Cetiosauriscus

Cetiosauriscus (/ˌsiːtioʊˈsɔːrɪskəs/ SEE-tee-oh-SOR-iss-kəs) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 166 and 164 million years ago during the Callovian (Middle Jurassic Period) in what is now England. A herbivore, Cetiosauriscus had — by sauropod standards — a moderately long tail, and longer forelimbs, making them as long as its hindlimbs. It has been estimated as about 15 m (49 ft) long and between 4 and 10 t (3.9 and 9.8 long tons; 4.4 and 11.0 short tons) in weight.

The only known fossil includes most of the rear half of a skeleton as well as a forelimb (NHMUK R3078). Found in Cambridgeshire in the 1890s, it was described by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1905 as a new specimen of the species Cetiosaurus leedsi. This was changed in 1927, when Friedrich von Huene found NHMUK R3078 and the C. leedsi type specimen to be too different from Cetiosaurus, warranting its own genus, which he named Cetiosauriscus, meaning "Cetiosaurus-like". Cetiosauriscus leedsi was referred to the sauropod family Diplodocidae because of similarities in the tail and foot, and had the dubious or indeterminate species "Cetiosauriscus" greppini, "C." longus, and "C." glymptonensis assigned to it. In 1980, Alan Charig named a new species of Cetiosauriscus for NHMUK R3078 because of the lack of comparable material to the type of C. leedsi; this species was named Cetiosauriscus stewarti. Because of the poor state of preservation of the Cetiosauriscus leedsi fossil, Charig sent a petition to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to instead make C. stewarti the type species. Cetiosauriscus stewarti became the oldest confirmed diplodocid until a phylogenetic analysis published in 2003 instead found the species to belong to Mamenchisauridae, and followed by studies in 2005 and 2015 that found it outside Neosauropoda, while not a mamenchisaurid proper.

Cetiosauriscus was found in the marine deposits of the Oxford Clay Formation alongside many different invertebrate groups, marine ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and crocodylians, a single pterosaur, and various dinosaurs: the ankylosaur Sarcolestes, the stegosaurs Lexovisaurus and Loricatosaurus, the ornithopod Callovosaurus, as well as some unnamed taxa. The theropods Eustreptospondylus and Metriacanthosaurus are known from the formation, although probably not from the same level as Cetiosauriscus.

## History of discovery

### Background

The fossil later known as Cetiosauriscus was originally ascribed to the genus Cetiosaurus—one of the first sauropods to be named, in 1842 by palaeontologist Richard Owen, and one with a complicated history due to many unfounded referrals of species and specimens, involving almost all English sauropod specimens. The type species of Cetiosaurus has changed throughout history because of incomplete remains and the taxon's significance, and many aspects of its anatomy and relationships are still uncertain. Cetiosaurus was originally named to include C. medius, C. brevis, C. brachyurus and C. longus, which span from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of various localities across England. As none of these species are truly diagnostic, and Cetiosaurus is a historically and taxonomically important taxon, the more complete Middle Jurassic species C. oxoniensis named by geologist John Phillips in 1871 became the type species. C. glymptonensis was also named in the same publication by Phillips, but is less complete and of questionable validity.

Another English taxon, Ornithopsis hulkei, was named in 1870 by palaeontologist Harry Govier Seeley for vertebrae from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation, younger than the existing species of Cetiosaurus. Seeley considered Ornithopsis to be closely related to Cetiosaurus, but different due to the internal bone structure. An additional species, Ornithopsis leedsii was named in 1887 by John Hulke for a pelvis, vertebrae and ribs collected by Alfred Nicholson Leeds, an English farmer and amateur fossil collector who throughout his life compiled numerous collections of fossils from the Oxford Clay. O. leedsii, from the Late Jurassic, showed similarities to older Cetiosaurus oxoniensis as well as younger O. hulkei. It was described in more detail by Seeley in 1889, where he considered O. hulkei, C. oxoniensis and O. leedsii to all be in the same genus, bearing the name Cetiosaurus. But naturalist Richard Lydekker discussed with Seeley, before the publication of Seeley's 1889 paper, that Cetiosaurus and Ornithopsis were not the same taxon. Lydekker suggested that Wealden fossils (including O. hulkei) belonged to Ornithopsis and the Jurassic remains (including O. leedsii and C. oxoniensis) to Cetiosaurus. Lydekker in 1895 changed his mind and referred the species O. leedsii to Pelorosaurus (known already from the species P. brevis, once named Cetiosaurus brevis)—as P. leedsi—and referred the genus to Atlantosauridae. Lydekker's classification of the species was not supported by later authors like palaeontologist Arthur Smith Woodward in 1905, who followed Seeley's classification scheme.

