Interpretation that Haig was/wasn't a Butcher (Source analysis)
Interpretation that Haig was a Butcher:
Source B2 was written by P. Smith a private in the 1st Border Regiment during the Somme describes the battle from how he saw it during the battle. He described it as “pure bloody murder” on the battlefield and he goes on to say in the source how Haig should have been “hung, drawn and quartered for what he did at the Somme”. He also goes on later to see how “The cream of British manhood was shattered in less than 6 hours”. Source B2 is reliable because of the fact that it was written during the Somme so because of that it is a Primary source. It however is not reliable because he was only a private which gave him not a very good overall view of the battlefield which makes the source unreliable.
Source B3 was written by Fred Pearson, a private on the Western Front, writing a letter to a local newspaper in 1966. He said “The biggest murderer of the lot was Haig” describing how he stupidly sent soldiers to die, in the source he says how Haig “lived almost 50km behind the line” in the source with this quote he basically described Haig as a coward who didn’t know what the trenches were like. Source B2 is reliable because of the fact that it was written by a Private who was at the Somme during the battle, so in that respect he had a firsthand view of the battlefield. However the Source is also not reliable because of the fact that it was written 50 years after the Somme so the author could have forgotten some of the details, on top of that the fact that he wrote it for a newspaper so he could have over-exaggerated to get his story published.
Source B4 was written by David Lloyd George, who was at the time Prime Minister of Britain during WW1. He describes Haig as a “second rate commander” because of the high death count at the Somme, he later describes Haig as being incapable of “planning vast campaigns on the scale demanded on so immense a battlefield”. The source is reliable because of the fact that it was written by the
Source B2 was written by P. Smith a private in the 1st Border Regiment during the Somme describes the battle from how he saw it during the battle. He described it as “pure bloody murder” on the battlefield and he goes on to say in the source how Haig should have been “hung, drawn and quartered for what he did at the Somme”. He also goes on later to see how “The cream of British manhood was shattered in less than 6 hours”. Source B2 is reliable because of the fact that it was written during the Somme so because of that it is a Primary source. It however is not reliable because he was only a private which gave him not a very good overall view of the battlefield which makes the source unreliable.
Source B3 was written by Fred Pearson, a private on the Western Front, writing a letter to a local newspaper in 1966. He said “The biggest murderer of the lot was Haig” describing how he stupidly sent soldiers to die, in the source he says how Haig “lived almost 50km behind the line” in the source with this quote he basically described Haig as a coward who didn’t know what the trenches were like. Source B2 is reliable because of the fact that it was written by a Private who was at the Somme during the battle, so in that respect he had a firsthand view of the battlefield. However the Source is also not reliable because of the fact that it was written 50 years after the Somme so the author could have forgotten some of the details, on top of that the fact that he wrote it for a newspaper so he could have over-exaggerated to get his story published.
Source B4 was written by David Lloyd George, who was at the time Prime Minister of Britain during WW1. He describes Haig as a “second rate commander” because of the high death count at the Somme, he later describes Haig as being incapable of “planning vast campaigns on the scale demanded on so immense a battlefield”. The source is reliable because of the fact that it was written by the