British military tactics

• British troops have been described as ‘lions led by donkeys’ due to their great courage, but the strategy of the British generals led to massive casualties.
• The main tactic of the British during the war was to bombard the enemy with artillery fire and then send the troops ‘over the top’ towards enemy lines.
• The German machine guns easily slaughtered the advancing British troops.
• Scottish general Douglas Haig, Commander of the British forces during the war, has been heavily criticised for persisting with this tactic when it was so expensive in human life.
• Others argue that this strategy exhausted the German army and was ultimately responsible for the British victory.