### Discovery and naming

The sauropod fossil today known as Cetiosauriscus stewarti was discovered in May 1898 by clay workers in the area around Fletton to the south of Peterborough and east of the Great Northern Railway line. Pits in this region expose the fossil-rich sedimentary rocks of the marine Oxford Clay, which is of middle Callovian age and today regarded as one of the classic geological formations of British palaeontology. The sauropod fossil possibly stems from NPBCL pit No. 1, which was the northernmost pit operated by the New Peterborough Brick Company Limited, and which produced the most vertebrate fossils. The discovery was brought to the attention of Leeds, who, after excavation, took the sauropod specimen to Eyebury, the Leeds' family home. In mid-August, after some cleaning and repairing of the specimen, geologist Henry Woodward visited Eyebury and produced a life-sized drawing of the remains for presentation at the British Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting. Following this presentation, on 17 August 1898, Henry Woodward returned with American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, who considered the sauropod to be closely related to the North American taxon Diplodocus. Alfred Leeds offered the sauropod to the British Museum of Natural History (BMNH, now abbreviated as NHMUK) for £250, which would equate to about £30,529 in 2017. The NHMUK had earlier in 1890 and 1892 bought the First and Second Collections of Alfred Leeds, respectively. Woodward, Keeper of Geology at the NHMUK, had "great pleasure" to recommend to the Trustees of the NHMUK the fossil be purchased. The purchase was sanctioned on 25 February 1899, along with the purchase of assorted other remains for just over £357 (\~£43,596 now), where the Leeds sauropod gained the accession number BMNH R3078 (now NHMUK R3078).

The amount of material made NHMUK R3078 the most complete sauropod specimen from the United Kingdom, comparable only later to the "Rutland Dinosaur" (referred to Cetiosaurus) discovered in 1967. Known regions of the specimen include the forelimb, hindlimb and vertebral column. The forelimb lacks the manus (hand) and part of the radius and ulna, although the hindlimb lacks only a few bones in the pes (foot) and fragments of the tibia, fibula and ilium. The vertebrae known are four parts of dorsal vertebrae, the neural spines of the sacrum, multiple anterior caudal vertebrae (tail bones), and a series of 27 nearly complete vertebrae from the middle of the tail with associated or articulated chevrons (ribs along the underside of the tail), although the vertebral series is not continuous. A tail tip (NHMUK R1967) from the same locality, but a different individual was thought by palaeontologist Alan Charig in 1980 to belong to Cetiosauriscus. The assignment of NHMUK R1967 to Cetiosauriscus was considered unlikely in alternate studies by palaeontologists Friedrich von Huene, Paul Upchurch and Darren Naish because of the lack of overlap and uncertain phylogenetic positions. In 1903, the skeleton was mounted as preserved in the British Museum, so it could be more easily compared with other mounted sauropods from North America. The mount of Cetiosauriscus was put on display just prior to the cast skeleton of Diplodocus, and was displayed with the dorsal vertebrae NHMUK R1984 and some isolated teeth from a camarasaurid (possibly referable to Cetiosauriscus), making it the first sauropod skeleton mounted in the United Kingdom.

NHMUK R3078 was referred in 1905 by Arthur Woodward to the species Cetiosaurus leedsii, as it was from the same geologic formation as other specimens that were assigned to C. leedsii. Woodward also referred the dorsal vertebrae NHMUK R1984 and the tail tip NHMUK R1967 to the species. In 1927, Huene briefly described the anatomy of the species C. leedsii, where he noted that it shared many similarities with Haplocanthosaurus and was most likely between Cetiosaurus proper and the former genus. For this reason, Huene proposed the new genus name Cetiosauriscus for the species. To the genus he referred the specimens NHMUK R1984–R1988 and NHMUK R3078.

### Misassigned species

Huene (1927) assigned "Ornithopsis" greppini, which he had named in 1922, to the genus Cetiosauriscus. The known material, discovered in Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) deposits in the Reuchenette Formation of Switzerland, includes dorsal and caudal vertebrae, forelimb bones, and a hindlimb and partial pes, from at least two individuals. The 53 cm (21 in) long humerus was built like Cetiosauriscus stewarti (C. leedsi of von Huene's 1927 usage), and the two species were originally distinguished from Cetiosaurus by having shorter dorsal vertebrae, a shorter forelimb, and a longer lower leg. Similarities such as the anatomy of the caudal vertebrae were suggested by Christian Meyer and Basil Thüring in 2003 to support the referral of greppini to Cetiosauriscus. However, Weishampel et al. (2004) and Whitlock (2011) considered "Cetiosauriscus" greppini to be Eusauropoda incertae sedis, while Hofer (2005) and Schwarz et al. (2007) concluded that "Cetiosauriscus" greppini represents an unnamed genus of basal eusauropod. "Ornithopsis" greppini was finally named as the new genus Amanzia in 2020.

