He presided over both the best and worst days of the war for the British Army, earning him praise as the ‘man who won the war’ as well as the nickname ‘Butcher Haig’. Unsurprisingly, his legacy has been somewhat mixed as a result.

However, Haig had a long and distinguished military career prior to World War One, and he continued to campaign for ex-servicemen long after he had retired. Here are 10 facts about Douglas ‘Butcher’ Haig.

1. He had a privileged upbringing

Born in Edinburgh, the son of a whisky baron and gentry, Haig had a thorough education. He studied in Scotland, Clifton College in Bristol and later at Brasenose College, Oxford.

At Oxford, Haig showed sporting prowess and was a member of the infamous Bullingdon Club. He decided to train as a British Army officer at the military academy, Sandhurst, following his final exams. He passed – placing first in the order of merit – and was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 7th Hussars in February 1885.

2. He travelled a lot in his early years as an officer

In his early years as an officer, Haig was stationed in India. He eventually earned a promotion to captain before returning to England.

In 1898, he was hand-picked to join Lord Kitchener in a campaign in the Mahdist War in Sudan: Haig was required to join the Egyptian Army (a formality) in order to serve.

He saw plenty of action and commanded a squadron of his own, launching several important attacks and offensives. Haig was, at least in part, there to report on Kitchener, who he had plenty of criticism for. He was promoted to the position of brevet major on his return to England in 1898.

Photograph of the young Douglas Haig as an officer with the 7th Hussars.

Image Credit: National Library of Scotland / Public Domain

3. He served in the Second Boer War

The Second Boer War erupted in 1899 after diamonds and gold were found on Boer land in South Africa. It has become known as one of the most destructive wars fought by the British: the brutal conflict saw the implementation of scorched earth policies and the introduction of internment camps (also referred to as concentration camps) with extremely high mortality rates.

Haig escaped the town of Ladysmith on the last train before it was besieged by the Boers, and went on to command a cavalry brigade, and later an all-arms force and column. As per the norms of the time, he burned farmsteads as part of a scorched earth policy and rounded up Boer women and children to send to British-run concentration camps.

His service saw him showered in praise, earning him several mentions in despatches, an appointment to the role of Companion of the Order of the Bath and a promotion to the role of lieutenant colonel. Haig’s time in the Boer War, which involved plenty of guerrilla warfare,  led him to hold the belief that cavalry was more important than artillery: a belief which, when acted upon during World War One, would cost the lives of thousands of soldier.

4. His strengths lay in organisation and administration

In 1906, Haig was appointed Director of Military Training on the General Staff at Britain’s War Office: one of his colleagues described him as having a “first-rate general staff mind”. Having served in the Boer War, Haig was all too aware of Britain’s lack of a modern, healthy army.

He helped create a reformed, more professional, smaller army. It wasn’t the army Britain would need if it were required to fight a continental war (like that on the Western Front), but there was no pressing reason why that would be necessary at that point: the rumblings of the conflict that would become World War One were still far away.

He also helped create a new Territorial Force comprised of older ex-servicemen, 300,000 which could be drawn on in times of need. Haig also helped create an Expeditionary Force of 120,000 men, prioritising cavalry over infantry.

5. He became commander of the British Expeditionary Force in December 1915

Haig began World War One as a general and was one of those who believed the fighting would last weeks or months rather than years. He helped achieve a notable victory at the First Battle of Ypres and after another year of successful service and leadership, he was made Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (the 6 divisions of the British Army sent to the Western Front).

Haig hoped that in his new role, he would be able to oversee a more professional and efficient management of the war. He began by launching major offensives, most famously at the Somme (1916) and Passchendaele (1917).

6. Despite heavy losses, he helped bring an ultimate British victory

Haig’s offensives were undoubtedly bloody and brutal: millions of soldiers died on the Western Front, and many deem Haig’s directives to have caused an excessive and unnecessary loss of life.

Whilst the number of casualties (around 1 million soldiers fighting for the British Empire died) sustained on the Western Front was, and remains, unthinkably horrific, it proved a tough lesson for generals, including Haig, in the kind of tactics and warfare they would need to defeat the Germans: particularly with regards to the use of tanks, aircraft and creeping barrages.

7. Haig promoted the formation of the Army Dental Corps

Dentistry had originally belonged to a sub-section of medicine within the army, and there was virtually no specialised dental treatment available for soldiers: civilian dentists were sometimes contracted to help.

Haig reportedly suffered from severe toothache in the early years of World War One and was forced to summon a dentist from Paris to help. As a result, he ensured the army hired several dentists within months, and by 1918 they employed over 800 dentists. In 1921, the Army Dental Corps was formed as its own military division, separate from the general medical corps.

8. After the war, he spent his time improving the welfare of ex-servicemen

Haig was made an Earl in 1919. With the title, he was granted £100,000 to enable him to live in a way appropriate to a senior peer. He retired from service in 1922 and then devoted much of his time to highlighting the plight of ex-servicemen on a public platform and doing his best to ensure they were looked after. 

