New Britain herald., 1928-01-30

1907 to 1903. and chief of sta6 In India from 1908 to ls12. Then he came. home. and from then until the outbreak of the warewas general of- f.ccr commanding 1t Aldershot. the great British army center.
 CoaeaAAndcd FIrst Army
 At tho outbreak of the war Gen. erai Haig went across to France in command of the first army. | signal honor in itself. Hero he was under the command of Field Marshal French. with whom. as . stan of- t,cer, he had served for time in the Boer war. In December. 1915. 1t was decided things were not going as we'll as they ought. and Haig suc- ceeded French. as commander-in- chief Of the forces in France. He had already been made a full gen. eral. He was made q field marshal January 1. 1917. and Knight of the Thistle ill July-the highest order Of knishthaad next to that of the Order of the Garter. It has only | 20 members, four of, them royal princes. This title was added to that of others he had received kniehthoods of the Victorian order. the Indian Empire and of the Bath. Made An Earl
 In 1919. when he was elevated to an earldom, Haig received the Order of Merit. which though 1t carries no title Is the fourth highest order Of chiyalry. It is limited to c4 mcm- bers.
 Earl Haig was most happily mar ried. His wife, whom he married in 1905. was the honorable Dorothy Vivian. daughter of the third Lord Vivian. Besides their only son, Wis., count Darwick---now the second Earl Haig-they had two daughters. ] By the Associated Presa
 Of Ancient Family The military achievements of Lord Douglas Haig consummated seven centuries Of military service by the ancient and aristocratic family of Haig of Bemersyde. in Berwiskshire. Like 90 many other claims they rose from the auarrels of Bruce and Baiiol and once established they were represented whenever the his tory of Scotland was being made. They reared their sons for the service of Bruce and his stuart suc- cessors and when their country took on the obligations of union with their southern neighbors, the Haigs fought under Ciive. Marlborough and Wellington. In more peaceful times they were distillers and as such the | family fortune was made and in- creased through several centuries. Born tn 1861
 From the day he was born June ts, 1881, the third and youngest son f Of John Haig, J. F., of Cameron bridge. Fifeshire, . military career was planned for Douglas Hats. His father, . member of one of the younger branches of the family, gave his sons thorough academic educa- ton, necessary part of the make ! up of Her Majesty's officers of those days.
 Accordingly. young Haig went to exclusive Clifton and later read at Brasenose college. Oxford. His work there failed to attain for him any distinction beyond class dramatics and he left there in 1888 to enter the army stan college. Here he. threw off the family traditions to thscxtent of entering the cavalry in preference to the infantry because of his fpndness for riding and his belief that this branch of service offered greater chance for advance ment
 Commissioned In 1885 He obtained . commission in the 7th Hussars in 1885 and then set tied down to tho dull existence of m army officer awaiting war. In the ordinary course of events he had attained the rank of . captain in the 17th LAncers when he was ordered to tho Soudan to serve under Kitchener. He accompanied that officer to Khartum. his distin- Euished service winning for him the admiration and friendship of his commander. Captain Haigs fortune changed with this friendship and from then onward his advancement was meteoric. He is said to have the record for rapidity of promotion in the cavalry.
 For his service at Atbara and 1 Khartum he was made | brevet- major. In the next war, the Boer war, under General Sir John French his successful commanding of sev- eral cavalry columns again won the praise of his commander and he was made \ brcvet-colonel and add ed to his store of medals.
 Butlt Reputation.
 These campaigns were | basis upon which the colonel was able to build . reputation as a strategist and leader. The friendship of Kitch- ener soon gave him the command of inspector-general of cavalry in India from 1903 to 1906 and he was gaxetted a1 . major-general in 1904, just eight years after he had been a lieutenant of cavalry.
 He WAS knighted in 1911. When the war started he was di- rector of military training at the war office. He trained and sent the first contingent to France but at the urgent request of Field Marshal French. he was sent to France to command the First Army Corps.