The species Cetiosaurus longus, named in 1842 by Owen, was referred to the genus Cetiosauriscus without comment by sauropod palaeontologist John Stanton McIntosh in 1990. The species was named for a dorsal and caudal vertebrae from the Portland Stone of Garsington, Oxfordshire (both now missing) and two other caudal vertebrae from the same deposit of nearby Thame. Owen also referred a single vertebra and some metatarsals originally named Cetiosaurus epioolithicus (an invalid nomen nudum) to the species. One of the vertebrae (OUMNH J13871) may instead be a cervical, as it has one mildly convex and one concave articular face. Characterised as having uniquely elongate vertebral centra (body of the vertebra), C. longus is not a diagnostic taxon. As it lacks any diagnostic features of Cetiosauriscus, the species should be referred to by its original designation, Cetiosaurus longus.

Cetiosaurus glymptonensis, named on the basis of nine middle-distal caudal centra from the Forest Marble Formation of Oxfordshire, England, was referred to Cetiosauriscus by McIntosh in 1990. These caudal vertebrae were considered to be more elongate than those of Cetiosaurus oxoniensis, but caudal length proportions vary significantly throughout the tail and in different taxa, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus and Cetiosauriscus having similarly elongate caudal vertebrae. The more anterior caudals have a large ridge two-thirds up the centrum and a smaller ridge one-third up. These ridges are similar to the middle caudals of Cetiosauriscus. Still, they are absent in caudals of the same size and proportions, and because of this difference the species was concluded to be separate from Cetiosauriscus by Upchurch and Martin in 2003. "Cetiosaurus" glymptonensis is considered to be Eusauropoda incertae sedis by Upchurch and Martin (2003), Weishampel and colleagues (2004) and Whitlock (2011), and is in need of a new genus name because it has a single diagnostic feature, the lateral ridges.

In 1980, Charig described a specimen of indeterminate diplodocid from the Early Cretaceous of England, and re-examined the holotype of Cetiosauriscus leedsii to compare its characteristics. In this publication he confirmed that the ilium of the holotype of C. leedsii, NHMUK R1988, was too incomplete to be compared to the also incomplete ilium of the referred specimen NHMUK R3078. Because of the lack of overlap the referral of NHMUK R3078 to Cetiosauriscus leedsii was no longer verifiable, so Charig named the new species Cetiosauriscus stewarti for NHMUK R3078. The specific name was chosen to honour Sir Ronald Stewart, the chairman of the London Brick Company that owned the clay pit the fossils had been found in. Furthermore, Charig considered Cetiosauriscus leedsii and Cetiosauriscus greppini to be dubious taxa, making C. stewarti the only valid species within Cetiosauriscus. Because of the invalidity of the type species C. leedsii, Charig made a petition to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) in 1993 to designate Cetiosauriscus stewarti as the type species of its genus, being the taxon containing the specimen Huene had originally named the genus for and distinguished from Cetiosaurus, and also a taxonomically more stable name. This was accepted by the ICZN in 1995, making Cetiosauriscus stewarti the type species of Cetiosauriscus. The only specimen that can confidently be assigned to C. stewarti is the holotype NHMUK R3078, although it is possible that isolated teeth from the Oxford Clay could be from the taxon.

## Description

Cetiosauriscus was a moderately sized, quadrupedal eusauropod. It had a moderately long tail, and relatively long arms making the shoulders level with the hips. Cetiosauriscus was approximately 15 m (49 ft) long based on the known skeleton, comparable to possible relatives like 16 m (52 ft) long Cetiosaurus, and 16.5 m (54 ft) long Patagosaurus. The weight of Cetiosauriscus is less certain, depending on its phylogenetic placement. Restored as a diplodocid, Cetiosauriscus was estimated by Paul (2010) as 4 t (3.9 long tons; 4.4 short tons), but restored as a cetiosaur it was estimated by Paul (2016) as 10 t (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons).

