuous part in the fighting at Atbara and Khartoum, and so distinguished himself that he was singled out for specially high praise in despatches, and returned home a brevet-major. Nor had' he long to wait for fresh laurels, for in the' following year he was in the .thick of the fighting in South Africa — this time, as Chief Staff Officer to General French, who had already marked him,out as a man of exceptional gifts and promise, an opinion which he speed-, ity justified by much brilliant work, especially during the operations at Colesburg,'

Rescued from 1 -Death by General French,

It was during the South African campaign -that Major Haig's career narrowly'escaped a tragic termination, Oh the day of General Cronje's surrender at Paardeberg, he was crossing the' Modder River, swollen by heavy rains, when his horse reared and flung him into the swift-rushing water, which swept him helplessly away, Fortunately his danger was seen by an officer, who dashed gallantly into the river to his assistance. The next moment the would-be rescuer .was also unhorsed, and equally at the mercy of the turbulent river. Nothing daunted, however, he shook himself free from his horse, struck'out gallantly for the drowning man, and after a long and seemingly hopeless struggle, in which he nearly.lost his own life, brought him to safety. The officer who thus bravely rescued Haig from death was General Fr'ench.

1 Facing Many Rifles. . This, however, was by no means the first or last occasion on which Sir Douglas Haig.has looked death between the eyes. In the Soudan, in the preliminary scouting, before the battle of Atbara', he volunteered to inspect at close quarters an enemy zareba, which blocked the line of advance. The zareba was large enough; to conceal an army;'and although there was no sign .Of'life bbhliid'it, it.,was njmost certain death 1 to approach it. Although none knew this better than Captain Haig (as he was then), he rode to within a couple of hundred yards of it, sat calmly on his'horse, making-tlie'necessary observations, in .the'midst of a perfect; tornado of bnljetsfas coolly as if on the parade ground,.and by a miracle rode back to our lines untouched. 7 ■ When Haig returned from-South Africa at the end of the war he had established his reputation as one of the ablest and most brilliant soldiers in our army. Dispatch after dispatch had made his name and fame known to the world; he was now a colonel, C.8., and A.D.C. to the King, wore the King's Medal, and the Queen's medal with seven clasps, and was ; marked out for a big career, But many year,s of peace were to follow before his great opportunity, came with the present waryears during which he did excellent work and confirmed the high •reputation in a variety of responsible offices, from Inspector-General of Indian Cavalry to the command of the 17th Lancer's. At fortyjthreo -he blossomed into a major-general, within nineteen years of first wearing his subaltern's' uniform; and two years later he was Direel or of Staff Duties at Army Headquarters, ■ Long before this General Hai* had established himself as a special favourite of King Edward, who had the greatest admiration for the clever,

genial Si'otsniiin, iinil it was, so it is snid, Queen Alexandra, with whom he was an equal l favourite, who played "miifoii-miikcr" in the romance which had its climax w.lion General Haig led from the altar the prettiest of her two maids-of-honour—Dorothy, one- of the beautiful'-twin-daughters of Lord Vivian, one day in ■ 1905. "•■ Of Sir Douglas Hjiig's brilliant work in the present war the world knows as much as it is permissable to know. Probably, ■ however, it does not know how on several occasions he has had almost miraculous escapes from death. On the Haystack. On one occasion, Sir Douglas, with a member of his staff, mounted a.haystack some distance behind our trenches near La Bassee, to watch the progress of an action. He had not boon many minutes, however, on his "'bad

eminence," before a German shell crashed on to the top of' the haystack, As luck would have it, it failed to explode, • The two officers, had barely recovered from the shock, to congratulate one another on their marvellous escape, when a second shell dropped almost at their feet—again without ploding. "T think, sir," said the aide, "it is getting-a little too warm for comfort up here. Don't you think -we had better climb down'?" "Yesj I think it would be wiser," coolly answered Sir Douglas, with a smile, as ho prepared to descend to a less conspicuous point of vantage. On another occasion Sir Douglas had only just left a barn near Armentieres where some of his men were lodged, when a shell crashed into the building, and killed nine' of them, _ In the Trenches,

But such risks as-these are "ali in .the day's work," and Sir Douglas faces them with a smile and without a trefor he does not know what fear is. Nor does he expect his men to face any danger which he is not ready to share with them. Probably no general has ever spent more time then he •in the trenches, cheerfully risking his!life.in order to cheer his men in the same .venture, And certainly no general was ever more beloved by his men, not only for his ■ courage, but for his simple friendliness and unaffected v geniality. And by his officers, from the brigadier to'the youngest sub, he is equally beloved and respected.

The Man. And what kind of man is Sir Douglas Haig? In appearance he is the ideal soldier and loader of men. He has the characteristic soldier's face, with strong, well-cut features, a resolute, aggressive jaw and chin, a firm' mouth, half-exposed beneath a fiercely bristling moustache, and clear, keen, 'oommamfing eyes which seem to look straight through one. Many arc the stories of the cheering and encouraging effectproduced on the battle-worn troops of the First Army in the terrific and Woody welter of the first.battle of Ypres by the appearance of this soldierly figure riding out, with beautifully polished field boots, and seemingly all unperturbed by the sights'and sounds of war all around him, or by the appallingly grave situation of his command."