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A.J.P. Taylor, a historian criticises Haig about the training of the younger soldiers, testing of artillery and the choice of the Somme as a place to battle. " They had received hasty and rudimentary training. They could not shoot accurately-. He also mentions that the Germans had already set up defences here and the British were battling up a hill. This also shows how unprepared the British were for this battle, yet at home they thought that everything was going according to plan, but they did not know that Haig was sending hundreds of men over at a time to almost certain death. We can trust A.J.P Taylor, as he is a historian who has the benefit of hindsight and he is a useful source and he comes from an unbiased backround and he wasn't emotionally involved in the war as he didn't fight in the war.
A national newspaper was sent a letter by Lord Landsdowne who was an ex cabinet minister so he is likely to be biased as he used to work for the government. His letter was about the seriousness of the casualties in the Somme. "We are slowly but surely killing off the best of the male population of these islands-. Around 620,000 troops were killed, this figure was only the British, there are many more people dead if we include the Germans. For this extreme large total of dead only a few square miles were gained in this whole battle (around 8 km). .
Duff Cooper was hired by the Haig family to write Sir Douglas Haig's official biography. We cannot trust his opinion as the Haig family paid him, so he will show Haig in a good light and agree with his tactics. "To have refused to fight at the Somme then would have meant abandonment of Verdun to its fate and break down of co-operation with the French-. This statement clearly backs up my views on Cooper, as it shows Haig in a good light that makes the source unreliable.
Philip Warner is a historian that thinks that Haig's ways were expected at the time, as there was no alternative.
