Synopsis
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, the man labelled "the butcher of the Somme", has been satirised and lampooned as the worst type of British military officer for his command of the army in the First World War. But did he, as accused, send thousands of British to a futile death? Timewatch explores an emergent historical debate that challenges received wisdom about Haig.
- Programme: Timewatch
- Episode: Haig, The Unknown Soldier
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 1996
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from Timewatch
1914 - The War Revolution | Timewatch
1914 - The War Revolution | Timewatch
A look at the rapid changes in the nature of warfare during World War I which ended hopes of a swift conclusion and caused a long blood...
Hadrian's Wall | Timewatch
Hadrian's Wall | Timewatch
Documentary about Hadrian's Wall presented by Julian Richards. Using archaeological discoveries, Timewatch journeys back through time to unlock th...
Jack the Ripper the doctor | Timewatch
Jack the Ripper the doctor | Timewatch
The construction of the theory that Jack the Ripper was a doctor or surgeon.
Jack the Ripper the gentleman | Timewatch
Jack the Ripper the gentleman | Timewatch
Following the murder of Annie Chapman, the media constructed the theory that Jack the Ripper could be a respectable gentleman.
Khrushchev - the Peasant Premier | Timewatch
Khrushchev - the Peasant Premier | Timewatch
In the centenary year of his birth, and using previously unseen home movies, this film explores the contradictions of the Ukrani...
Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea | Timewatch
Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea | Timewatch
The story of the massacre at No Gun Ri during the Korean War, one of the worst atrocities committed by American troops...
Legacy of Jack the Ripper | Timewatch
Legacy of Jack the Ripper | Timewatch
An introduction to the creation of the myth surrounding Jack the Ripper and why people are still so interested in the case.
Lenin's Secret Files | Timewatch
Lenin's Secret Files | Timewatch
Stored deep underground by Soviet authorities, secret files documenting the life of Lenin were hidden away for decades in a labyrinth of vau...
Mary Jane Kelly | Timewatch
Mary Jane Kelly | Timewatch
An investigation of the brutal murder of Mary Jane Kelly.
Murder In Rome | Timewatch
Murder In Rome | Timewatch
Rome, 81BC. Sextus Roscius is accused of patricide. If found guilty, he faces brutal execution. Includes actual trial records to recreate one of t...
Music halls and west end gentlemen | Timewatch
Music halls and west end gentlemen | Timewatch
The role that Victorian music halls played in the theory that Jack the Ripper was a respectable gentleman.
Police failure | Timewatch
Police failure | Timewatch
Why the police failed to find Jack the Ripper and how they too were influenced by the myths surrounding the murderer.
Setting and background to the murders | Timewatch
Setting and background to the murders | Timewatch
The setting and context in which the murders in Whitechapel were committed.
The British in India | Timewatch
The British in India | Timewatch
Tonight's programme follows historian Andrew Roberts across the Indian subcontinent as he argues that Britain should take pride in its imper...
The Cuban Missile Crisis: 01: Defying Uncle Same | Timewatch
The Cuban Missile Crisis: 01: Defying Uncle Same | Timewatch
A two-part Timewatch Special that recalls the time, 30 years ago, when the world went to the brink of nuclear wa...
The Cuban Missile Crisis: 02: Eyeball to Eyeball | Timewatch
The Cuban Missile Crisis: 02: Eyeball to Eyeball | Timewatch
October 1962: the dramatic story of the US naval blockade, the shooting down of a US spy plane and the Soviet pr...
The East End | Timewatch
The East End | Timewatch
An investigation of the East End of London at the time of the Whitechapel murders.
The Forgotten Volunteers | Timewatch
The Forgotten Volunteers | Timewatch
Two-and-a-half million Indians fought for Britain in Second World War campaigns from Egypt to the Far East. Subject to some of the most ...
The Killer Wave of 1607 | Timewatch
The Killer Wave of 1607 | Timewatch
Documentary detailing the killer wave which struck the coast of the Bristol Channel in 1607. Two scientists are increasingly convinced th...
The Last Day of World War One | Timewatch
The Last Day of World War One | Timewatch
Michael Palin reveals the shocking truth that soldiers continued to be killed in battle after the First World War armistice had bee...
More resources about World War I
S01E02: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Days That Shook the World
S01E02: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Days That Shook the World
How the duke's death led to the start of the First World War.
The Somme: From Defeat to Victory
The Somme: From Defeat to Victory
Drama-documentary which offers a new perspective on the most infamous battle of World War I, revealing how it was on the Somme that the Bri...
1917 (2019)
1917 (2019)
During the First World War, two soldiers are ordered across no-man's-land and deep into enemy territory to deliver a message. If they fail, an entire battalion, ...
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
Transforming archive footage more than a century old, Peter Jackson brings to life the people who can best tell the story of World War I: the ...
The First World War: 02: Stalemate | History File
The First World War: 02: Stalemate | History File
The second section explores why the war wasn't over by Christmas 1914 and what life was like in the trenches.
The First World War: 01: The Approach of War | History File
The First World War: 01: The Approach of War | History File
The first section asks who was to blame for the war.
00: Goes Back in Time | Operation Ouch!
00: Goes Back in Time | Operation Ouch!
Dr Chris and Dr Xand turn back the clock and look at what medicine was like in the First World War. They meet a Paralympian runner wh...
06: The Men Who Wouldn't Fight | Not Forgotten
06: The Men Who Wouldn't Fight | Not Forgotten
In this special edition of Not Forgotten, Ian Hislop explores the powerful and often overlooked stories of conscientious objec...
A Scottish Soldier: A Lost Diary of WWI
A Scottish Soldier: A Lost Diary of WWI
Poet Jackie Kay tells the story of Arthur Roberts - one of thousands of black soldiers who fought in WWI. His diary provides a unique...
The First World War: 05: Making Peace | History File
The First World War: 05: Making Peace | History File
The Treaty of Versailles has been widely criticised and many believe the Second World War was due to its failure. In thi...
S02E02: The Christmas Truce | Days That Shook the World
S02E02: The Christmas Truce | Days That Shook the World
An account of Christmas Day in 1914, when German and British soldiers initiated a spontaneous truce across the frontl...
01: 1918 Western Front | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields
01: 1918 Western Front | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields
The Snows visit Northern France to tell the story of the 1918 Battle of Amiens.
S03E04: The War to End All Wars | Days That Shook the World
S03E04: The War to End All Wars | Days That Shook the World
This program tells the story of the final days of World War I and the lengthy negotiations that led to the Armis...
The Indian Corps and trench warfare | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
The Indian Corps and trench warfare | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the Indian corp experiences of industrialised trench warfare.
The Peacemakers
The Peacemakers
Historian Margaret MacMillan revisits the scene of the Versailles Treaty and tries to establish whether it was a short-sighted settlement - as economist John...
01: War Comes to Britain | Britain's Great War
01: War Comes to Britain | Britain's Great War
Jeremy Paxman presents a four-part documentary charting how the First World War affected Great Britain, with this episode focu...
S01E04: The Somme | War Walks
S01E04: The Somme | War Walks
1 July 1916 was the blackest day in the British army's history. Richard Holmes walks the fields where 57,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in...
The First World War: 03: The Home Front | History File
The First World War: 03: The Home Front | History File
The First World War was a total war. Nobody escaped, even the women and children at home. In this third section we loo...
The First World War: 06: Making Germany Pay | History File
The First World War: 06: Making Germany Pay | History File
In this section we look at the traumatic years of the Weimar Republic and the years 1918 to 1929.
The Supreme Sacrifice
The Supreme Sacrifice
Documentary telling the story of how the 1914 Heart of Midlothian football team became the 'C' Company of the 16th Battalion of The Royal Scots in Worl...