SIR DOUGLAS HAIG.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1490, 28 December 1915, Page 4

SIR DOUGLAS HAIG.

THIRTY YEARS A SODDIER. ABDK AND SKIDFUD DEADER. General Sir Douglas Haig, who, at Sir John French’s suggestion, has been appointed to succeed the latter in the command of the British forces in France and Flanders, has a long period of distinguished service to his credit. His record in the present war especially has stamped him as an able leader, and the skill and determination that he has displayed in several engagements have been the subject of high commendation by Sir John French, with whom he has been closely associated since the beginning of the campaign. Sir Douglas Haig, who has been thirty years a soldier, is 54 years of age, having been born in Edinburgh in 1861. He was educated at Clifton and at Erasenose College, Oxford, and afterwards entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Joining the 7th Hussars in February, 1885, he was promoted captain in 1891, brevet-major in 1893, and brevet-lieutenant-colonel in 1900. In 1901 be was transferred to the command of the 17th Dancers, and commanded the regiment until 1903. In the following year he was promoted major-general, and lieutenant-general in 1910. SERVICE IN SOUTH AFRICA. Sir Douglas Haig has seen service in Egypt and South Africa. During the Nile Expedition of 1898 he served with the Egyptian Army, and was present at the battles ot Athara and Omdurman, on which occasions he was mentioned in despatches. From 1899 to 1902 he took part in the operations in South Africa, being present at the battles of Elandslaagte, Paardeb«rg, and Belfast, and in the operations around Colesburg and for the relief of Kimberley. He acted as deputy-assistant-adjutant-general for the cavalry in Natal, and was chief staff officer to General Sir John French during the Colesburg operations. In 1900 he was appointed assistant-adjutant-general ot the cavalry division, and commanded a group of columns during 1901 and 1902. He was again mentioned in despatches. For his services he was made a brevet-lieutenant-colonel and a C.B. in 1900 and A.D.C. to the King in 1902. He has the Egyptian war medal with two clasps and the Khedive's medal, and for the South African war the Queen’s medal with seven clasps and the King’s medal. In the year following the termination of the South African war, Sir Douglas was appointed inspector-general of cavalry in India, an appointment which he held from 1903 to 1906, when he took up the post of director of military training at headquarters for one year, and director of staff duties from 1907 to 1909. In 1909 he was appointed chief of the staff in India, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-general, and on the formation of the general staff in India in 1910, he became its first chief. In March, 1912, he was appointed general officer command-ing-in-chief at Aldershot.

He was created a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in

1903, and in 1909 a Knight Commander of the same Order. In 1911 he was created a Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire. RECORD IN THE PRESENT WAR. On the outbreak of the present war, in August, 1914. Sir Douglas Haig, who had held the Aldershot command since 1912, was appointed to the command, under Sir John French, of the First Army Corps. He rendered valuable service in several of the earlier engagements of the war, especially in the battle of the Aisne. In his official report of this battle, Sir John French said : “The action ot the First Corps, under the direction and command of Sir Douglas Haig, was of so skilful, bold and decisive a character that he gained positions which alone have enabled me to maintain my position for more than three weeks of very severe fighting.’’ In another portion ot the same despatch, Sir John French wrote : “I cannot speak too highly of the valuable services rendered by Sir Douglas Haig and'the army corps under his command. Day after day and night after night the enemy’s infantry has been hurled against him in violent counter attack, which has never, on any one occasion, succeeded, whilst the trenches all over bis position have been under continuous heavy artillery fire.” . PROMOTION TO RANK OF GENERAD. On November i6tb, 19x4, Sir Douglas Haig was promoted from the rank of lieutenant-general to that of general “for distinguished service in the field.” He was also received in audience by the King at Buckingham Palace. In January of this year, President Paincare conferred upon Sir Douglas the French distinction of Grand Officer of the Region of Honour.

In the operations at Neuve Chapelle the new commander-in-chief also attained prominence. Sir John French, in his report of the operations there, referred to the “gallantry and dash of the troops . . . under the able and determined leadership of General Sir Douglas Haig.” Sir Douglas Haig’s extensive experiences of cavalry operations have been published under the title of “Cavalry Studies.” He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a well-known polo player, having played for his regiment in the Inter-Regimental Tournament at Hurlingham, when they won in 1885 and 1886, also in India in 1889, and again at Hurlingham in 1903. He was marred in 1905 to the Hon. Dorothy Maud Vivian, daughter ©f Dord Vivian.

THERE IS ONLY ONE SANDER EXTRACT, and that is why the people insist on getting it, and why they reject the many inferior substitutes and the cheap and frequently harmful ‘Just as goods.” The GENUINE SANDER EXTRACT is free from the objectionable qualities of the common eucalyptus oils and the socalled “extracts.” SANDER’S EXTRACT is the most powerful antiseptic and healing remedy that can be used with safety; it prevents and cures all infectious diseaseinfluenza, colds, fevers, smallpox, diphtheria, flatulence, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, dysentery and kidney troubles. SANDER’S EXTRACT, applied to ulcers, burns, sprains, cuts, inflamed and itching skin, gives instant relief and cures permanently. Three drops in a teaspoonful of cod liver oil is a specific in all chronic lung affections. Rheumatism, neuralgia and toothache are quickly dispelled by it. Reliability, effectiveness and purity are the great attributes of SANDER’S EXTRACT.