Richard Nelson Gale

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Richard Nelson Gale
1896 – 1982
Gale as GOC 6th Airborne Division, 10 June 1944.
Allegiance	British
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1915-1957
Rank	General
Commands held	6th Airborne Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Operation Tonga
Awards	GCB, KBE, DSO, MC
Other work	Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe

General Sir Richard Nelson Gale, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (1896 – 1982) was a British soldier who served in both world wars, rising eventually to be Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

In World War I he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 whilst serving as a junior officer in the Machine Gun Corps. In World War II he served with 1st Parachute Brigade and then the 6th Airborne Division during the invasion of Normandy and Operation Tonga in 1944.

[edit] Service biography

• World War I 1915-1918
  • 2nd Lt, Worcestershire Regiment 1915
  • Machine Gun Corps
  • Awarded Military Cross 1918
• Capt, The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry 1930
• Maj, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 1938
• World War II 1939-1945
  • 1 Parachute Brigade
  • 6 Airborne Division, Battle of Normandy 1944
  • Deputy Commander, 1 Allied Airborne Army 1945
  • Commander, 1 British Airborne Corps 1945
• 1 Infantry Div 1946-1947
• General Officer Commanding British Troops, Egypt and Mediterranean Command 1948-1949
• Director General of Military Training, War Office 1949-1952
• Commander-in-Chief, Northern Army Group, Allied Land Forces, Europe and British Army of the Rhine 1952-1957
• Retired 1957
• Re-employed as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe 1958-1960

Source: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

[edit] Publications

• With the 6th Airborne Div in Normandy (Sampson Low, Marston & Co, London, 1948)
• Call to arms. An autobiography (Hutchinson, London, 1968)
• Great battles of biblical history (Hutchinson, London, 1968)
• The Worcestershire Regiment, the 29th and 36th Regiments of foot (Leo Cooper, London, 1970)
• Kings at arms: the use and abuse of power in the great kingdoms of the East (Hutchinson, London, 1971)