Post-war Career
In May 1945 Hill served as military governor of Copenhagen, for which he was awarded the King Haakon VII Liberty Cross, and then assumed command of 1st Parachute Brigade and oversaw its demobilisation. He retired from the British Army in July 1945, although he continued to serve as an officer in the Territorial Army, raising the 4th Parachute Brigade (Territorial Army) in 1947 and serving as its commanding officer until 1949. After standing down as commander of 4th Parachute Brigade, Hill served on the board of a number of companies, including Lloyds Bank, the Associated Coal and Wharf Companies, and Powell Duffryn of Canada. Hill was an avid birdwatcher, with a particular claim to fame for being only the second person to discover a cuckoo's egg in the nest of a Whinchat. He also helped to set up the Parachute Regiment Association and the Airborne Forces Security fund, acting as a trustee of the latter organisation for thirty years and chairman for five years. Hill married for a second time, wedding Joan Patricia Haywood in 1986. In 2004 he attended the 60th Anniversary of the Normandy landings, and a bronze statue of him was unveiled at Le Mesnil crossroads by Charles, Prince of Wales, Colonel in Chief of the Parachute Regiment. He died on 16 March 2006. He is survived by his second wife and a daughter from the first marriage, Gillian Bridget Sanda.
Read more about this topic: James Hill (British Army Officer)
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