| Other Info | Died 27th July 1982.
Appointed Colonel of the Worcestershire Regiment on 20th April 1950.
Sir Richard Gale, who has succeeded Brigadier Clarke, joined the Worcestershire Regiment in 1915 and was for the major portion of the 1914-18 war attached to the Machine Gun Corps. It was as an officer of that fine Corps that he won the Military Cross. After the war he served with both the 3rd and 1st Battalions in India. In 1930 he received accelerated promotion into the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. There followed a period on the Staff, first as Brigade Major at Ferozepore and later at the War Office. World War II was to bring General Gale a rich and varied experience of command. After commanding a Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment he was appointed to command No. 1 Parachute Brigade.
In 1943 and 1944 he commanded the 6th Airborne Division, and in 1945 he commanded the 1st Airborne Corps. Thus the responsibility for vital aspects of the campaign in Normandy and Belgium was upon his shoulders. After the war he commanded the 1st Infantry Division and later was G.O.C., British Troops, in Egypt. His services in France had won him the D.S.O., and he was created C.B. in 1945 and a Commander of the Legion of Merit, U.S.A., in 1948.
In the King’s birthday honours, 1950, he was created K.B.E. General Gale then became the Director-General of Military Training at the War Office. The unpredictable character of international events more than ever throws a burden of heavy responsibility on the General Officer directing the training of the British Army, and it is therefore with pride and gratitude that the Worcestershire Regiment recognize the time and care that General Gale is able to devote to regimental matters in the midst of heavy duties. |
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