Maestro
Master Sergeant
Greetings ladies and gentlemen.
Lots of peoples complained about Haig's leadership during WWI. And I can't really desagree with them. So let's settle this matter once and for all...
Haig was a crappy staff officer who looked at new technologies and new tactics as a kid looks at fireworks... "It looks good, but won't do much."
He was proved wrong when he lost thousands of troops to machine gun fire for very little gain.
He also used tactics of the stone age, telling his troops to "walk slowly in a line toward the enemy"... Making an easy target and giving plenty of time for the machine gunners to reload.
He also never visited the frontline, all the info he got was comming from staff officers serving under him. So, when he ordered a shelling of enemy positions with fragmentation shells in order to cut the barbed wire, and that the operation failed, he didn't know. (Something he would have known if he had been at the frontline.) And when he was told that his first wave had failed, he didn't believe it and just kept sending waves after waves of men ready to die "For King and country". And when he was shown any alternatives, he turned them down.
Also, all of his assaults were preceded by heavy shelling... Which warned German gunners that an assault was coming. A weak point that Germany noticed and modified from its own attack strategies during the Kaiserschlacht in 1918.
The way he trained his troops also lacked realism... And never evolved to reflect the reality of trench warfare. In his training, there were no shells, no enemy bullets, no mud, no barbed wire, no trenches... So his troops were not prepared to face the enemy.
Of course, some points were not under his control, like weather or enemy decisions, which could greatly influence the outcome of an operation. But his lack of vision, his stone age tactics and his attitude toward new technologies made him a nightmare to serve under.
Lots of peoples complained about Haig's leadership during WWI. And I can't really desagree with them. So let's settle this matter once and for all...
Haig was a crappy staff officer who looked at new technologies and new tactics as a kid looks at fireworks... "It looks good, but won't do much."
Douglas Haig said:It [the machine gun] is a much overrated weapon that could be taken by pure grit and determination.
He was proved wrong when he lost thousands of troops to machine gun fire for very little gain.
He also used tactics of the stone age, telling his troops to "walk slowly in a line toward the enemy"... Making an easy target and giving plenty of time for the machine gunners to reload.
He also never visited the frontline, all the info he got was comming from staff officers serving under him. So, when he ordered a shelling of enemy positions with fragmentation shells in order to cut the barbed wire, and that the operation failed, he didn't know. (Something he would have known if he had been at the frontline.) And when he was told that his first wave had failed, he didn't believe it and just kept sending waves after waves of men ready to die "For King and country". And when he was shown any alternatives, he turned them down.
Also, all of his assaults were preceded by heavy shelling... Which warned German gunners that an assault was coming. A weak point that Germany noticed and modified from its own attack strategies during the Kaiserschlacht in 1918.
The way he trained his troops also lacked realism... And never evolved to reflect the reality of trench warfare. In his training, there were no shells, no enemy bullets, no mud, no barbed wire, no trenches... So his troops were not prepared to face the enemy.
Of course, some points were not under his control, like weather or enemy decisions, which could greatly influence the outcome of an operation. But his lack of vision, his stone age tactics and his attitude toward new technologies made him a nightmare to serve under.
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