East Command. Initially, his main concern was the Greek Civil War. This abated after the end of 1946, allowing British troops to be withdrawn and the commitment handed over to the Americans. The other major concern was the Palestine Emergency. The British Army became involved in a full-scale counterinsurgency. Dempsey advised Montgomery, who was now the CIGS, that if the government was not willing to commit the resources required, then it should contemplate withdrawal from Mandatory Palestine. The experience left Dempsey with a distaste for the role of senior officer in peacetime. He was made acting general in June 1946, which was made permanent on 14 October. He was also appointed to the ceremonial post of aide-de-camp general to the King. Nonetheless, he told Lord Mountbatten that he regarded command of the Second Army as being the pinnacle of his career. Although Montgomery wanted Dempsey to succeed him as CIGS, Dempsey elected to retire instead. Dempsey retired from the Army in August 1947. In 1950, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces. This was a "shadow" appointment, one that would only become active in the event of another major war. He relinquished it in 1956. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in the 1956 New Year Honours. He was Colonel of the Royal Berkshire Regiment from 1946 to 1956, and held the ceremonial posts of Colonel Commandant of the Royal Military Police, from 1947 to 1957, and the Special Air Service (SAS) from 1951 to 1960. He was also Honorary Colonel of the Territorial Army's 21st SAS Regiment (Artists Rifles) from 1948 to 1951. There were proposals to disband the SAS, and to absorb it into other organisations like the Parachute Regiment or the Army Air Corps. Montgomery managed to have the Parachute Regiment made a permanent part of the Army, but it was Dempsey's lobbying that achieved the same status for the SAS in May 1950. In 1948, Dempsey married Viola O'Reilly, the youngest daughter of Captain Percy O'Reilly of Colamber County Westmeath in Ireland, whom he called "Tuppeny". The two met when Dempsey paid a visit to stables of the King's racehorse trainer, Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, where she was working. They shared a mutual love of horses. His marriage surprised many of his friends and relatives, as he had been a long-time bachelor, and the bride was Catholic while Dempsey was Church