It was on his initiative that the Haig Fund and Haig Homes were set up, initiatives which provided financial assistance and adequate housing for ex-servicemen. Both organisations long outlasted Haig and helped thousands of ex-servicemen.

King George V and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, photographed together in 1919.

9. At his funeral he was dubbed ‘the man who won the war’

In the years following the war Haig was widely remembered as the leader of the victorious British Army, and his reputation was golden. When he died of a heart attack in 1928, Haig was awarded a state funeral and American General John Pershing dubbed him the ‘man who won the war’.

10. He later became known as the ‘butcher of the Somme’

Haig’s actions and legacy were quickly reassessed following his death. Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and David Lloyd-George both criticised his willingness to send men into the face of enemy fire, acknowledging that Haig’s ‘tactics’ led to an excessive loss of life and weakened the Allies, hence the nickname the ‘butcher of the Somme‘.

Many also criticised his personal qualities, believing him to be egotistical, out of touch with the realities of modern warfare and not intellectually up to the task in front of him.

There have been some attempts to rehabilitate Haig in more recent years as some have acknowledged that high casualties were a feature of early 20th-century warfare, and Haig’s forces nonetheless played an important role in the Allied victory.

1. The Lancashire Fusiliers’ trench before the Battle of Albert

Lasting 2 weeks, the Battle of Albert was the first military engagement of the Somme, and witnessed some of worst casualties of the entire war.

2. Graffiti from soldiers waiting to attack at the Somme

In the hollowed out caverns below the battlefield, soldiers waiting to be sent above ground etched their names and messages into the walls.

3. Vickers machine gun crew wearing gas masks near Ovillers

The Vickers machine gun was employed by the British army throughout the First World War, and was based on the designs of the 19th-century Maxim gun. It required a team of 6-8 men to operate, with one acting as the gunner, another feeding in the ammunition, and the rest needed to carry all of the equipment.

4. Pals battalion troops from the East Yorkshire Regiment marching to the trenches near Doullen

At the start of the war, men were encouraged to sign up in Pals battalions, where they could volunteer to fight alongside their friends, neighbours, and colleagues. Many of these battalions served for the first time at the Somme, with tragically heavy casualties.

The 10th (Service) Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, pictured here, spent the evening before the first day of the Somme cutting through British barbed wire to pave the way for their attack in the morning. Known as the Hull Pals, this battalion and 3 others like it would fight again at Oppy Wood in 1917.

The huge losses suffered by the Pals brigades at the Somme saw them largely disbanded in later years however, when conscription was introduced to breach the gap caused by waning morale.

5. Newfoundland Memorial Park on the Somme Battlefield

The Newfoundland Regiment fought their first major engagement on the Somme’s first day in July 1916. In just 20 minutes 80% of their force were killed or wounded, and out of 780 men only 68 were fit for duty the next day.

6. British Gunners watching German prisoners pass by following the Battle of Guillemont

The Battle of Guillemont took place from 3-6 September 1916, and saw the British at last secure the village of Guillemont after repeated attempts in earlier months. They then went on to take Leuze Wood, dubbed ‘Lousy Wood’ by the British soldiers, with the French also securing a number of villages in the area.

7. Danger Tree site and replica, Beaumont-Hamel Battlefield

The Danger Tree began its life amongst a cluster of trees located around halfway through No Man’s Land, and had been used by the Newfoundland Regiment as a landmark in the days before the Somme began.

During the fighting, German and British bombardment soon stripped it of its leaves, leaving only the bare trunk remaining. It continued to be used as a landmark by the Newfoundland Regiment however, with the Germans soon identifying it as a target. It then became a deadly spot for Allied troops to linger, affording it the nickname ‘Danger Tree’.

Today a replica remains at the site, with the scars of the battlefield evident in the surrounding area.

8. An early model British Mark I ‘male’ tank near Thiepval

Likely in reserve for the oncoming Battle of Thiepval Ridge on 26 September, this Mark I tank shows the early stages of British tank design. In later models, the ‘grenade shield’ atop the tank and the steering tail behind it would be removed.

9. Stretcher bearers at the Battle of Thiepval Ridge

Taking place in September, the Battle of Thiepval Ridge was a large offensive with mixed results for both sides. During the fighting, Britain experimented with new techniques in gas warfare, machine-gun bombardment, and tank-infantry co-operation.

10. Thiepval Memorial, France

At the end of the Somme, thousands of British and Commonwealth troops remained missing. Today, over 72,000 are commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, where each of their names are carved into the stone panels of the monument.

Here are ten of the most significant British battles in history.

1. The Battle of Hastings: 14 October 1066

William the Conqueror’s victory against Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings was an era defining moment. It ended over six hundred years of Anglo-Saxon rule in England and ushered in nearly a century of Norman dominion – a period epitomised by the construction of formidable castles and cathedrals as well as significant changes to English society.

2. The Battle of Agincourt: 25 October 1415

On 25 October, also known as St Crispin’s Day, 1415 an English (and Welsh) ‘band of brothers’ won a miraculous victory at Agincourt.

Despite being outnumbered, Henry V’s army triumphed against the flower of the French nobility, marking the end of an era where the knight dominated the battlefield.

