this, the assault by the II corps under the cover of smoke ended with the Canadians taking Falaise on 16 August 1944. Afterwards, Simonds had the task of closing the "Falaise Gap" with the 1st Polish Armored Division under Major General Stanisław Maczek leading the way and engaging in desperate fighting at the Maczuga (Mace) as the Poles called Hill 262 as the German Army Group B sought to escape from Normandy. Though the 1st Polish Division was nearly destroyed several times as the Germans pushed their way out of Normandy, the Poles at the Maczuga and the Canadians at St. Lambert finally closed the "Falaise Gap" on 21 August 1944. Despite its name, the II Canadian Corps had Polish and British divisions operating under Simonds's command. In September 1944, Simonds temporarily took charge of the First Canadian Army from Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, who was recovering from a bout of dysentery, and led the liberation of the mouth of the Scheldt River. "By most accounts, Simonds’ assumption of command reinvigorated the army HQ; where Crerar managed, Simonds commanded." When Crerar resumed command with the First Army, Simonds resumed his command of II Canadian Corps for the liberation of North-Western Europe. Post-war Army Simonds was "undoubtedly deeply hurt" when he was passed over for Charles Foulkes as Chief of the General Staff (CGS) in August 1945. In 1946 he went to London where he attended the Imperial Defence College (IDC). He "found that work at the IDC engaged his alert intelligence. He met and talked to leading politicians, industrialists, and servicemen of the Western Alliance." From 1946 to 1949 he was Chief Instructor there, "a signal honour for a Canadian". He returned to Canada in 1949 to take a role as Commandant of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the National Defence College, Canada. In 1951 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff. In 1950, it was widely believed that the North Korean invasion of South Korea was meant to be a distraction to get American forces bogged down in Korea as the prelude to a Soviet invasion of West Germany. When China entered the Korean War in October 1950, it was believed the world was on the brink of World War III, and on 16 January 1951, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, visited Ottawa to ask Canada for help. The Prime Minister Louis