WI Haig dies before 1914

what if general Haig gets hit by a train or has some simillar accident before 1914
is there a chance a diferent british general would take comand?
someone whos main tactic would not inwolve sending wave after wave of men into machinegun fire combined with poor artilery cover in attempts to open way for calvary charges

in other words would a british comand that actually understood how a machinegun functions and what chances a group of men have against concentrated howitser fire made a diference in the course of the war and in your opinion in which way?
was there even a realistic chance of such high ranking officers having any experience with such matters before 1914 given the 40 years of peace during the belle epoque
 
Initially I'd imagine that Sir John French would still take command of the British Expeditionary force, though if he is relieved from command in December 1915 (as he was in OTL) it would certainly throw up some good candidates.

Henry Seymour Rawlinson would be my choice. He was one of the better British commanders during the 1st World War (he was the first Corps Commander to combine Creeping barrages and night attacks IIRC) and I'd think he would make a good Field Marshal.

However I'm not sure on seniority in the BEF at this time, so he might not be given anything higher than a divisional command at the time. Hopefully theres someone out there who can provide some clarification.
 
Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien should have been the obvious choice to replace Haig but he had too many enemies and in particular John French himself.
unlike Smith-Doriren, Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer did rise to command an army and proved to be the best that the British had. His biggest drawback to promotion was his best assest as a WWI commander. He was an infantryman who didn't display the sort of disregard for the lives of the PBI that the cavalrymen who were all the other top generals were known for.
Henry Seymour Rawlinson was the general with operational control for the Somme offensive in 1916 and like the good cavalryman that he was, didn't suffer for his faults. Sadly, detailed study of British generalship in WWI indicates that failure was rewarded and success was often punished.
 
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