Haig’s diary for Wednesday 2 May 1917 says:
'Held conference at 11 am with Generals Gough and Allenby and fixed zero hour at 4.45 am for tomorrow's operations. The difficulty is that on Gough's right the Australian's must cross some open ground in the dark - while on First Army front opposite Oppy there is a wood which can only be passed conveniently by daylight. Allenby must conform to Horne. If Gough went in early, and the others attacked later, it is almost certain that Enemy would become alarmed and barrage our front before troops can get out of the trenches!'
The disastrous attack on 3 May actually went in at 3.45am, not 4.45am. This may well have been discussed on the forum before but is there any reason why Haig would be working to a different time? Or was it just an error on his part? If so, why wouldn’t it be corrected for the publication of the diaries?