Field Marshall Haig - Butcher Of The Somme? The Evidence

As you read these sources and consider the evidence, you should think about

1. the content - what information does it tell us?

2. the context - who produced the source, where,when, why?

3. do you trust the source - what factors make a source more or less believable?

Source A

The men are in splendid spirits. Several have said that they have never before been so instructed and informed of the nature of the operation before them. The barbed wire has never been so well cut , nor the artillery preparation so thorough. All the commanders are full of conf idence.

Very successful attack this morning. All went like clockwork. The battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are surrendering freely. The enemy is so short of men that he is / collecting them from all parts of the line. Our troops are in wonderful spirits and full of confidence.

Both these extracts were written by Haig. He wrote the first extract the day before the attack began, and the second extract is from his report on the first day of the attack

Source B

Hundreds of dead were strung out on the barbed wire like wreckage washed up on a high water mark. Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground. It was clear that there were n gaps in the wire at the time of the attack. The Germans must have been reinforcing the wire for months. It was so thick that daylight could barely be seen through it. How did the planners imagine that Tommies would get through the wire? Who told them that artillery fire would pound such wire to pieces? Any Tommy could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often in a worse tangle than before.

From an interview, years after the battle, with Private George Coppard.

SOURCE C

A still from the TV series "Blackadder goes forth: It shows two officers discussing and attack on the germans.

Source D

I can say that the heartening news of the last few days has confirmed our hopes that the tide has now definitely turned in our favour. I congratulate you most warmly on the skill with which your plans were laid.

Lloyd George writing to Haig on 21 September. 1916, after visiting the battlef ield. Lloyd George was Secretary for War at the time of the Somme.