Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • History of War

    ALLIED AIRBORNE HEROES

    May 16, 2019 4 minutes

    SIR RICHARD GALE

    THE “BLUFF” BUT SUCCESSFUL COMMANDER OF 6TH AIRBORNE DIVISION

    1896-1982 MAJOR GENERAL UNITED KINGDOM

    Gale joined the British Army at the outbreak of WWI and was commissioned as an officer in 1915. He saw heavy action the Western Front in machine gun companies during the battles of the Somme and Passchendaele and was awarded the Military Cross in early 1918. Gale remained in the army throughout the interwar period but, despite his heroic war record, he was only a major by December 1938.

    Nevertheless, Gale was known as a “strong personality and leader with plenty of ambition” and he was promoted at the direction of Winston Churchill to command 1st Parachute Brigade in 1941. Although he was

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from History of War

    History of War2 min read
    6th Airborne Division And Operation Mallard
    The British Army led a revolution in airborne warfare, using gliders and parachutes on the Normandy battlefield. With technological advances made to aircraft capabilities during the Second World War, it was now possible for personnel and their equipm
    History of War6 min read
    The Recce Rider Of Ranville
    William ‘Bill’ Gladden was just 20 when he dropped into France on the evening of 6 June 1944. Packed into an enormous Hamilcar glider, he had shared the journey across the Channel with a Tetrarch tank and his beloved Matchless motorbike. Men and mach
    History of War4 min read
    How Would It Be Different?
    Gambling on the weather Eisenhower makes one of the boldest decisions of the war, postponing the invasion by a day in the hope that the weather will improve on 6 June. He trusts his meteorologists, but he knows the risks if they have got it wrong. 5

    Related Books & Audiobooks