Norwich bulletin., 1916-07-12
Stories of the War
Sir Douglas Haiq.

GIT CougiaS F1aIgs
 No military leader is more averse to publicity or works more silently then Sir Douglas Haig, the British Com mander- chief in France. To those who are imp0rtunate for the offensive his answer is patience and yet again patience while the new munition fac tories begin to produce and he con- tInueS his building. His generals say that he never tells them his plans: only what they are to Go.
 Probably not one man out of ten Of the million or more under his com mand would recognize him if they saw him. Not given to reviews or any kind of display, this quiet and studious Scotsman was the choice of the pro- gresslVe, practical, driving element of the army as the one fl by equipment training and experience to succeed Sir John French. At fifty-ffve he is nine years younger than Sir John and ten years younger than JOffre or won Hin UenbuTg.
 There is a story that he entered the army as the result of a bOyiSh wager He went through Oxford with distinc- tiOn before he went to the military school at SanGhurst. His choice of arm was the cavalry which he has had so little to do so far in this war. But no sooner had he received his com mission, later in life, than most off cers because of the time that he had spent at Oxford, than he set out with the thOrOUghness of the student to master every branch of his profres- sion.
 It was in Berlin in the nineties that met q Captain HaiS who was study ing German and inc German army said an LESllShman. 'I was struck by his iudusLry-rOt a brilliant man, per haps, but a sound and well balanced one. 4 little hesitant Cf speech; what he did say went to the heart Of things"
 He studied the French army, too, and the history of all campaigns with the systematic thoroUghness that he applied to everything. It was the same with his pastines as his prOfres- soon. Whether he had talent for it or not he made himself a first class golf player thOUgh the form which he de- yeloped did not excite the envy of pro- feSSiOnGls.
 At the British Army Staff College where officers learn organization. he was marked man before he acted as Shief-of- Staff to General French in south Africa in the operations that made French's reputation. He was soldiers soldier who had won solid professional esteem though the pub lie hardly heard of this reserved un- demOnstrative worker.
 Of the men of command rank in the -~i 1t-F9-L al lily III Aug u5J, LJI4, ana Sir William obertson-anOther stu ulous man who had risen from the ranks and is now Chief of Staff in LOnaCu-WGre the two who were ap- praised by the generation Of officers who had developed since South Aff-i- ca as having prepared themselves for the direction of large bodies of troops on the scale of continental warfare They were not the megnatic, dashing leader type, but organizers.
 Going out in command of the First Army of the British Expedftionarv Force Sir Douglas had seventeen months eEperence, MOnss Ypres end L0os, of the warfare Of the Western fTont-whjch all agree is the tough est school any soldier has ever known.
 There was nc doubt who commanded the First Army. It was Haig He was no figure head for the work of an able chief of-staf. London gossip did not bandy his name about; he was not personality to the public though he was to the army.
 When anyone asked at the front who was the best man to take Sir JOhn's place the answer was almost invari- ably: "Haig." He had not captured the army's imagination, but is reason. The tribute was one to brains.
 The New Army was arriving in great numbers from it's English drill grounds when he took over command. His country expects him to make it an instrument which will execute Q successful offensive on the Western front where the four months effort of the Germans at Verdun the French effort in Champagne and the British effort at NeuVe Chapelle and LOOs convince many military circles that the feat is impossible.
 His first operation, carried out with out a hitch and unknown to the Ger mans was the taking over of the trenches occupied in the Arras sector by General Petain's army which was released for VeTdun. This gave the British an intact front of about one miles; and was decided upon by the Allied COrnmau Iers as wiser than g, premature British offensive in the mire and bog of the fiat country of Flanders and Northern Europe.
 A Wisp of a. flag and two sentries designate the entrance to the chateau smaller than that occupied by many di- vision generals which is the head quarters of the COmmander-in- Chief Anyone who expects to be ushered in to offices with aides running in and out of doors and telephone bells ring ing will be disappointed. No place could be farther removed from the struggle of the trenches and yet in the army zone.
 The only occupants of the chateau besides Sir Douglas are his private secretary and his aides who are ''crocks'' which is the army word for officers who have been wounded and are not fit for the physical exposure of the trenches. Tn other words if al youngster wishes to become an aid he must have fought and then have the decision of a doctor that he can not stand living in celIar-liI1e 'dugouts.
 The hour of any appointment is ex- act to the minute; and whoever has one at bis chateau is expected to be there on tine minute, General Head quarters time. There is little cere-