### Vertebrae

The dorsal vertebrae of NHMUK R3078 are incomplete or fragmentary. A partial anterior dorsal is known from a single centrum, which is about as long as wide, with a strong anterior articular ball (an opisthocoelous condition). On the lateral surfaces (sides) of the centrum there are deep but small pleurocoels (depressions in the sides of vertebrae for air sacs). A single middle dorsal centrum is preserved, slightly smaller than the anterior dorsal. The pleurocoel is more elongate, but like the anterior dorsal there is no ventral (underside) concavity. A posterior dorsal is also known and is probably the last dorsal before the sacrum (vertebrae between the pelves). It preserves the entire centrum and most of the neural arch, and is significantly shortened in length compared to the other dorsals, although it is about as wide across as tall. A shallow pleurocoel is also present, but is placed higher on the side of the centrum and disappears into the neural arch. Unlike the anterior dorsal, the posterior dorsal is only very slightly opisthocoelous. A tall and narrow hyposphene (thin vertical ridge below the anterior processes of the arch, providing additional vertebral articulation) is present and well expanded off the arch. A single dorsal neural spine is also preserved. It is flattened and not tall, with a narrowed tip, and the only noticeable laminae present are the spinopostzygapophyseal laminae running down the rear corners of the spine to the postzygapophyses. This is unlike most diplodocoids where there are many laminar running along the length of the spines. Four neural spines of the sacrum are preserved, three of which form a single plate and the fourth of which is separate, like in Diplodocus.

Of the anterior four caudal vertebrae, the anteriormost two are highly incomplete. Both the short, but wider-than-tall, centra preserve traces of the sideways projections (transverse processes) found in other vertebrae, which are very low on the sides compared to following caudals. The neural spines are very thin, thinning to a single ridge in front (the prespinal lamina), but having two spinopostzygapophyseal laminae like the dorsals. The fourth caudal is the most complete anterior caudal. The centrum is concave in front, but flat behind (amphiplatyan). There are no pleurocoels unlike the dorsals, and the transverse processes begin in the top half of the centrum. The centrum is 10 cm (3.9 in) long, 27 cm (11 in) tall and 28 cm (11 in) wide, with the total vertebra being 66 cm (26 in) tall. Anterior caudals of the Cetiosaurus leedsi specimen NHMUK R1984 are very similar to those of Cetiosauriscus, but the neural arches are not as tall in C. leedsi, and the transverse processes lack a prominent ridge along the top of them. Middle and posterior caudals from a nearly continuous series of 27 bones are well preserved in Cetiosauriscus. The later vertebrae are slightly more elongate than those in front, and slightly less concave in their anterior face. Moving towards the end of the tail the centra reduce in size and the transverse processes shrink until they are completely absent, with the neural spines becoming shorter, thinner, and more slanted. The seventh vertebrae of the series, at 45 cm (18 in) tall, is 18 cm (7.1 in) long, only one cm longer than the 21st of the same series that is 22.5 cm (8.9 in) tall. A distinguishing characteristic of Cetiosauriscus is the presence of a front-to-back concavity on the top of the anterior and middle caudal neural spines.

### Appendicular skeleton

Cetiosauriscus preserves a single right scapula (shoulder blade), which is elongate and slender. The scapula is 96.5 cm (38.0 in) long and 17.5 cm (6.9 in) wide at the middle, making it very narrow. The inner face is flat across, while the outer face is gently convex. There is no expansion of the far end of the blade. The bone thickens close to the humerus joint, where it also articulates with the coracoid. The coracoid is incomplete, but enough is preserved to show it is rectangular, and longer, at 35 cm (14 in), than it is wide—38 cm (15 in). A 94 cm (37 in) long humerus is known, and complete with minimal crushing. The bone is short and stout, with a robust crest for the deltoid muscle along the upper half of the bone. The shape of the humerus is similar to the shortness of Neuquensaurus, although overall the forelimb is long, as in Diplodocus and Cetiosaurus, being 69% of the femur length. The distal end is roughened for a large cartilage cap as found in some other eusauropods like "Cetiosauriscus" greppini. The radius and ulna are broken, but complete they would have been 76 cm (30 in) long.

The hindlimb of Cetiosauriscus is about 3⁄2 the length of the forelimb. Both ilia are very fragmentary, but the two sides supplement each other to give a reasonable idea of the proportions of the complete bone. The ilium is 1.02 m (3.3 ft) long, and has a long and slender pubic peduncle. It is proportionally lower than in Cetiosaurus, being similar in proportions to Haplocanthosaurus and the later "Titanosauridae". The left femur is complete, but part of the shaft is eroded away. It is very slender, being 1.36 m (4.5 ft) tall but only 19.5 cm (7.7 in) wide at the middle. This very gracile femoral morphology is shared with Amphicoelias, Shunosaurus, Ligabuesaurus and a specimen of Diplodocus, being more gracile than Cetiosaurus and most other eusauropods. A prominent fourth trochanter is present, but the remaining shaft is very compressed. The tibia, fibula and pes are also preserved, but are fragmentary and disarticulated making comparisons difficult, the lower hindlimb being about 80 cm (31 in) upright. The foot is similar to Diplodocus and Brontosaurus, where the first toes are large and clawed, and the outer ones are small and clawless. Metatarsal III is the longest, followed by metatarsal IV, II, V and I. Metatarsal I is the widest, and the width of the bones decreases numerically.

