Roland Haig
Roland Charles Haig was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and First World War. After a brief period of service in the militia, Haig joined the 16th Lancers in 1894. He served with them until 1899 when he joined the 7th Dragoon Guards, being promoted to captain in the following year. He served in the Orange Free State and Transvaal in the Second Boer War, including fighting at the Battle of Diamond Hill. In 1903 Haig retired from the army, joining the Imperial Yeomanry. He transferred to the Rifle Brigade in 1907, where he was promoted to major. Haig began his service in the First World War in the 1st Battalion of that regiment.
Haig became second in command of the 2nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment in January 1915, moving in the same position to the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in April. From May 1915 to May 1916 Haig commanded a division of mounted troops in 8th Division, before briefly commanding the III Corps Cyclist Battalion. In June he was given command of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment, with which he fought in the Battle of the Somme and Battle of Passchendaele, in the latter of which he was wounded in late July 1917. Haig returned to service in October and in November was promoted to brigadier-general and given command of the 24th Infantry Brigade. He commanded the brigade during the German spring offensive. On 27 May 1918, during the Third Battle of the Aisne, Haig's headquarters was attacked and overrun by a German attack. He was heavily gassed but managed to escape. His injuries from the gas attack forced him to resign his command, and he saw no further service in the war. Haig retired from the army in 1923 and died at Drumnadrochit, Inverness-shire, at the age of 80.
Early life
Roland Charles Haig was born in Kensington, London, on 1 February 1873, the son of the barrister and justice of the peace Charles Edwin Haig of Pen-Ithon, Radnorshire, and his wife Janet Stein, whose family were the Haigs of Cameron House. He was a cousin of the future Field Marshal Douglas Haig. Haig was educated at Winchester College.Military career
Early service
Haig's first military service came on 6 September 1890 when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. He only served briefly in the militia, resigning his commission on 4 March 1891. Haig was later trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from which he passed out in 1894 to join the 16th Lancers. He did so on 14 November, becoming a second lieutenant. He served in the 16th Lancers until 1899, transferring to the 7th Dragoon Guards as a lieutenant on 4 October. He was then promoted to captain on 17 January 1900.Second Boer War
The 7th Dragoon Guards arrived at Southampton on 2 February to travel to South Africa for service in the Second Boer War. Haig departed on board SS Norseman on the following day, disembarking at Cape Town on 3 March.Haig served in operations in the Orange Free State from April. He was part of a force attacking Thaba 'Nchu on 27 April, during which the regiment was harassed by rifle fire. When another captain was injured, Haig escorted him to an ambulance which was then also attacked, forcing the officer to roll underneath it. Haig began to ride back to his squadron, and whilst galloping under fire he came across a soldier whose horse had been shot. He gave his own to the man and finished the journey at a run, waving his helmet towards the Boers to signify that they were missing him. On 24 May the regiment crossed the Vaal River into the Transvaal. Fighting around the Klip River on 29 May, Haig saved another soldier whose horse had been shot, riding through artillery and rifle fire to rescue him. Haig participated in the captures of Johannesburg on 31 May and Pretoria on 5 June, and then fought at the Battle of Diamond Hill between 11 and 12 June.
Haig later received the Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps for Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, Johannesburg, and Diamond Hill. On 10 October 1903 he retired from the army, still a captain, to instead join the Imperial Yeomanry. This came about because of the results of a serious hunting accident that left him unable to continue in the regular army. Within the Yeomanry, Haig joined the Royal Bucks Hussars. For 1907 he also took up the role of master of the Radnorshire & West Herefordshire Hunt.
First World War
In April 1907 Haig transferred as a captain to the 7th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, the regiment's special reserve. He was promoted to major in the 6th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade on 5 August 1914, a day after the British entry into World War I, and then transferred to the 1st Battalion of that regiment, and it was with this battalion that he travelled to France to fight in the First World War. In January 1915 he was made second-in-command of the 2nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment, which was in action at Cuinchy on 1 and 6 February. Haig was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his service on 18 February. He stayed with the South Staffords until April of the same year. Haig then moved to serve as second-in-command of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade until May, when he was given command of a division of mounted troops within 8th Division. On 9 May 8th Division fought in the Battle of Aubers.Haig commanded his mounted troops until May 1916 when he was made commander of the III Corps Cyclist Battalion, which he commanded for only one month. In late June Haig took part in the preparations for the Battle of the Somme, going to the front lines to ascertain the condition of the barbed wire in front of the German positions, and advising that more be done with artillery to cut it. He was then promoted to lieutenant colonel on 4 July and on the same day given command of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment in the 25th Infantry Brigade of 8th Division. The battalion had lost all its senior officers in the first day on the Somme, with a second lieutenant left in command.
