ARMY MOURNS LEADER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19859, 1 February 1928, Page 11

ARMY MOURNS LEADER.

LAN HAMILTON'S EULOGY. PATRIOT AND GENTLEMAN. UNFALTERING IN COURAGE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received January 31, 7.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. LONDON, Jan. 30. Various public men have paid a tribute to the late Karl Haig. Mr. Lloyd George said: "Earl Haig was a man of unfailing courage and purpose. He never lost heart at the worst moments of our military fortunes, but faithfully carried out the plans laid down, whether he liked them or not. Especiajly when tho Government decided on unity of command, and placed the British Army under the "conlrol of Marshal Foch, whatever might have been his personal views, he carried out the policy honourably. In every particular 4ie behaved, not only like a great patriot, but like a great gentleman." General Sir George Milne, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who was a, colleague of Earl Haig's in the war, has telegraphed to Countess Haig, on behalf of fihe Army Council, expressing its profound sympathy in the irreparable loss of her husband, who was loved and trusted by all the armies of the Empire which he led to victory: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Winston Churchill, said: "Earl Haig was incomparably the finest British soldier in this fateful age. His calm, unwearying strength of mind, and his singleness of spirit enabled him to endure all the stresses of war, and to render service to the State beyond the power of any other man. These classic qualities were preserved with a noble dignity, amid the rewards and the unaccustomed leisures of a victorious peace; "He never spoke a word but for his comrades. His end was swift, like a soldier's on the battlefield. His momory will live and grow with the grandeur of the events with which he strove, and over which in the end he ruled." General Sir lan Hamilton cited Earl Haig's recent; inspection of the Boy Scouts, and spoke of his making friends with the eager Wolf Cubs. He said: "That was so like him. To-morrow he was going to advise the British Legion how best to help their distressed comrades. That was so like him. To-day his valiant heart has ceased to beat. Not now, when the shock benumbs us, can pen be trusted to trace his wonderful career. "Earl Haig was never the man to parade his anguish, either when under his orders men were falling in thousands, or afterwards. He always held his head high and never faltered momentarily under the burden of world-wide responsibility that he endured for years. He preferred people to think he had not done anything special. , "The Prime Minister of Italy, Signor' Mussolini, when he recently met Earl Haig, said he imagined he was going to see a care-worn old gentleman, creeping into the room. Instead he found a vigorous young soldier. Earl Haig repeated the remark —not because it ticked his vanity, which was non-existent, but because he felt his appearance helped to maintain the assumption that he had beeu through nothing in particular. "But his too-human heart betrayed him in the end, and now it beats no more. He was typical of the best side of tho Scot. His special qualities were stability, simplicity, intense modesty and unfaltering generosity." FEELING IN GERMANY. HINDENBURG MUCH MOVED. GRIT THAT WON THE WAR. (Received January 31, 10.5 p.m.) S„n. LONDON, Jan. 31. The Berlin correspondent of the DailyNews reoorts that the President, Marshal Von Hindenburg, was greatly moved by the news of Earl Haig's death. The President said Earl Haig won the war, first because the British grit shown in continuing the offensive of 1918 gave the French new courage, and enabled them to overcome their war weariness, and secondly by the subordination of himself to Marshal Foch' in the crisis of 1918, when, by the control of his personal ambition, he rendered possible the great combined offensives, which definitely overthrew Germany. ' General Ludendorff telegraphed: "I am not in a position to give my personal opinion of Earl Haig's merits." Previously, however, General Ludendorff had declared that he shared the German official view that tho victory was duo to Haig, "who was typically British, not brilliant, but tenacious." The German newspapers emphasise the point that Earl Haig was content to lead his troops to the Rhire, after which he went home, not seeking more glory. Some of the newspaper comments are uncomplimentary and almost insulting. The Achtuhrblatt heads its obituary notice, "Field-Marshal who could not win a victory," but it admits that E«irl Haig s iron calm enabled the British to resist the German attacks. Tho Allgemeine Zeitung thinks the record of the dead soldier is hardly worth mentioning. A leading German Army Commander, who was concerned in the offensive of March, 1918, however, says: "Earl Haig 1. honour and respect."