## Classification

Cetiosauriscus was originally classified by Huene as a genus in the family Cetiosauridae, within the subfamily Cardiodontidae. The subfamily, including the other taxa Cetiosaurus, Haplocanthosaurus, Dystrophaeus, Elosaurus and Rhoetosaurus, was founded upon the general basal features of elongate cervicals and shortened dorsals—both opisthocoelous, amphicoelous caudals that are rod-shaped distally, paired sternal plates, an ilium lacking the postacetabular process (region of the ilium behind the ischium joint and acetabulum), a very wide pubis, wide distal ischium, significantly shorter forelimb than hindlimb, fibula lacking the middle muscle attachment, and long metacarpals and short metatarsals. This classification was emmended in 1932 when Huene concluded Cetiosauriscus was closer to Haplocanthosaurus than Cetiosaurus in the family, because of forelimb and hindlimb proportions. Conversely, in 1956, Alfred Romer synonymised Cetiosauriscus and Cetiosaurus, a position that has not been followed by subsequent studies on the taxon.

David S. Berman and McIntosh in 1978 referred Cetiosauriscus to the family Diplodocidae along with multiple other genera; Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Barosaurus, Mamenchisaurus Dicraeosaurus and Nemegtosaurus. Like other members of the family, Cetiosauriscus possesses wing-like transverse processes, divided chevrons with forward and backward projections, the tail is "whiplash"-like, the humerus is 2/3 the length of the femur, the calcaneum is absent, metatarsal III and IV are the longest, and metatarsal I has a process on the bottom back corner. This referral would make Cetiosauriscus, known from the Callovian, the oldest diplodocid, millions of years older than Diplodocus, Barosaurus or Apatosaurus. In the paper naming Cetiosauriscus stewarti, Charig also described the chevrons of a new specimen and created the term "diplodociform" to describe them. This meant they were robust and double-beamed, as in Diplodocus and its relatives like Mamenchisaurus. Because of the similarly "diplodociform" chevrons, Charig referred Cetiosauriscus to the Diplodocidae along with the new specimen. Elaborating upon his earlier paper, McIntosh (1990) weakly referred Cetiosauriscus to the subfamily Diplodocinae, characterised by more cervicals and fewer dorsals, tall sacrum neural spines, short forelimbs, no calcaneum, metatarsals III and IV being the longest, and a small process on the distal end of metatarsal I. The subfamily also included Diplodocus, Barosaurus and Apatosaurus. In 2004 this placement was followed by Weishampel et al. without comment.

A phylogenetic analysis of Cetiosauriscus was conducted in 2003 by Julia Heathcote and Upchurch, based upon the two most inclusive matrices of the time, those of Jeffrey A. Wilson (2002) and Upchurch (1995), neither of which had included the taxon in the past. Added to the analysis of Upchurch, Cetiosauriscus placed as the sister taxon of Tehuelchesaurus, in a group including Mamenchisaurus, Omeisaurus and Euhelopus, and a placement within a group of Omeisaurus and Mamenchisaurus was also found by using the Wilson matrix. Based on these two results, Heathcote and Upchurch concluded Cetiosauriscus was not a diplodocid or even within Diplodocoidea, instead being a more basal sauropod outside Neosauropoda. The phylogenetic analysis of Rauhut et al. (2005) resolved Cetiosauriscus in a clade with Omeisaurus, itself in a group with Losillasaurus and Mamenchisaurus, outside of Neosauropoda. The phylogenetic relationships of Cetiosauriscus were also tested in 2015 by Tschopp et al., as a potential diplodocid. Although the genus was found to be within Diplodocimorpha with one analysis method, it was also found outside Neosauropoda. In both, Cetiosauriscus stewarti was found to be in a clade alone with Barosaurus affinis, a dubious species known only from foot bones. Tschopp et al. concluded that Cetiosauriscus was not a diplodocid or a diplodocoid, as forcing it to be outside Neosauropoda was more parsimonious than forcing it to be within Diplodocoidea in all analyses. As the paper was only to test relationships within Diplodocidae, more solid conclusions regarding the position of Cetiosauriscus could not be made. The results of the favoured cladogram of Tschopp et al. is shown below:

## Palaeobiology

### Palaeopathology

The series of distal caudal vertebrae NHMUK R1967, once referred to Cetiosauriscus, is similar to the caudals of Diplodocus, with two convex ends (biconvex) and a long and thin centrum. These caudals display signs of injury at two points along the series of ten vertebrae, where there are signs of breakage that was later healed. These lesions were identified as the same form of pathologies as found on the tail of Diplodocus. It has been suggested that the biconvex distal caudal vertebrae in sauropods were used for making whip-like cracking noise, being thin and delicate and not intended for impact, as the joints would be very vulnerable to damage rendering them useless.

