Haig and Montgomery: a comparison

In this presentation Gordon Corrigan compares Haig with Montgomery. However, it should be noted that we are not comparing like with like. The appointments held by Haig and Montgomery in their respective wars were not the same, if only in that Montgomery at no time was in sole command, despite what he thought, and always had an Alexander or an Eisenhower, or indeed on occasions a MacMillan to take most of the political and much of the administrative burden from him.

Haig on the other hand was the military and political head of the British army on the Western Front for most of the war. Not only did he command the troops, but he was also responsible for dealing directly with the British government in all matters pertaining to the war in the main theatre – the Western Front – with Dominion and the Indian governments in relation to their contingents on the Western Front, and with the French and Belgian governments in matters relating to the presence of two million British and Empire troops set down in their territory.

It might be more accurate to compare Haig with Marlborough or Wellington, also supreme commanders with political as well as military responsibilities. Nevertheless, as the best known British soldiers of the two world wars of the twentieth century, Haig and Montgomery bear comparison.