# Sir Douglas Haig — Now It Can Be Told character guide

> Sir Douglas Haig in Now It Can Be Told by Philip Gibbs.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** himself

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

The field marshal whose distant directives shape the slaughter at Loos, felt by the men below only as whispers passed down from headquarters.

## Who they are

Haig commands the Western Front from a remove so vast that the battle reaches him as telephone murmurs—'The Guards have been kicked off Fosse 8'—while Gibbs watches the same ground erupt in red flame. He is the unseen hand behind the timetable of attacks, the man whose judgment the narrator can neither fully defend nor dismiss. His presence haunts the book's middle arc as the question every soldier asks: who decided this, and did they see what we see?

## In the story

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/ix)

Initially hostile to war correspondents as First Army commander, later as Commander-in-Chief he meets them, initially misunderstanding their work but eventually relaxing censorship and acknowledging their contribution.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/x)

The Commander-in-Chief is seen starting for an afternoon ride with an escort.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/xv)

Succeeded Sir John French; described as shy, reserved, and lacking the magic touch to inspire troops, inheriting the disillusionment of the armies.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/iv)

Mentioned as having his strategical plan upset by events on other fronts.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/vii)

Could not spare strong reserves for the Cambrai operation.

### [The German Offensive of 1918](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/viii)

Extended British lines under pressure from the French government, weakening his command.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/characters/sir_douglas_haig
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/characters