Immortalised by William Shakespeare, the battle has come to represent an important part of British national identity.

3. The Battle of the Boyne: 11 July 1690

A painting of William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne.

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in Ireland between a recently-deposed King James II and his Jacobites (James’ Catholic supporters) and King William III and his Williamites (William’s Protestant supporters).

William’s victory at the Boyne secured the fate of the Glorious Revolution that had occurred two years before. Because of this no Catholic monarch has ruled England since James II.

4. The Battle of Trafalgar: 21 October 1805

On 21 October 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson’s British fleet crushed a Franco-Spanish force at Trafalgar in one of the most famous naval battles in history.

The victory sealed Britain’s reputation as the world’s leading maritime power – a reputation which arguably remained until the end of World War Two.

5. The Battle of Waterloo: 18 June 1815

Ten years after the Battle of Trafalgar, Britain gained another of its most iconic victories at Waterloo in Belgium when Arthur Wellesley (better known as the Duke of Wellington) and his British army decisively defeated Napoleon Bonaparte, with aid from Blücher’s Prussians.

The victory marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and peace returned to Europe for the next generation. It also paved the way for Britain becoming the world superpower during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In British eyes, Waterloo is a national triumph that is still celebrated to this day and commemorations of the battle remain visible in various formats: songs, poems, street names and stations for instance.

6. The Battle of the Somme: 1 July – 18 November 1916

The first day of the Battle of the Somme holds an infamous record for the British army, being the bloodiest day in its history. 19,240 British men lost their lives that day due mainly to poor intelligence, inadequate artillery support, and an underestimation of their foe – a contempt that has proven fatal so many times in history.

By the end of the battle 141 days later, 420,000 British soldiers lay dead for the prize of just a few miles of land gained.

7. The Battle of Passchendaele: 31 July – 10 November 1917

Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele was another of the bloodiest battles of World War One.

A new German strategy called defence in depth exacted heavy losses on initial Allied attacks before General Herbert Plumer’s bite and hold tactics, which aimed at taking more limited objectives rather than driving deep into enemy territory in one push, turned the tables for a while. But unseasonably heavy rains turned the battlefield to a deadly quagmire, making progress difficult and adding to the already heavy toll in manpower.

The casualty figures for Passchendaele are highly contested but it is generally agreed that each side lost a minimum of 200,000 men and likely as many as twice that.

Passchendaele had a particularly catastrophic impact on the German Army; they suffered a devastating rate of casualties which by that stage of the war they simply could not replace.

8. The Battle of Britain: 10 July – 31 October

The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above southern England during the Summer of 1940.

Having conquered France and most of mainland Europe, Adolf Hitler planned an invasion of Britain – Operation Sealion. For this to go ahead, however, he first needed to gain control of the air from the Royal Air Force.

Although significantly outnumbered by Herman Goering’s infamous Luftwaffe, the Royal Air Force successfully fended off the German Messchersmitts, Heinkels and Stukas, forcing Hitler to ‘postpone’ the invasion on 17 September.

Britain’s ultimate victory in the skies stopped a German invasion and signified a turning point in World War Two. At the time of Britain’s Darkest Hour this victory brought hope to the Allied cause, shattering the aura of invincibility that had until then surrounded Hitler’s forces.

9. The Second Battle of El Alamein: 23 October 1942

On 23 October 1942 Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery spearheaded a British-led victory at El Alamein in modern day Egypt against Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps – the decisive moment of the Desert War in World War Two.

The victory marked one of the most important turning points, if not the most important, of the war. As Churchill famously remarked,

‘Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat’.

10. The Battles of Imphal and Kohima: 7 March – 18 July 1944

The Battles of Imphal and Kohima was a key turning point during the Burma campaign on World War Two. Masterminded by William Slim, British and Allied forces won a decisive victory against the Japanese forces situated in north-eastern India.

The Japanese siege of Kohima has been described as ‘the Stalingrad of the East’, and between 5 and 18 April the Allied defenders were engaged in some of the bitterest close-quarter fighting of the war.

While the film’s protagonists are fictional, the setting of the film was based on real events. According to Mendes, the idea for 1917 came from stories that his paternal grandfather, Alfred H. Mendes, shared about his time as a Lance Corporal in the War.

At five-foot-four-inches tall, Alfred was chosen to be a messenger on the Western Front, delivering notes from post to post while hidden in the mist on No Man’s Land.

The late Mendes was awarded a medal for his bravery, and later retired to his Trinidadian birthplace to pen his memoirs.

The film focuses on a period of time when the German army conducted Operation Alberich, which saw a major retreat from positions they had occupied into a new defensive line, known as the Hindenburg Line.

The operation was considered one of the shrewdest defensive operations of World War One.

The Hindenburg Line

By the end of the Somme in November 1916, Germany’s situation looked increasingly precarious. Although neither the British nor the French had broken through the front, they had mostly destroyed the German defences.

Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, the new German Chief of the General Staff, and Erich Ludendorff, his deputy, were concerned that the strength of the German army was fading.

