Douglas Haig's Pre-Somme Letter to the Nation

Thank you my friend and brother-in-Christ MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. for posting the perspective from {[roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com/2022/09/douglas-haigs-pre-somme-letter-to-nation.html]} author Edward Thomas

By the way my British grandfather William John Field Ford and his brother fought in France [after the Gallippoli campaign ended] as part of the British Army Expeditionary Force.

Background from {[primidi.com/douglas haig 1st earl haig/world war i/1916/prelude to the somme]}
Prelude To The Somme
For the first time (2 January) Haig attended church service with George Duncan, who was to have great influence over him. Haig saw himself as God’s servant and was keen to have clergymen sent out whose sermons would remind the men that the war dead were martyrs in a just cause. Although sometimes criticised nowadays, such views were not uncommon at the time, on either side.
Robertson and Kitchener (who thought that a major offensive starting in March could bring decisive victory by August and peace by November) both wanted to concentrate on the Western Front, unlike many in the Cabinet who wanted more effort at Salonika or in Mesopotamia. Haig and Robertson were aware that Britain would have to take on more of the offensive burden as France was beginning to run out of men (and perhaps could not last more than another year at the same level of effort), but thought that the Germans might retreat in the west to shorten their line so they could concentrate on beating the Russians, who unlike France and Britain might accept a compromise peace. Haig thought that the Germans had already had plenty of “wearing out” and that a decisive victory was possible in 1916, and urged Robertson (9 Jan) to recruit more cavalry. Haig's preference was to regain control of the Belgian coast by attacking in Flanders to bring the coast and the naval bases at Bruges, Zeebrugge and Ostend (a view also held by the Cabinet and Admiralty since 1914) into Allied hands and where the Germans would also suffer great loss if they were reluctant to retreat there.
Lloyd George visited Haig at GHQ, and afterwards wrote to Haig to say that he had been impressed by his “grip” and by the “trained thought of a great soldier”. Subsequent relations between the two men were not to be so cordial. Haig thought Lloyd George “shifty and unreliable”.
Haig and Kiggell met Joffre and his chief of staff de Castelnau at Chantilly (14 February). Haig thought that politicians and the public might misunderstand a long period of attrition and thought that only a fortnight of “wearing out”, not three months as Joffre had originally wanted, would be needed before the decisive offensive. Arguments continued over the British taking over a longer section of line from the French. Haig had thought that the German troops reported near Verdun were a feint prior to an attack on the British - in fact the Verdun Offensive began on 21 February.
Haig now decided that Verdun had "worn down" the Germans enough and that a decisive victory was possible at once. The Cabinet were less optimistic. Kitchener (like Haig’s subordinate Rawlinson) was also somewhat doubtful and would have preferred smaller and purely attritional attacks, but sided with Robertson in telling the Cabinet that the Somme offensive should go ahead. Haig attended a Cabinet meeting in London (15 April) – the politicians were more concerned with the ongoing political crisis over the introduction of conscription, which could potentially have brought down the government – and Haig recorded that Asquith attended the meeting dressed for golf and clearly keen to get away for the weekend.
The French had already insisted on an Anglo-French attack at the Somme where British and French troops were adjacent to one another, to relieve the pressure on the French Army at Verdun, although the French component of the attack was gradually scaled back as reinforcements had to be sent to Verdun. Haig wanted to delay until 15 August to allow for more training and more artillery to be available. When told of this Joffre shouted at Haig that “the French Army would cease to exist” and had to be calmed down with “liberal doses of 1840 brandy”. The British refused to agree to French demands for a joint Anglo-French offensive from the Salonika bridgehead. Eventually – perhaps influenced by reports of French troop disturbances at Verdun – Haig agreed to attack on 29 June (later put back until 1 July). This was just in time, as it later turned out that Petain (commander at Verdun) was warning the French government that the “game was up” unless the British attacked.
The government – concerned at the volume of shipping space being used for fodder - wanted to cut the number of cavalry divisions. Haig opposed this, believing that cavalry would still be needed to exploit the imminent victory. The Cabinet were in fact mistaken, as most of the fodder was for the horses, donkeys and mules which the BEF still used to move supplies and heavy equipment. Discussing this matter with the King, who thought the war would last until the end of 1917, Haig told him that Germany would collapse by the end of 1916. This round of planning ended with a sharp exchange of letters with the Cabinet - Haig rebuked them for interfering in military matters and declared that “I am responsible for the efficiency of the Armies in France”. Lloyd George thought Haig’s letter “perfectly insolent” and that the government “had the right to investigate any matter connected with the war that they pleased”.
From 1 July to 18 November 1916, Haig directed the British portion of a major Anglo-French offensive, the British offensive at the Somme. The French insisted that Haig continue the offensive on the Somme and their insistence continued throughout the duration of the battle, even after the French went on the offensive at Verdun in October 1916. Although too much shrapnel was used in the bombardment, Haig was not entirely to blame for this: as early as Jan 1915 Haig had been impressed by evidence of the effectiveness of High Explosive shells and had demanded as many of them as possible from van Donop (Head of Ordnance in the UK).
The forces under his command sustained an estimated 420,000 casualties while pushing the German front line back 12 km (7.5 mi). The campaign also resulted in heavy casualties to the German Army that it could ill afford. Haig's tactics in these battles were considered controversial by many, including the then Secretary of State for War Lloyd George, who felt that he incurred unnecessarily large casualties for little tactical gain. However, Lloyd George was unable to intervene in strategy, as General Sir William Robertson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff had been given direct right of access to the Cabinet, in order to bypass Lloyd George's predecessor Kitchener."

WW1 #Somme #Documentary
The Battle Of The Somme - Full Documentary
107,563 views Premiered Dec 10, 2019 The Battle Of The Somme - Full Documentary

The most disastrous battle the British Army has ever fought began on 1st July 1916. Featuring graphics, powerful still images and remarkable archive footage, this film presents an in-depth exploration of why the battle went so wrong for the British Army. We examine the strategic and tactical planning for the battle, the meticulous but ineffective preparations and the course of the fighting itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c6ez9gKIzU

FYI LTC Trent Klug LTC (Join to see) PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO3 Edward Riddle SMSgt David A Asbury SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SGT Jim Arnold SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D SPC Michael Terrell PO2 (Join to see) SGT Dan GreyMAJ Hugh BlanchardMSgt Robert E. M.TSgt Ken RichterSFC Richard Williamson SSG Robert Pratt

Losing 10 percent of adult males is not to high a price to pay? What a raving lunatic! A real Lord Melchett.

Bad guy.