### Palaeoecology

Cetiosauriscus lived during the Callovian, an epoch in the Middle Jurassic, about 166 to 164 mya. The single specimen is known from the Lower Member of the Oxford Clay Formation, along with multiple other dinosaur genera and many other groups of animals, in the biozone of the index fossil Kosmoceras jason. The Oxford Clay Formation is a marine deposit of southern and middle England, known for the high-quality preservation of some fossils and the large diversity of taxa. Sediments are generally brownish-grey mudstone, organic-rich with plentiful crushed ammonites and bivalves, at most 65 m (213 ft) thick. A large diversity of flora can be seen, preserved in the form of pollen and spores. Gymnosperms are present, along with pteridophytes, unidentifiable wood fragments, other intermediate pollen, and miscellaneous organic plant material.

The intermediate sauropod Ornithopsis leedsi is known from the same section of the formation as Cetiosauriscus, along with the stegosaurids Lexovisaurus durobrivensis and Loricatosaurus priscus (which are possibly synonyms), the basal ankylosaur Sarcolestes leedsi, the ornithopod Callovosaurus leedsi, and a second unnamed ornithopod taxon. Dinosaur eggs that have not yet been assigned to a taxon are also known from the Lower Oxford Clay. The theropods Eustreptospondylus and possibly Megalosaurus are also known from the Oxford Clay Formation, but slightly younger deposits (the Middle Member). In addition, the theropod Metriacanthosaurus is from an unknown level and age in the formation.

Hundreds of invertebrates are known from the marine deposits, including bivalves, gastropods, scaphopods, ammonites, teuthoids, a nautiloid, foraminifera, coelenterates, bryozoans, brachiopods, annelids, crustaceans, ostracods, cirripedes and echinoderms. Fish are known from the clades Elasmobranchii, Chimaera, and Actinopterygii, and the ichthyosaur Ophthalmosaurus, the plesiosaurs Cryptoclidus, Muraenosaurus, Tricleidus, Liopleurodon, Peloneustes, Pliosaurus and Simolestes, the crocodilians Metriorhynchus and Steneosaurus, and the pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus were all present.

Genus of reptiles (fossil)


James Hill (British Army officer)

Brigadier Stanley James Ledger Hill, DSO & Two Bars, MC (14 March 1911 – 16 March 2006) was a British Army officer, who served as commander of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, part of the 6th Airborne Division, during the Second World War.

Born in Bath, Somerset, in 1911, Hill was educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst before joining the British Army in 1931 and being commissioned into the Royal Fusiliers. He commanded a platoon for a short period, and was then attached to the command post of Field Marshal Lord Gort during the Battle of France in May 1940, where he oversaw the evacuation of Brussels as well as the beach at De Panne during the evacuation of Dunkirk. After a brief period of time in the Irish Free State, he volunteered for parachute training and joined the 1st Parachute Battalion, and was its commanding officer when its parent formation, the 1st Parachute Brigade, was deployed to North Africa.

Hill commanded the battalion during its first airborne operation in North Africa, dropping near the towns of Souk el-Arba and Béja, in Tunisia. It secured Beja and then sent out patrols to harass German troops, ambushing a convoy and inflicting numerous German casualties, and defended a bridge at Medjez el Bab, although it was eventually forced to retreat. Hill was wounded during an attack by the battalion on Gue Hill, in which he attempted to capture three Italian tanks using his revolver; the crews of two were successfully subdued without incident, but the third opened fire and hit Hill in the chest several times. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the French Legion of Honour for his service in North Africa and then evacuated back to England. There he took command of the 3rd Parachute Brigade in the newly formed 6th Airborne Division, and jumped with the brigade during Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in Normandy on the night of 5/6 June 1944. After nearly being killed on D-Day, by an aircraft strafing his position, Hill commanded the brigade throughout the rest of the time it was in Normandy, once leading a counter-attack during a German assault, later being awarded the first Bar to his DSO.

After advancing to the Seine, the 6th Airborne Division was withdrawn to England in September 1944, but briefly served in the Ardennes in December during the Battle of the Bulge. Hill then commanded 3rd Parachute Brigade during Operation Varsity, the Allied airborne assault over the River Rhine, where he was nearly killed by a glider containing his own personal Jeep. He then commandeered a motorcycle and rode alongside the brigade as the 6th Airborne Division advanced from the Rhine to the River Elbe, at the end of which he was awarded a second Bar to his DSO as well as the American Silver Star. After the war, he was briefly military governor of Copenhagen, for which he was awarded the King Haakon VII Liberty Cross, and also raised and commanded the 4th Parachute Brigade (Territorial Army). Retiring from the British Army in 1949, he became involved in a number of charities and businesses. James Hill died on 16 March 2006, aged 95.

