This charge comes about for two principal reasons. The first is that at heart he was a cavalryman, and as such had failed to recognise that the methods of war had irrevocably changed. The second was that although his plans were demonstrably failing, he was not prepared to admit that his approach to the battle was dreadfully wrong.

The result was that more and more troops kept being pushed to the slaughter at the front in an effort to secure the long awaited ‘breakthrough’.

‘The nation must be taught to bear losses. No amount of skill on the part of the higher commanders, no training, however good, on the part of the officers and men, no superiority of arms and ammunition, however great, will enable victories to be won without the sacrifice of men's lives. The nation must be prepared to see heavy casualty lists.’

Written by Haig in June 1916 before the Battle of the Somme began

Haig had failed to realise that the methods of war had changed. This failure was to result in a dreadful loss of life.

‘The way to capture machine guns is by grit and determination.’
Haig - 1915

‘The machine gun is a much over rated weapon..’
Haig – 1915