Supplement to The London gazette of Friday, the 29th of December, 1916

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SUPPLEMENT
TO
The London Gazette
Of FRIDA Y, the 29th 0/ DECEMBER, 1916.
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FRIDAY, 29 DECEMBER, 1916.
War Office,
22th December, 1916.
The ioliowing Despatch has been received
by the Secretary of State for War from General
Sir Douglas Haig, G.C.B., Commanding-in-
Chief, the British Forces in France:—
General Headquarters^
23rd December, 1916.
My Lord,
I have the honour to submit the following
report on the operations of the Forces under
my Command since the 19th May, the date of
my last Despatch.
1. The principle of an offensive campaign
during the summer of 1916 had already been
decided on by all the Allies. The various
possible alternatives on the Western front had
been studied and discussed by General Joffre
and myself, and we were in complete agree-ment
as to the front to be attacked by the
combined French and British Armies. Pre-parations
for our offensive had made con-siderable
progress; but as the date on which
the attack should begin was dependent on
many doubtful factors, a final decision on that
point was deferred until the general situation
should become clearer.
Subject to the necessity of commencing
operations before the summer was too far ad-vanced,
and with due regard to the general
situation, I desired to postpone my attack aa
long as possible. The British Armies were
growing in numbers and the supply of muni-tions
was steadily increasing. Moreover a very
large proportion of the officers and men under
my command were still far from being fully
trained, and the longer the attack could be
deferred the more efiicient they would become.
On the other hand the Germans were continu-ing
to press their attacks at Verdun, and both
there and on the Italian front, where the
Austrian offensive was gaining ground, it was
evident that the strain might become too great
to be borne unless timely action were taken to
relieve it. Accordingly, while maintaining
constant touch with General Joffre in regard to
all these considerations, my preparations were
pushed on, and I agreed, with the consent of
H.M. Government, that my attack should be
launched whenever the general situation re-quired
it with as great a force as I might then
be able to make available.
2. By the end of May the pressure of the
enemy on the Italian front had assumed such
serious proportions that the Russian campaign
was opened early in June, and the brilliant
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