The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme had left the German western armies exhausted and they could not defend the front indefinitely. General Ludendorff, writing at the end of 1916, observed:

If the war lasted, our defeat seemed inevitable. Economically we were in a highly unfavourable position for a war of exhaustion.

The German leadership decided to change tactics, building a brand-new system of defences which they called Siegfriedstellung, otherwise known as the Hindenburg Line.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff authorised the creation of a massive system of specifically prepared defences, running from Arras, west of Cambrai, down to Saint-Quentin and beyond the Somme.

The creation of the Hindenburg Line allowed the German troops to consolidate and withdraw to a more fortified position and along a shorter front line.

The Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt (Credit: Halsey, Francis Whiting).

The Germans dug deep, wide trenches to stop tanks as well as dense belts of barbed wire – in some places 40 metres thick – which they believed were mostly impregnable.

This was supplemented with concreted machine gun positions with overlapping fields of fire as well as concrete mortar positions, infantry shelters and tunnels linking those shelters to the trenches.

After six months of planning and digging, the German army was ready to withdraw to a new, fortified and condensed line of defence, in an operation code named Operation Alberich.

Operation Alberich

Between 9 February and 20 March 1917, the Germans launched Operation Alberich and fell back to their new positions along the Hindenburg Line. They moved 40 km of their existing front line, while laying waste to a huge area of French countryside and destroying anything the enemy might find useful.

Map of of the German withdrawal to the Siegfriedstellung/Hindenburg Line, 1917 (Credit: The Times).

Railways were dug up, trees were felled, water wells were polluted. Electric cables, water pipes, roads and bridges were all systemically obliterated; telephone lines and telegraph cables were cut. A large number of land mines and booby traps were planted.

Entire towns and villages were razed to the ground, and hundreds of thousands were evacuated. Those able to work were sent to occupied France, while women, children and the elderly were left behind. As Ludendorff said:

On the one hand it was desirable not to make a present to the enemy of too much fresh strength in the form of recruits and labourers, and on the other we wanted to foist upon him as many mouths to feed as possible.

Response by British and French forces

Much of the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line had taken place under the cover of darkness.

As a result, the Germans had prevented the Allies from fully grasping their plans. British aerial reconnaissance failed to detect the construction of the Hindenburg Line or the German preparations for Operation Alberich.

The ruined village of Athies, showing the mine crater intended to impede traffic (Credit: Imperial War Museums)

British and French soldiers found themselves facing a desolate landscape filled with booby traps and snipers.

Amid great uncertainty, they moved forward cautiously. Allied forces came in fits and starts, becoming embroiled in deadly skirmishes with counter-attacking Germans.

The Germans’ withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line allowed them to fight back while consolidating their overall position.

The Hindenburg Line was attacked several times in 1917, but it was not until 29 September 1918 during the Hundred Days Offensive that the Siegfriedstellung was finally overwhelmed.

The Battle of Arras

The Battle of Arras, which commenced in April 1917, was essentially the British army’s first attempt to breach the Hindenburg Line.

Having been forced to follow the Germans into their new positions, Britain’s task was to test out this new German defensive belt and hopefully break through it.

In the spring of 1917 the British began to utilise tunnels and artillery with more strategic acumen than ever before.

Engagements like the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which saw all four divisions of the Canadian Corps successfully storm a near-impregnable position, proved to be landmark Allied victories.

Men of the Machine Gun Corps fire their gun at a German aircraft during the Battle of Arras (Credit: Imperial War Museums).

The British Government had been in high spirits. They believed the Somme Offensive would be the decisive assault and dispatched two cinematographers to film the soldiers on the eve of battle. The names of these cinematographers were Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell.

On 1 July McDowell was stationed near Mametz to the south of the Somme front. Malins, meanwhile, positioned himself alongside the soldiers tasked with attacking the strong German defences near the village of Beaumont-Hamel.

The Sunken Lane

The main task for the soldiers stationed near Beaumont-Hamel was to secure the village. In preparation for the assault some of these men, the 1^st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, had occupied a forward position in a low country road called ‘the Sunken Lane.’ The Lane was situated in No Man’s land, directly below the German position.

To reach the Lane, at just passed midnight on 1 July the Fusiliers had advanced through a tunnel (constructed by the Royal Engineers over the past weeks). It connected the Lane with the British front line further west.

Malins himself arrived at the Lane through the tunnel at 6.30am. Resting soldiers greeted him, awaiting the signal to commence the attack. It was during this ‘calm before the storm’ that Malins made sure to film the Fusiliers.

A screenshot of Malins’ footage taken of the Fusiliers in the Sunken Lane at c.7.00am on 1 July 1916.

Hawthorn Ridge

As Zero Hour approached, Malins headed back from the Sunken Lane. By 7.19am he had positioned himself at a part of the British front line trench called ‘Jacob’s ladder.’ There he waited with his camera up and running.

Malins’ position gave him a clear view of ‘Hawthorn Ridge,’ the German stronghold that dominated the area.

During the build-up to the battle, members of the 252^nd Tunnelling Company had covertly mined underneath the formidable bastion and planted 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) of explosives. Its detonation, the British High Command had decided, would signal the end of the artillery bombardment and the start of the Allied attempt to take Beaumont-Hamel.

