Company of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, of Gales' 1st Para Brigade, was selected to participate. The raid was very successful, with the objective – to seize equipment from a German radar station in France – being achieved, although there were casualties. Frost would later command the battalion, most notably in the Battle of Arnhem, in September 1944. After a period spent organizing the brigade, choosing officers and devising new training schemes, Gale, by now a war-substantive lieutenant-colonel, was posted to the War Office in April 1942 as Deputy Director of Staff Duties (DDSD), and subsequently promoted to Director of Air. Gale's remit as Director of Air was to attempt to formulate a clear policy about the use of airborne forces between the army and the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as to solve the aircraft shortages that stymied many attempts to conduct further airborne operations. There was a great deal of rivalry between the two services, with the RAF sure that large-scale bombing would win the conflict, and therefore unwilling to transfer any aircraft to the army for use by airborne forces. 1943−1944 In May 1943, Gale was promoted to the acting rank of major-general and became GOC of the newly formed 6th Airborne Division. Gale had just under a year to organize and train the division before it was due to participate in Operation Tonga, codename for the British airborne landings in Normandy, in June 1944. The division was initially understrength due to trained British airborne troops being transferred to North Africa and Sicily to replace the very heavy losses suffered by the 1st Airborne Division (now commanded by Hopkinson, succeeding Browning) during its operations, but it was soon expanded with the arrival of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, joining the 3rd Parachute Brigade, under Brigadier James Hill, as well as the formation of the 5th Parachute Brigade, under Brigadier Nigel Poett, and the 6th Airlanding Brigade, under Brigadier Hugh Kindersley. No British airborne division had ever been deployed into battle entirely through aerial means, and devising plans and formulating tactics for the operation placed a great deal of pressure on Gale. However, Gale's thoroughness paid off when the division successfully landed in Normandy in June 1944. For his part in planning and taking part in Operation Tonga, Gale was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 29 August 1944; in May, he had been promoted to colonel