Only yesterday I learned that Captain Brian Neill, CO 13 Platoon, H Company, 8th Rifle Brigade, 11th Armoured Division has passed away last December at the age of 94. Sir Brian Neill obituary As Lieutenant and CO of 13 Platoon, at the age of 20, he landed in Normandy on the June 13th, 1944. On June 28th H Company, 8th Rifle Brigade were the first to capture Hill 112. That day, their first day in action, 13 Platoon took 5 fatal casualties. Brian Neill himself was seriously wounded on top of the hill the next day. Shortly after the battalion and indeed the whole division retired because it appeared they were too far ahead of any other formations. Hill 112 was only finally occupied in early August, after terrible losses. Brian Neill recovered and on November 4th returned to 13 Platoon which he commanded right until the end of the war which for 8th Rifle Brigade ended in Schleswig in northern Germany.
