DEATH OF EARL HAIG

Hokitika Guardian, 31 January 1928, Page 3

DEATH OF EARL HAIG

(Australian <fe N.Z. Cable Association.)

k (Received this day at 11.0 a.tn.) / LONDON, .Tan. 30. Earl Hait( collapsed while undressing. Tlie announcement of his death tamo as a {front shock to the public. He iviis apparently in good health. He sat when participating in the Inaction of Haig’s Boy Scouts, lie promised to attend the Empire Service League on ’Wednesday with the object of discussing Dominion representation in the Flanders’ Pilgrimage in August. Haig in the afternoon walked to Hyde Park. He had a hearty dinner and retired at 11.40 p.m. Soon afterwards his bother heard a groan from his i bedroom and found Haig sitting gaspMing for breath. Though a. doctor was iff prompt attendance, Haig died on ' the stroke of midnight. His health. ' hitherto had given no cause for anxiety, though a physician had warned him that the appalling strain of war service had affected his heart. Earl Haig’s last speech to Boy Scouts on Saturday struck an Empire note, saying: “It is essential that young men should be taught the meaning of Empire and the sacrifices their fathers made therefore. I appeal to y you hoys always to play the game and try to realise what citizenship and public spirit really mean. When you grow up, always remember you belong to a great Empire. Stand up and defend England when people talk disrespectfully of it.”

LONDON, Jan. .Th M. Clemeneatix said: “In my estimation, Earl Haig was the best General Brtiain ever had and his was the largest contribution towards the allied victory.” -M. Painlevo (President) sent a. letter to the War Office in which lie says : “ Accept the profound sympathy of myself and the French Army. Haig ( was as popular in France as he was in England. Our army offers homage in recognition of great qualities he showed in the glorious mission, and realises the part he.played in the common victory.” COMRADES PAY THIBETE. LONDON, Jan. 30. Sir George Milne, a colleague of Earl Haig in the Great War, telegraphed to Countess Haig on behalf of the Army Council expressing profound sympathy in the irreparable loss of her husband, wlio was loved and trusted by all the Armies of the Empire, which he led to victory. General Jan Hamilton cited Earl i Haig’s recent inspection of the Boy S.couts and emphasised his making friends with the ’eager Wolf Cubs, adding—“So like him. To-morrow he was going to advise the British Legion how best to help distressed comrades. So like him to-day, his valiant heart has ceased to heat. Not now when the shock benumbs us can a pen be trusted to trace the footsteeps of his wonderful career. Earl Haig was never a man to parade anguish, either when under his orders men were falling in thousands, or afterwards.- Earl Haig always held liils head high and and never faltered momentarily under the burden ot his world-wide responsibility that he endured for years. lie preferred the people to think he had not done anything special. .Mussolini when ' ( hoi recently met him, said lie imagined he was going to see a care-worn old gentleman, creeping into a room. Instead he found a vigorous- young soldier. Earl Haig repeated the remark, not because' it tickled his vanity, which 4 whs non-existent, hut because he felt appearance helped to maintain the assumption that ho had been through nothing in particular. But his too human heart betrayed him at the end and now in death he was- no more. Mo was typical of the best side of Scot. H.is special qualities were stability, simplicity, intense modesty, and unfaltering generosity.’’

LLOYD GEORGE’S TRIBUTE. LONDON, Jan. 30,

Mr Lloyd George, interviewed, said

Earl Haig was a mail of unfailing courage, and purpose. He never lost heart in the worst moment of our

military fortunes. He faithfully car- _ riecl oiit the plans laid down whether he liked them or not, especially "lien the Government decided on unity of command and placed the British army under Marshal Foch’s control. Whatever might have been his personal views, lie carried out the policy honourably in every particular. He behaved,' not only like a great patriot, hut like a great gentleman. JOFFRE’S TRIBUTE. PARIS, Jan. 30. General Joffre, in a tribute to Earl Haig, said he learned of his death with painful emotion. He knew him personally when he commanded the Aitov Corps, but lie appreciated this great soldiers’ sterling military virtues above all when he fought -side hv side in ID2G at the Somme. “[ maintain a full affectionate admiration, and deplore the loss which has befallen the Empire, whose glorious army loses one of its most illustrious chiefs.’’ {ALA SSI O QU ALI TIES. LONDON”, Jan. 30. An official medical statement shows Earl Haig’s heart failure was due to the effects of war and previous tropical campaigning services, on the heart muscles. Hon W. Churchill said: “Earl Haig was imcomparably the finest British soldier in this fateful age. His calm, unwearying strength of mind and singleness of spirit*, enabled liim to* endure all stresses of war and render service t? the State beyond the power of any other man. These classic qualities preserved a noble dignity amid rewards and unaccustomed leisures of a victorious peace. He never spoke a word but for his comrades. His end was swift like a soldier’s on the battlefield. His memory will live and grow •with the grandeur of the events with which he strove, and over which in the end he ruled.”