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Tag: Royal British Legion

Sir Douglas Haig (1861-1928)

Douglas Haig was born in Edinburgh on June 19th 1861, the youngest of the eleven children of John Haig, the head of the successful whisky distillery which still bears the family name. He was educated at Clifton College in Bristol and Brasenose College, Oxford, leaving university before completing his degree, so as to enroll at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Here he completed a one-year course and in 1885, was commissioned into the 7th Hussars.

Following success in India, Haig worked with Sir John French on a new Cavalry Drill Book, as a result of which, in 1896, the High Command decided that he should be permitted to join the Staff College, without sitting the entrance examination, which he had earlier failed. Haig justified this decision, proving to be an excellent student. After this, he left for the Sudan, having been promoted to the rank of Major. In 1898, he returned again to England, where he served under Sir John French at Aldershot. During this time, French borrowed £2,000.00 from Haig, in order to pay his debts, and this loan effectively saved French’s career, although there is some doubt as to whether it was ever repaid.

The two men served together again during the Boer War and by the time of his return to England in 1902, Haig had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1905 he met Dorothy Vivian, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Alexandra, and although he was renowned for his dour and uncommunicative personality, they were married within a month. In 1909, he was knighted and two years later, following another spell in India, Haig was appointed as Commanding Officer at Aldershot.

When the First World War began, Haig automatically became Commander in Chief of the First Corps and he used his position, as well as his social status, to criticise and undermine the abilities of the Commander in Chief of the British Forces, Sir John French. Haig’s criticisms were not without foundation or support and in December 1915, Haig replaced French as the C-in-C of the British Armies in France.

The Battle of the Somme, which began in July 1916, was the first real test of Haig’s leadership. Haig, however, had not wanted to fight on the Somme, preferring the area around Ypres, and also wanted to postpone the battle to allow the many new recruits a little more time to train and prepare themselves. However, he was overruled and the first day of the Battle of the Somme remains the bloodiest in British military history.

During and immediately after the war, Haig was greatly respected by both soldiers and the public, although not within political circles. After the war, while other generals were rewarded by large cash gifts and honorary titles, Haig’s anticipated peerage was delayed until 1919. When a cash sum was eventually offered to him, he refused to accept it until his soldiers had received their pensions. He used his influence to amalgamate several veteran’s associations into the British Legion, which held the first of its annual Poppy Days on 11th November 1921. When Haig died on 28th January 1928, his funeral was attended by tens of thousands of his former soldiers, who still respected him enough to make expensive journeys from all over the country.

The History of the Poppy Appeal

On 2nd May 1915, one of McCrae’s close friends, Lieutenant Alex Helmer was hit by a shell and killed. In the absence of a chaplain, McCrae took charge of the hastily convened funeral service and Helmer was buried in a make-shift grave just behind the lines. Wild poppies were beginning to flower between the growing number of wooden crosses, and it is thought that this sight and the feelings he experienced, provided McCrae with the inspiration for his poem In Flanders Fields, which was reputedly written the following day.

It was published anonymously in Punch on 8th December 1915, and was an instant success, touching the hearts of millions, with its message that the deaths of so many should not be allowed to take place in vain. In 1918, an American YMCA worker and teacher, Moina Michael, came across a copy of this poem and was particularly moved by its message. When Moina was presented with a cheque for $10 by delegates attending a conference in the YMCA building she used this money to buy twenty-five red poppies to give out to the attending delegates. Moina considered that, because the money used to buy these poppies was a donation, she was responsible for the first sale of poppies to commemorate the dead of Flanders.

In 1921, Madame Guérin, who had become known as ‘The Poppy Lady from France’, visited Earl Haig to persuade him to help with the adoption of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in Great Britain. He agreed and then used his influence as former Commander in Chief of British Forces, to help amalgamate several veterans associations, thus forming the British Legion.

The first official Legion Poppy Day was on the 11th November 1921. In 1922, the Poppy Factory was established, its aim being to allow the disabled to manufacture poppies for the appeal. The Factory, at Richmond in Surrey, still exists and today and over 70% of the workers there are disabled or suffer from chronic illness. The British Legion was granted its ‘Royal’ designation in 1971 and now produces over 34 million poppies every year, raising annually in excess of £21 million. The poppy is used across the world to commemorate the dead, and assist those affected by war.

This remarkable achievement is due to the hard work and dedication of many thousands of volunteers, who work tirelessly, year after year, to raise funds. In acknowledging their efforts, one must also remember the inspiration of fifteen lines of poetry, written in a very different world, nearly one hundred years ago, on a warm spring morning in 1915, by John McCrae.