## Early life

Hill was born on 14 March 1911, in Bath, Somerset, the son of Major General Walter Hill. He was educated at Marlborough College, where he was the head of the college's Officer Training Corps, and then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; there he won the Sword of Honour and became captain of athletics. He joined the British Army in 1931, being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant into the Royal Fusiliers (City of London regiment), the regiment which his father commanded. He ran the regimental athletic and boxing associations during his service with the regiment, and in 1936 transferred to the Supplementary Reserve in order to marry his first wife, Denys Gunter-Jones. For the next three years he worked as part of his family's ferry company.

## Second World War

When the Second World War began in September 1939, Hill was recalled to his regiment and given command of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers' advance party when the battalion left for France during the same month. The battalion was assigned to the 12th Infantry Brigade, part of the 4th Infantry Division. He then commanded a platoon for several months, when the battalion was stationed along the Maginot Line, before being promoted to the rank of Captain in January 1940 and joining the staff at Allied Headquarters. The Battle of France began in May 1940, by which time Hill was attached to the command post of Field Marshal Lord Gort; during this period he was involved in planning the evacuation of the civilian population of Brussels, and also carried Gort's dispatches to Calais ordering the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). At the end of the campaign, he took command of the evacuation of the beach at La Panne, and was on the last destroyer to leave Dunkirk. For these actions, he was awarded the Military Cross. On his return to Britain, he was promoted to Major and travelled to Dublin in the Irish Free State, where he planned for the evacuation of British citizens from the city should German forces land there. When this task was completed, he volunteered for the fledgling Parachute Regiment, part of the British Army's growing airborne forces, and undertook parachute training; when the 1st Parachute Battalion was formed on 15 August 1941, he was appointed as its second-in-command.

The battalion was part of 1st Parachute Brigade, which by mid-1942 had been expanded into 1st Airborne Division under the command of Major-General F.A.M. Browning. In July 1942 the 1st Parachute Battalion was selected to participate in the Dieppe Raid, and got as far as being loaded onto transport aircraft before poor weather cancelled the operation; when the raid was planned for a second time the parachute battalion was removed because their deployment was too dependent on there being good weather on the day of the raid. In mid September, as 1st Airborne Division was coming close to reaching full strength, Browning was informed that Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, would take place in November. After being informed that an American airborne unit, the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, was to be used during the invasion, Browning successfully advocated for the 1st Parachute Brigade to also be included. He argued that a larger airborne force should be utilised during the invasion, as the large distances and comparatively light opposition would provide a number of opportunities for airborne operations. The War Office and Commander in Chief, Home Forces were won over by the argument, and agreed to detach the brigade from 1st Airborne Division and place it under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who would command all Allied troops participating in the invasion. After it had been brought to full operational strength, partly by cross posting personnel from the newly formed 2nd Parachute Brigade, and had been provided with sufficient equipment and resources, the brigade departed for North Africa at the beginning of November 1942.

### North Africa

As an insufficient number of transport aircraft were allocated to the brigade, it was only possible to transport the 3rd Parachute Battalion by air. The rest of the brigade arrived at Algiers on 12 November, with some of its stores arriving slightly later. By the evening, reconnaissance parties had travelled to the airfield at Maison Blanche, with the remainder of the brigade following on the morning of 13 November; it was quartered in Maison Blanche, Maison Carree and Rouiba. After several ambitious airborne operations were planned but then cancelled by British First Army, on 14 November it directed that a single parachute battalion would be dropped the next day near Souk el-Arba and Béja; the battalion was to contact French forces at Beja to ascertain whether they would remain neutral, or support the Allies; secure and guard the cross roads and airfield at Soul el Arba; and patrol eastwards to harass German forces. 1st Parachute Battalion was selected for the task, to which Hill objected. The battalion had been forced to unload the vessel carrying its supplies and equipment itself, and had also to arrange its own transportation to Maison Blanche as no drivers were provided at Algiers; when it had arrived at Maison Blanche, it had been subjected to several Luftwaffe air raids that targeted the airfield. Hill argued that as a result his men were exhausted, and he did not believe all of the battalion's equipment could be sorted out within twenty four hours; as such he asked for the operation to be postponed for a short period, but this was denied.

