Etaples by Stephen Wynn

Author:Stephen Wynn [Wynn, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War I, Europe, Great Britain, General
ISBN: 9781473846067
Google: tSkNEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Published: 2020-12-30T01:03:18+00:00

Chapter Six

Étaples Enquiry

In relation to the Étaples mutiny, a good example of the difference between how those at the bottom end of the military chain and those at the top thought, came in the form of Douglas Haig. On the last day of the mutiny, 14 September 1917, referring to his lunch he wrote in his diary, ‘drank several glasses of wine, port and brandy’.

True leaders ask nothing of the men they lead, that they would not be prepared, willing and able to do themselves. There are no records that I am aware of which show sergeants and men from the other ranks being able to take time out for a nice long, drawn-out lunch, where they were able to sit back, chill out while smoking a Cuban cigar and drinking copious amounts of alcohol, without a care in the world.

If news of the troubles at Étaples had leaked out, it could have led to similar behaviour among British soldiers elsewhere. In the circumstances it is really quite shocking that Haig himself did not attend the camp and speak to the men personally. That way he could have addressed their concerns, given them some assurances, and seen first-hand the conditions these men had to endure, and how they were being treated by elements of the staff who worked there.

The fact that Haig didn’t do this, regardless of how busy he was with other important war matters, suggests to me that he didn’t take this course of action because he wasn’t really that bothered by it. Haig was a disciplinarian not a pacifist. By way of example, one only has to look at the large number of death sentences that he approved and signed, which sent over 300 of his own men to their deaths. It is correct to say that for many of those men, they had a far from fair trial. Some had no legal representation or anybody to speak for them. Some did not even fully understand what was going on, or the seriousness of the situation they were in, of which Haig would have been well aware. But still he let these men die.

Personally, I don’t believe Haig was really that concerned about the welfare of his men at Étaples, or anywhere else for that matter, because to him, men were there to be used for his own egotistical ideas. If one man, ten men, or even one hundred men were killed, all he really thought about was where their replacements were coming from and how quickly they could get to where they were needed.

At breakfast on 2 July 1916, Haig was informed by one of his staff of the number of casualties which the Allies had sustained on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. When told that there had been some 50,000 Allied casualties, of whom 20,000 had been killed, there were no tears of sorrow, shock at the number killed, or even the thumping of his desk. Instead, he commented on how

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