I ain't going to study war no more
But I still thinking about those sane moral noble upright men who brought us world war one.
http://studioeight.tv/phpbb/viewtopic.p ... un#p146954In mid-June 1917, Sir Douglas Haig presented to the War Cabinet a scheme for a massed offensive by the British Army. This attack was to be made into the Flanders country beyond Ypres and Passchendaele, to swing northwards and threaten the German lines on Ostend from a flank, force them off the Belgian coast, take Bruges, and even go farther, even to forcing the Germans to come to terms.
The Naval chiefs, especially Admiral Jellicoe, backed the scheme. They wanted the Germans ejected from the Belgian and Channel ports.
Smuts was strongly for the view that the generals had made out a case for at least having a try. Personally, he thought the chances were highly favourable."
To help him make up his mind he jotted down some notes, which ran:
"Western Front remains.
(II) Larger Objective.
(1) Secures Ostend and Zeebrugge and north coast and Navy Saved.
(2) Extracts us . . . in case of French collapse.
(3) Forces Germany to Antwerp-Brussels-Namur line.
Losses at 100,000 per month—less than half a million, whom we can make good.Very serious to veto operation on which military authorities are agreed."
He voted for this Larger Objective, which was Haig's scheme, and he was prepared to lose five hundred thousand men to carry it out.
http://ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/s ... chap47.htm
