(_January, 1919_)
(Too great an emphasis cannot be placed on the following
paragraph from Sir Douglas Haig's official report of
January, 1919, on the operations along the British front
during the last days of the Great War. That the German army
was thoroughly beaten when the armistice was declared,
is here put beyond doubt by this laconic summary of the
military situation, when the order to cease firing was
proclaimed.)
The military situation on the British front on the morning of the 11th
November can be stated very shortly. In the fighting since November
1st, our troops had broken the enemy's resistance beyond possibility of
recovery, and had forced on him a disorderly retreat along the whole
front of the British armies. Thereafter, the enemy was capable neither
of accepting nor refusing battle. The utter confusion of his troops,
the state of his railways, congested with abandoned trains, the capture
of huge quantities of rolling stock and material, all showed that our
attack had been decisive.