mid-August, with the situation in Normandy turning against the Germans and forcing them to withdraw to Falaise, the division was ordered to go over to the offensive and pursued to the Germans to the Seine, in nine days advancing some 45 miles, capturing 400 square miles of enemy territory and over 1,000 German soldiers, despite the belief of Crocker, the corps commander, and Gale himself, that the division was poorly equipped for a rapid pursuit. 1944−1945 On 5 September the division was taken out of the front lines, after almost exactly three months since landing in Normandy, and returned to for rest and recuperation, after sustaining almost 4,500 casualties. Soon after returning to England the 6th Airborne Division's sister formation, the 1st Airborne Division, then under Major-General Roy Urquhart, took part in Operation Market Garden, which Gale believed was doomed to failure from the start. In December Gale handed over command of the division to Major-General Eric Bols and was appointed to the headquarters of the First Allied Airborne Army (FAAAA), becoming deputy to the American commander, Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton. Planning then began for Operation Varsity, the airborne landings in support of Operation Plunder, the Allied crossing of the river Rhine. The operation was carried out in late March 1945 by the US XVIII Airborne Corps, under Major General Matthew Ridgway, with the British 6th and US 17th Airborne Divisions participating, and, although the operation was successful, both divisions suffered very heavy casualties and the need for the operation was questionable. In the last months of the war in Europe, Gale was given command of I Airborne Corps. He was promoted to major-general on 7 January 1945, with the acting rank of lieutenant-general from 24 May. In July, after Victory in Europe Day (VE-Day), Gale, with the corps HQ, was sent to India, where the Japanese were still fighting. In India Gale took elements of his old 6th Airborne Division under command, along with the 44th Indian Airborne Division, and planning began for airborne operations in the Far East, although the surrender of Japan cancelled these plans and the war came to an end. Later life On 4 December 1946, Gale was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-general. In January 1946, shortly after I Airborne Corps was disbanded, Gale became GOC of the 1st Infantry Division, succeeding Major-General Charles Loewen, then stationed in Egypt before, in March,