Haig At Cambrai: Lessons In Operational Leadership

By Todd W. Weston

The dynamic nature of the British operation at Cambrai in 1917, in particular related to the actions of the British CINC Douglas Haig, provides useful insights into the nature of operational leadership for today. This is true in large part because the Cambrai operation came at a time when technology, tactics and strong political pressure came together to exert their combined influence on all levels of war, particularly the operational level. A similar situation exists today. The primary lessons which can be drawn from Haig’s experience as an operational commander at Cambrai include; the need to define and communicate the commander’s intent, an operational commander’s need to avoid involving himself at the tactical level, and the requirement for an operational commander to examine carefully his motives for deciding on a particular course of action.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verdun Press
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786250247

Todd W. Weston

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Text originally published in 1998 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

Haig at Cambrai: Lessons in Operational Leadership

By

Mr. Todd W. Weston Department of State

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

ABSTRACT 5

Haig at Cambrai: Lessons in Operational Leadership 6

Haig as a Commander: 7

Background: The Cambrai Operation 10

Haig’s Failure to Define and Communicate His Intentions: 13

In Haig’s Defense 15

Lessons Learned: 15

Conclusions: 16

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 18

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 19

MAP 21

ABSTRACT

The dynamic nature of the British operation at Cambrai in 1917, in particular related to the actions of the British CINC Douglas Haig, provides useful insights into the nature of operational leadership for today. This is true in large part because the Cambrai operation came at a time when technology, tactics and strong political pressure came together to exert their combined influence on all levels of war, particularly the operational level. A similar situation exists today. The primary lessons which can be drawn from Haig's experience as an operational commander at Cambrai include; the need to define and communicate the commander's intent, an operational commander's need to avoid involving himself at the tactical level, and the requirement for