Le Transloy
The battalion spent the following two weeks behind the lines at Allouagne, reorganising the unit and absorbing new drafts of soldiers. It returned to the front line a week later, based in the old coalfields to the north of Loos. The battalion spent most of its time in reserve; between 4 September and 11 September Haig was in temporary command of the brigade. Haig's battalion was relieved from the front on 10 October, and two days later the Berkshires were moved, along with the rest of the division, back to the Somme. The battalion arrived at Doullens on 16 October, went into reserve on 19 October, and went into the front lines on 22 October. Haig's battalion then fought at the Battle of Le Transloy on 23 October, serving in support of the centre of the brigade's line, in an attempt to capture a strong series of German trenches covering Le Transloy and Beaulencourt.After suffering high numbers of casualties from artillery bombardment, Haig began to send his companies forward to reinforce the attacking battalions. The German trench facing them was heavily defended and was still holding at nightfall, when Haig called off further attacks. At 3:50 a.m. on 24 October the Berkshires went in the first wave of a new attack on the trench, but the mud hindered them and they retreated under heavy rifle and machine gun fire at 4:30 a.m. The battalion stayed in the line until 26 October when they were relieved. 8th Division was placed in reserve on 2 November, being criticised for failing to capture Zenith trench.
Bouchavesnes
Haig's battalion reorganised itself at Metigny between 20 November and 27 December, and 8th Division returned to the front line on 23 January 1917, based near Sailly-Saillisel. The Berkshires were taking over trenches at Rancourt previously garrisoned by the French, and spent much of February upgrading their defences and general infrastructure in the trenches. Pencilled in to make an attack at Bouchavesnes-Bergen which was intended to help push the general advance forwards, the division went into reserve on 11 February to practice for the attack. They returned on 21 February and attacked in the early morning of 4 March, with the Berkshires in the front of the 25th Brigade's attack. The aim was to capture an important piece of high ground that overlooked Bouchavesnes, defended by two levels of trenches. The battalion captured the first of these with very minimal casualties, and quickly moved on to the second trench which was also captured, with all objectives completed by 6:30 am.At around 8 a.m. German counter attacks began, and communications with the attack began to deteriorate. Haig therefore went forward himself at 5:30 pm, organising men to fill gaps in the front line between established units. Having ensured that the newly captured ground could be held, he returned to his headquarters. The Berkshires successfully defeated the German counter attacks and by 6 March the area was secure; Haig's battalion was relieved on the same day. In reserve they received the congratulations of the Commander-in-Chief, Douglas Haig.
Advance to the Hindenburg Line
The British began to advance when the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg Line soon afterwards, and the Berkshires moved up to Hennois Wood on 26 March. The retreating Germans left behind a rearguard at Sorel-le-Grand nearby, and on 30 March the battalion attacked the position, successfully capturing it while seeing very little of the enemy. Continuing the advance, on 4 April the battalion launched an attack in conjunction with 20th Division on Gouzeaucourt Wood, near Metz-en-Couture. The battalion attacked through heavy snow with artillery support and successfully assaulted the German positions, and by daybreak Haig was able to go forward and establish defences on the edge of the wood. Haig was especially pleased with the attack, writing that the loss of twenty men killed was "not excessive, considering the difficulty of the attack, the snow, and the amount of ground gained". The battalion was relieved in the night of 5 April.The following two weeks saw the Berkshires in reserve, helping to clear roads of obstacles; the Germans had attempted to destroy and block the routes of advance that the British might have used. Haig's battalion returned to the front on 16 April in Gauche Wood near Villers-Guislain, which was still held by the Germans. On 18 April Haig was detailed to support an assault on the village by another brigade, and he sent out parties of machine gunners to assist in such. By 7:30 a.m. the village had been captured, and Haig's units had joined up with the attacking force having suffered very light casualties. The battalion was relieved later in the day to rest at Heudicourt. After this the Germans fully retreated to the Hindenburg Line, and the British advance faltered. 8th Division was moved from the Somme to go to Belgium.