At 7.20am on Saturday 1 July Malins caught the exact moment the detonation occurred — one of the most iconic pieces of footage captured from the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He later recalled witnessing the explosion:

“The ground where I stood gave a mighty convulsion. It rocked and swayed. I gripped hold of my tripod to steady myself. Then for all the world like a gigantic sponge, the earth rose high in the air to the height of hundreds of feet. Higher and higher it rose, and with a horrible grinding roar the earth settles back upon itself, leaving in its place a mountain of smoke.”

The explosion at Hawthorn Ridge, caught on camera by Geoffrey Malins, at 7.20am on 1 July 1916.

The Battle of Beaumont-Hamel: 1 July 1916

The attack commenced. Members of the 2^nd Royal Fusiliers stormed the crater and managed to take control of several areas of the destroyed stronghold. The German defenders however, realising from the ceasing of the artillery barrage and the deafening explosion that the expected assault had started, emerged from their bunkers and raced to set up their machine guns.

Within minutes of the explosion they had re-manned much of the ridge and started to fire down into the advancing British. Shell-shock presumably gripped many of these defenders. Still they fired. By 7.30am the Germans were ready for the main attack.

What followed was a catastrophe for the British, especially for the Lancashire Fusiliers stationed in the Sunken Lane. As they emerged from their forward position at Zero Hour, a slaughter ensued.

The Germans knew the Battalion had situated themselves in the Lane and quickly focused their firepower on the soldiers as they emerged. Casualties mounted rapidly. Many of those whom Malins had filmed hours earlier did not live to see the sun set – 163 killed, 312 wounded and 11 missing.

Frame from sequence 34: British Tommies rescuing a comrade under shell fire. (This man died 30 minutes after reaching the trenches).

“The Battle of the Somme”

By mid-morning the Germans had pushed back the British assault at Beaumont-Hamel and both sides had agreed a ceasefire. It was not until 13 November that the British finally captured the village.

Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell returned to England with over 8,000 feet of film which was edited into “The Battle of the Somme.” The film went on to shock international audiences over the summer of 1916 and was the highest grossing film for over 20 years, until “Gone With The Wind” was released in 1939.

Malins’ work was a combination of documentary and propaganda, which both shocked and moved audiences around the country.

Today, The Battle of the Somme provides a valuable insight into an important historical event, immortalising in film one of the First World War’s most infamous battles.

1. Geoffrey Malins’ real name was Arthur Herbert Malins

Geoffrey Malins was born Arthur Herbert Malins in Hastings, Sussex. The son of a hairdresser, little else is known about the early life of Malins, who resisted discussing his childhood.

Details of his origins were even omitted from his memoirs, and it has been speculated that this was an attempt to separate himself from his past and make his mark free from judgement.

 2. The Battle of the Somme was not Malins’ first experience of the battlefield

Malins began his career as a portrait photographer before securing a role at the Clarendon Film Company.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, Malins joined French based Gaumont Film Company who sent him to Belgium. Here, Malins was tasked with filming the Belgian army in action.

This experience was to provide a small insight into what was to come.

The explosion of the mine under Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt at 7.20am on 1 July 1916. Malins famously filmed the explosion from his position on the old British front line.

3. The Battle of the Somme was watched by an estimated 20 million people

In 1915 Malins received a War Office appointment to act as an official camera man for the British Army. Given the rank of Lieutenant, Malins was sent to the Front to begin filming. By June 1916 Malins had made 16 films.

In June 1916 Malins was assigned to film the upcoming Somme Offensive, with fellow film maker John McDowell. Malins returned to London in July 1916 armed with 8,000 feet of film.

The completed film, 77 minutes long, premiered on 7 August 1916. In the coming weeks, an astounding 20 million people went to see the film.

Despite its reception, some considered the film’s depiction of death too graphic for British audiences. Malins acknowledged this, arguing that it was the public’s “duty to see for themselves”.

Whilst some scenes in the film were staged or recreated, the footage remains a rich source for historical study.

4. Malins was badly injured whilst filming The Battle of the Somme

Despite his non-combative role as camera man, Malins did not escape the horrors of war. His position was a dangerous one, not without risk.

During his first year of filming Malins was wounded twice. He was also deafened, gassed, and shaken by explosions.

His declining health eventually meant he was discharged from duty.

Geoffrey Malins with an aeroscope camera during World War One.

5.  Malins went on to write and direct a number of films

After the war, Malins’ film career went in a different direction, understandably preferring film sets to the battlefield.

In 1919 Malins founded the Garrick Film Company. The company produced several films directed by Malins including: The Greater Love, The Scourge and The Golden Web.

Although the company went into liquidation soon after, Malins went on to make at least a dozen more feature films.

6. In 1920 Malins published an autobiography about his wartime filming

In 1920 Malins published How I filmed the War, an autobiography about the filming of The Battle of the Somme and his wartime career as a camera man. The autobiography describes the harsh conditions under which Malins had to work.

However, despite being described as an “entertaining read”, Malins’ account seems to ignore some important truths. His colleague McDowell is not mentioned once.

7. In 1918 Malins was awarded an OBE

Malins’ efforts were officially recognised when he was awarded an OBE in 1918.

Malins was commended for the work he undertook “in circumstances of extreme difficulty”.

8. Malins was a keen adventurer and traveller

Malins was an avid traveller, with a taste for adventure. In the years after the war, he often traveled the world on various expeditions.

In 1922 Malins was part of an ambitious team that attempted to fly across the world. The group flew as far as India, but unfortunately no further.

9. Malins went on to write a second book, Going Further, documenting his adventures

In November 1926 Malins took part in another attempt to journey across the world — this time in a motorcycle and sidecar with Charles Oliver.

The duo, on bikes nicknamed ‘Pip’ and ‘Squeak’, rode through Europe, the Middle and Far East, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, San Francisco and New York, before returning to London in December 1927.

During his journey, Malins continued to satisfy his love of film. He gave evidence to the Royal Commission of the Moving Picture Industry in Australia and shot extensive footage documenting his own journey.

The trip was the subject of his second book, published in 1931, entitled Going Further.

10. Malins eventually settled in South Africa

After a successful career and colourful life, in the 1930s Malins settled in South Africa. Malins passed away in 1940 at the age of 54.

Patriotism, bravery and unimaginable suffering – the Battle of Verdun symbolises all of these in French consciousness. Here are ten facts about the battle.

1. The German attack was devised by Erich von Falkenhayn

The chief of the German General Staff, Falkenhayn was confident that 1916 would be a breakthrough year for the German forces on the Western Front. He believed the key to this was to launch a concentrated offensive against the French.

In Falkenhayn’s eyes, the French army was the weaker Allied force on the Western Front: after all they had suffered horrific casualties during the first two years of the war (nearly three million) and the nation was near breaking point.

Falkenhayn therefore came up with the idea of attacking a key strategic location of the French sector on the line: the Verdun salient.

2. Verdun was heavily defended

Surrounded by numerous heavily-armed forts, Verdun was a fortress city and a vital link in the French sector of the Western Front. To the French, Verdun was their national treasure, something Falkenhayn knew full well.

A map of Verdun and the battlefield.

3. Its main defence was Fort Douaumont

Having only recently been completed in 1913, Douaumont dominated the northern approach to Verdun. It was heavily defended with numerous machine gun nests protected in steel pillboxes.

4. The first shot was fired on 21 February 1916

It came from a German long-distance naval gun and damaged Verdun Cathedral, right in the centre of the city. It was followed by a huge barrage of Verdun’s front defences inflicting huge casualties. Of every five French soldiers that had been positioned on the front line, only one survived unscathed.

5. The first flamethrowers were used at Verdun

Dubbed the flammenwer, they were carried by specially-trained German storm troops who also carried numerous grenades. The flamethrower had never been used on the battlefield before, but it proved devastatingly effective.

A later Wehrmacht flammenwafer (flamethrower) in action. Credit: Bundesarchiv / Commons.

6. Douaumont fell to the Germans on 25 February

The largest and most powerful fort in the Verdun system fell without a shot being fired, partly due to German audacity but partly also because the French had removed almost all the defenders from the fort. For the French it was a huge blow, to the Germans a great success.

7. The Verdun defence was handed over to Philippe Pétain at midnight the same day

Following these disastrous early setbacks, command of Verdun’s defence was given over to Philippe Pétain, who went on to reform and greatly improve the French defences at Verdun – perhaps most importantly improving the supply lines to and from Verdun which were crucial to maintaining the French defence. He later became known as ‘The Lion of Verdun’.

Philippe Pétain.

8. The beginning of the battle of the Somme greatly aided the French defence at Verdun

When the Somme Offensive began on 1 July 1916, the Germans were forced to relocate large numbers of men from the Verdun sector to the Somme to counter the British-spearheaded assault. Contrarily, most of the French army remained defending Verdun.

The need to divert German troops to the Somme meant that 1 July marked the official end of Falkenhayn’s offensive at Verdun, but the battle continued.

9. Douaumont was recaptured on 24 October

Nine months after Verdun’s most formidable defence had fallen into German hands, French forces successfully stormed Douaumont after a massive two-day bombardment.

A painting showing French forces retake Douaument.

10. It was the longest battle of World War One

The Battle of Verdun was the largest battle of attrition the world had yet seen, lasting ten months.

French cavalry rest on their way to Verdun.

11. There were nearly 1 million casualties

The official records state France lost 162,440 men killed or missing and 216,337 wounded for a total of 378,777 casualties. Some now argue, however, that these figures are an underestimate and that France actually suffered over 500,000 casualties in total.

The Germans meanwhile suffered just over 400,000 casualties.

The figures include not only the dead but also the wounded and prisoners of war. With the huge numbers of people involved there are, of course, difficulties in calculating precise numbers. Despite the occasional imprecision of First World War record keeping however these figures still provide a powerful illustration of the appalling effects of the war.

15. Battle of Arras

9 April–16 May 1917 – 278,000 casualties

This photo shows the town of Arras still in ruins in 1919.

The Battle was fought between Britain and Germany with 158,000 British and 120,000 German casualties.

14. Battles of Tannenberg & Masurian Lakes

26–30 August 1914 & 7–14 September 1914 – 347,000 casualties

The German General Staff observing events at the Battle of Tannenberg.

At the Battle of Tannenberg itself the German army lost only 10,000 men but inflicted 170,000 casualties on the Russians. The Battle of Masurian Lakes occured as the Germans pursued the retreating Russian force inflicting another 125,000 casualties while once again only losing 10,000 of their own men.

13. Second Battle of the Aisne

16 April – 9 May 1917 – 355,000 Casualties

German soldiers at the Battle of the Aisne firing from the cover of some trees.

Fought between the French and the Germans the second battle of the Aisne resulted in 182,000 French and 163,000 German casualties.

12. Battle of Kolubara

16 November – 16 December 1914 – 405,000 casualties

Men of the Serbian army on the march.

The Serbian campaign was disastrous for Austria-Hungary and Kolubara marked the turning point in favour of the Serbians.

273,000 Austrian casualties were inflicted and they fled the country. The Serbian human cost was extensive too though and over a quarter of their population perished in the course of World War One.

11. Gallipoli campaign

25 April 1915 – 9 January 1916 – 470,000 casualties

The Gallipoli offensive is best known for its failure and high cost in allied lives which totalled 187,959 casualties including 28,150 Australians. The Ottomans too, however, suffered heavy losses defending and their total casualties were around 174,828

10. First Battle of the Marne

6–12 September 1914 – 519,000 casualties

At the Battle of the Marne the French had yet to modernise their uniforms as seen here in their soft hats and long tunics.

Fought to defend Paris from German capture the Battle of the Marne led to a quarter of a million French casualties. German casualty figures are unknown but believed to be similar.

9. Battle of Galicia (Lemberg)

23 August – 11 September 1914 – 655,0000 casualties

Although not ubiquitous as they were in the west trenches did feature in eastern front warfare such as this one dug near Galicia.

Despite being a significant victory for the Russians they still lost 225,000 men at Galicia. Their opponents, Austria-Hungary, suffered greater losses at around 324,000 men.

8. Battle of Verdun – 21 February

20 December 1916 – 698,000 casualties

French forces advancing under fire at the Battle of Verdun.

Lasting three quarters of a year Verdun was one of the longest battles of the war and the French and German armies suffered in excess of 300,000 casualties each and average of around 70,000 per month.

7. Battle of Lys and Second Battle of the Somme

7–29 April 1918 & August 21 – September 3, 191 – 804,100 casualties

British soldiers leaving their trench during the Battle of the Somme.

Taking place around the time of the Hundred Days and Spring Offensives the Battles of the Somme and Lys would proved immensely costly for all sides.

6. Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)

31 July – 10 November 1917 – 857,100 casualties

Soldiers making their way across the ravaged landscape around Ypres.

The casualty figures for Passchendaele are highly contested but it is generally agreeed that each side lost a minimum of 200,000 men and likely as many as twice that.

5. Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive

2 May – June 1915 – 1,087,000 casualties

In 1915 prior to the offensive Kaiser Wilhelm paid a visit to the 11th Army on the Eastern Front.

The Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive was a clear victory for the Central Powers over Russia with the latter suffering over 400,000 casualties in May alone.

4. First Battle of the Somme

1 July – 18 November 1916 – 1,113,000 casualties

The Battle of the Somme presented very few tangible gains for either side and yet was one of the most terrible of the war. 623,907 French and British soldiers became causalties as did up to half a million Germans.

3. Spring Offensive (Kaiserschalcht/Ludendorff Offensive)

21 March – 18 July 1918 – 1,539,715 casualties

An abandoned British trench taken during the Spring Offensive.

The Spring Offensive was technically as success for the Germans and they succeeded in taking allied ground. In the process, however, they took 688,341 casualties and their depleted forces were unable to hold onto the areas  taken in the offensive.

Allied losses too were high though and both Britian and France would emerge from the Spring Offensive with over 400,000 fewer men than they started with.

2. Hundred Days Offensive

8 August – 11 November 1918 – 1,855,369 Casualties

The war prompted rapid advances in military technology and inventions such as this tank contributed to the horrific scale of killings.

Launched in response to the Spring Offensive the Hundred Days would be one of the worst periods of fighting on the western front. 785,733 Germans were injured or killed and a further 386,342 taken prisoner.

A total of 1,070,000 British, French and Americans were either captured, killed or wounded.

1. Brusilov Offensive

June 4 – September 20, 1916 – 2,317,800 casualties

The Brusilov Offensive was one of the most lethal offensives ever; Russia alone lost around 1,400,000 men.

As with the Battle of Galicia the Brusilov Offensive was a Russian victory that came at a staggeringly high price this time over 1 million men became casualties on the Russian side alone.

750,000 casualties were inflicted on the Central Powers, these were mostly Austro-Hungarian but around 140,000 Germans are also included in the 750,000.

This article is an edited transcript of Tank 100 with Robin Schäefer, available on History Hit TV.

The tank had a terrific impact. It had a terrific impact in as such that it caused huge chaos in the German Army. Its appearance alone caused a terrific chaos because no one knew exactly what they were facing.

Only a few select units of the German army faced the English tanks in battle in September 1916. So, rumours spread very quickly throughout the German Army.

Myths developed on the appearance of the tanks, what they were, what powered them, how they were armoured, and that created a huge amount of chaos which took a very long time to sort.

What was the reaction of front line German soldiers on September 15, 1916?

Only a very small amount of German soldiers actually faced the tanks in the battle at Flers-Courcelette. One of the major reasons being that only very few of them made it through the lines to actually attack the German positions.

So, there’s not a lot of written material by German soldiers talking about first meeting tanks in battle. One of the things that is quite clear is that all German letters written about that battle give a totally different picture of what actually happened.

There must have been utter chaos and confusion caused by these tanks. And that is mirrored in the descriptions given by German soldiers of the tanks which differ enormously.

Some describe them in the way they actually look like, others say that they encountered armoured-fighting vehicles powered forward by shovels and that they are X shaped. Some say they are square shaped. Some say they hold up to 40 infantrymen. Some say they’re firing mines. Some say they are firing shells.

There’s a total confusion. No one knows exactly what is happening and what they were actually facing.

The descriptions given by German soldiers of the Mark I tanks used at Flers-Courcelette differ enormously.

‘An armoured automobile… curiously X shaped’

There’s a letter written by a soldier serving in Field Artillery Regiment number 13, which was one of the German Wurttemberg artillery units that fought at Flers-Courcelette. And he wrote a letter to his parents shortly after the battle and in just a small extract, he said that:

“Terrible hours lie behind me. I want to tell you some words about them. On the 15th of September, we have stalled an English attack. And amidst the most severe enemy fire, my two guns fire 1,200 shells into the attacking English columns. Firing over open sites, we inflicted terrible casualties on them. We also destroyed an armoured automobile…”

That’s what he calls it:

“armed with two quick-firing guns. It was curiously X shaped and powered by two enormous shovels which duck into the ground pulling the vehicle forward.”

He must have been quite a distance away from it. But these rumours spread. And the description, for example, of an X shaped tank continues to linger in German reports, and German evaluation reports, and combat reports up until early 1917.

So, that was one of the major problems the German Army had. They did not know what they were facing. And as they did not know what they were facing, they couldn’t plan how to defend themselves against it.

Over time more written material emerges by German soldiers about British tanks. They liked to write about them, sometimes even if they have never faced them. So many letters sent home are about tanks faced by some comrade over someone they know. They write home about them because they find them so fascinating.

Four British Mark I tanks filling with petrol on 15 September 1916.

Combating the tank

Something that the German army noticed very, very quickly was that it was quite easy to destroy these slow-moving vehicles. When hand grenades were tied together with string and used against the tank’s tracks, this made quite an effect. And they learned pretty quickly how to defend themselves against tanks.

It’s visible by the fact that as early as 21 October 1916, Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht issued the first, “How to Combat Enemy Tanks” report to the troops. And this says, for example, that rifle and machine gun fire are mostly useless as are the use of single hand grenades.

It says that bundle charges, so hand grenades bundled together, are effective but they can only be handled properly by experienced men. And that the most effective means to combat enemy tanks is 7.7-centimetre field guns behind the second trench line in direct fire.

So, the German Army started pretty quickly to try to come up with effective means to combat tanks, but the major problem, I can’t repeat that often enough, was that they did not know anything about them because the tanks they destroyed or immobilised at Flers-Courcelette, they were not able to evaluate them.

They were not able to get out of the trench to look at them and to see how thick the armour was, how they were armed, how they were crewed. They didn’t know. So, for a very long time, everything the German Army developed in the means of fighting tanks and facing them was based on theory, rumour, and myth, and that made it very difficult for them.

Allied troops stand next to a Mark I tank during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, September 1916.

Were the German front line troops frightened of these tanks?

Yes. That fear continued throughout the war. But it’s quite obvious if you look at accounts and reports that this mainly was a problem of second line or inexperienced troops.

Experienced German front line troops very soon learned that they were able to destroy these vehicles or to immobilise them by a number of means. And when they had these means, they usually stood to their positions.

When they didn’t have the means, if they were ill equipped, not armed in the correct manner, were lacking the right kinds of ammunition or artillery support, they intended to run.

That is mirrored in the German casualty numbers in all engagements against British tanks: you will notice that the numbers of Germans taken prisoner during these engagements is much higher than that encountered in engagements without armour.

So, they spread a massive amount of fear and terror which the Germans called ‘the tank fear’. And they soon learned that the best means to defend or to destroy an enemy tank was to counter that fear.

In the first proper hand-out guide-lining combat against tanks, “The Decree of Defensive Tactics Against Tanks,” issued on 29 September 1918, the first point in that decree is the sentence,

“The fight against tanks is first and foremost a matter of maintaining steady nerves.”

So, that was the most important thing and remained the most important thing when they faced tanks in battle.