Douglas Haig
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from December 1915 to the end of the war, becoming both the most celebrated and most controversial British commander of the conflict. He ordered the offensives at the Somme (1916) and Passchendaele (1917), both characterised by massive preliminary bombardments, attacks across open ground, and catastrophic British casualties for limited territorial gain. Haig's defenders argue he had no alternative to attrition given the military technology of the time and that his 'Hundred Days' offensive of 1918 ultimately broke German resistance. His critics — most famously the politicians who served with him — saw him as a callous, limited general who persisted with failing tactics, earning him the epithet 'Butcher Haig.' His published despatches (1919) provide a primary source for British military operations.
- Lived: 1861 CE – 1928 CE
- Nationality: British
- Roles: field marshal, commander
