Field Marshal Earl Haig is a figure which for his service leading the British Army on the Western Front in the First World War has been the subject of enormous discussion, analysis and interpretation. In recent decades historians have come to see the struggle in the Great War with fresh eyes that in fact the disastrous campaigns at Loos and the Somme actually lead to developments in tactics and technology that would ultimately assist in leading to victory for the Entente powers. In the case of the Field Marshal himself and indeed of the other leaders, fresh analysis shows these men were in charge at a time when the rules and tactics of war were changing sometimes on a daily basis and that they were forced to adapt with them.
This 15th of December, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Douglas Haig taking command of the British forces on the Western Front following the departure of Sir John French. The Earl's life and career before the Great War is a subject crucial to know in order to understand the man Haig was to be during the Great War, in addition to the world he inhabited.
The photographs that form this exhibition have for the most part never been seen by the public before. The images bear witness to the life and career of a man who rose through the ranks of both the military and the public systems of the Victorian/ Edwardian establishment.
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries