Sir Douglas Haig also enlarges upon the moral and physical
advantages of attacking rather than stole/Jig on the defence, and he argues in the most convincing manner that our casualties, though large, were not excessive in view of the results attained. The troth of the whole matter is that the strength of Germany had to be worn out by pitting man against man. Though good Staff work and skilful leadership could keep the losses within bounds, they could not possibly reduce them to any insignificant measure. To have attempted to do that would have been to go out of the business of fighting. This despatch, we axe sure, will be an inspiration and a guide to soldiers in future gener- ations. It makes the conclusion very plain, that the war could have been won only on the Western Front, because that was where the chief German strength was ranged. To have tried to win the war elsewhere would have been to evade fighting the Germans, and therefore to fail to wear them out.
Previous page
