Haig bids farewell to King George V

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

36839

Title

Haig bids farewell to King George V

Description

Sepia photograph from a scrapbook of letters and photographs. This photograph is dated the 14th of May and has in the foreground Sir Douglas Haig bowing and shaking hands with King George V. To the left is Princess Mary and in the background porters can be seen carrying luggage to awaiting vehicles presumably for the Royal party upon their leaving Aldershot.

Type

Photograph

Location

Museum of Edinburgh

Accession number

HH4303/867G/81

Douglas Haig, then ranked Lieutenant General took up the position as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Aldershot Command in March, 1912. This command consisted of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions in addition to the 1st Cavalry Brigade, all of which were to become the I Corps after the outbreak of the war in 1914, under the command of Haig.

In the role of GOC Haig was responsible for the training of the men under his command.

In May of 1914 the Royal family visited and stayed at Aldershot during which time, among other things, the men of the command were reviewed by George V.

Douglas Haig was born in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh on the 9th June, 1861 to John Haig, the whisky distiller and Rachel Veitch. The young Douglas would spend the majority of his youth at the main family home of Cameron House in Fife before being educated at Clifton College, Bristol and then Brasenose College, Oxford.

Douglas Haig was commissioned into the 7th Hussars following his attendance the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, thus beginning a military career which would see several tours of India, action in both the war in the Sudan and South Africa before rising up the ranks to be posted as the head of the Aldershot Command prior to the First World War.

Douglas Haig went to war with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in August, 1914 in command of the I Corps. In December of 1915 following Sir John French's departure Haig took up the post as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF.

After the war Douglas Haig retired from the army in 1920, was created the 1st Earl Haig and spent the rest of his life seeing to the well-being of ex-servicemen.

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Military > Military facilities > Barracks

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People > Famous people > Field Marshal Earl Haig

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People > Military activities > Soldiers