THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1928. EARL HAIG DEAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19859, 1 February 1928, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1928. EARL HAIG DEAD.

Earl Haig of Bermersyde is dead. The military leaders of the Great War have fallen fast since it ended. The naval commanders last better. Earl Haig's death is attributed to heart strain suffered in his service to I country and Empire. The burdens he bore through the whole course of the war were enough to try the stoutest heart that ever beat. Yet he carried them, calm, imperturbable and absorbed in his duties, until the last shot was fired, silence fell on the battlefields, and a breathing space came to those who had fought the long fight. He survived almost a decade, not a conspicuous figure in public life, a difficult man to make into a popular hero, yet recognised as one whose place in the list of Britain's great commanders was secure. When he retired into private life he did so completely. If he emerged it was only upon some military occasion. The one exception he made, the one interest he followed that brought him into the light of publicity, was typical of the soldier who cared for the interests of those under his command. His name and his energies were used without stint on behalf of the demobilised soldier who faced a world in which it was hard to find a place and a living. His zeal for the ex-serviceman took him to South Africa, where he met in conference representatives of the Empire's service organisations. It was the one glimpse the outer Empire was given of the man who led its forces. Now there can be no other. Like the commander-in-chief whom he succeeded, Earl Haig was a cavalryman. It was sometimes remarked that though the infantryman bore the brunt of fighting in the war. the leaders came from other branches of the service. Kitchener was of the Royal Engineers. French and Haig of the cavalry. Yet, though all of Earl Haig's regimental life was lived with the mounted arms, though he established himself first as a cavalry leader in the Omdurman campaign, in South Africa, and in the fateful days of 1014, it would be a mistake to think of him as a specialist with no regard for the other arms. Strategy, tac tics, military organisation and militarv history were his constant study. An anecdote, usually quoted as typical, tells how, after a long and si renuous period of service in India, he spent an entire furlough in Geimany acquainting himself with the military methods pursued there. A man who took his profession so seiiously cannot be accused of knowing only so much of war as could be seen from between the ears of a cavalry charger. The operations he conducted were not faultless. t Of what general could this great claim be made 1 Some phases of the Battle of the Sornme, the whole of that tragic, costly, arid, in the end inconclusive, Passchendaele offensive have been severely criticised. It may be the final verdict of history will not endorse their soundness. If so, justice will demand that their flaws be attributed to error of judgment in the commander and his staff, not to any deficiency in his equipment for the great work he was called upon to perform. His whole life from boyhood had been a preparation for the career which reached its brilliant climax when the forces under him shattered the Hindenburg line, playing a major part in delivering the blow which forced the enemy to admit defeat.

The soldierly qualities of Earl Haig need no establishing. From the free and frank acclaiming of them by Marshal Foch at the time of their close association, witnesses in plenty have testified to them. The character of the man has been more elusive. If report be true, no reVealing'biography of him will appear for many years. He secured the copyright of his despatches. He is said to have placed in safe custody documents of high importance, with explicit instructions that they must not. be made public for many years. Those who came most closely into contact with him emphasise the depth of his reserves, the taciturnity he could and did maintain, without showing any want of sympathy or understanding. None of his qualities shone especially on the surface. Confidence and loyalty were accorded him by associates and subordinates, but he did not become the idol of all ranks, as some commanders have done, even in these days when general headquarters are so remote from life in the field. At the time When he was appointed to supreme command it was generally understood that he had, or could have had, French's nomination to the post. More definite is the knowledge that Kitchener's vote was in his favour. He was chosen by soldiers for a soldier's duty. In days when the politician was frequently accused of interfering in military appointments and even military strategy, when intrigue was supposed to centre round such things, the choice of Sir Douglas Haig for high command was not so affected. It was not a selection made for its public effect. Haig was not a "popular" figure. His character was against election to such a role. Yet it was that character, calm, unruffled, tenacious and single-minded, that justified the appointment. In times of unparalleled crisis he was carried through by his stout heart, the heart which now has ceased to beat. Living, he won his way into the company of the immortals with whom, dead, he is to rest.