Hill faced further problems as he planned for the operation. The American pilots of the Dakota transport aircraft that would transport the battalion were inexperienced and had never conducted a parachute drop before, and there was no time for any training or exercises. There were also no photos of the airfield or the surrounding areas, and only a single, small scale map available for navigation. To ensure that the aircraft found the drop zone and delivered the battalion accurately, Hill sat in the cockpit of the leading Dakota and assisted the pilot. The Dakotas were escorted by four American P-38 Lightning fighters, which engaged and drove off two roving German fighters, but as the Dakotas approached the Tunisian border they encountered thick clouds and were forced to turn back, landing at Maison Blanche at 11:00. It was decided that the battalion would conduct the operation the next day, which allowed the paratroopers to rest for a night. 1st Parachute Battalion took off on the morning of 16 November, and enjoyed excellent weather that allowed the transport aircraft to drop the battalion accurately around the airfield at Souk el Arba. Most of the paratroopers landed successfully, but one man was killed when his rigging line twisted around his neck mid drop, throttling him; one officer broke his leg on landing, and four men were wounded when a Sten gun was accidentally fired. The battalion's second in command, Major Alastair Pearson, remained at the airfield with a small detachment that collected the airborne equipment and supervised the burial of the casualty.

Meanwhile, Hill led the rest of the battalion, approximately 525 strong, in some commandeered trucks towards the town of Béja, an important road and railway centre approximately forty miles from the airfield. The battalion arrived at approximately 18:00 and was welcomed by the local French garrison, 3,000 strong, which Hill persuaded to cooperate with the paratroopers; in order to give the garrison and any German observers the impression that he possessed a larger force than he actually did, Hill arranged for the battalion to march through the town several times, wearing different headgear and holding different equipment each time. A short time after the battalion entered Béja, German aircraft arrived and bombed the town, although they caused little damage and no casualties. The next day, 'S' Company was sent with a detachment of engineers to the village of Sidi N'Sir, about twenty miles away; they were to contact the local French forces, believed to be pro British, and harass German forces. The detachment found the village and made contact with the French, who allowed them to pass through towards the town of Mateur; by nightfall the force had not reached the town, and decided to encamp for the night. At dawn a German convoy of armoured cars passed the detachment, and it was decided to set an ambush for the convoy if it returned, with anti-tank mines being laid on the road and a mortar and Bren guns being set up in concealed positions. When the convoy returned at approximately 10:00 the leading vehicle struck a mine and exploded, blocking the road, and the other vehicles were disabled with mortar fire, Gammon bombs and the remaining anti tank mines. A number of Germans were killed and the rest taken prisoner, with two paratroopers being slightly wounded. The detachment returned to Béja with prisoners and several slightly damaged armoured cars. After the success of the ambush, Hill sent a second patrol to harass local German forces, but it was withdrawn after it encountered a larger German force that inflicted several British casualties; Béja was also bombed by Stuka divebombers, inflicting civilian casualties and destroying a number of houses.

On 19 November, Hill visited the commanding officer of the French forces guarding a vital bridge at Medjez el Bab, and warned him that any attempt by German forces to cross the bridge would be opposed by the battalion. Hill attached 'R' Company to the French forces to ensure the bridge was not captured. German forces soon arrived at the bridge, and their commanding officer demanded that they be allowed to take control of the bridge and cross it to attack the British positions. The French rejected the German demands, and in conjunction with 'R' Company repelled subsequent German attacks that lasted several hours. The battalion was reinforced by the U.S. 175th Field Artillery Battalion and elements of the Derbyshire Yeomanry, but, despite fierce resistance, the German forces proved to be too strong, and by 04:30 on 20 November the Allied forces had yielded the bridge and the surrounding area to the Germans. Two days later, Hill received information that a strong Italian force, which included a number of tanks, was stationed at Gue Hill. Hill decided to attack the force and attempt to disable the tanks, and the following night moved the battalion, less a small guard detachment that remained at Béja, to Sidi N'Sir where it linked up with a force of French Senegalese infantry. Hill decided that the battalion's section of 3 inch mortars would cover 'R' and 'S' Companies as they advanced up Gue Hill and attacked the Italian force, while a small force of sappers would mine the road at the rear of the hill to ensure the Italian tanks could not retreat.

The battalion arrived at the hill without incident and began to prepare for the attack; however, just prior to the beginning of the attack there were several loud explosions from the rear of the hill. The anti tank grenades carried by the sappers had accidentally detonated, killing all but two of them. The battalion lost the element of surprise, and Hill immediately ordered the two companies to advance up the hill. The force reached the top and engaged a mixed force of German and Italian soldiers, who were assisted by three light tanks. Hill drew his revolver, and with his adjutant and a small group of paratroopers advanced on the tanks, firing shots through their observation ports in an attempt to persuade the crews to surrender. This tactic worked on two tanks, but upon reaching the third tank Hill and his men were fired upon by the tank's crew; Hill was shot three times in the chest and his adjutant wounded, although the tank crew were swiftly dispatched with small arms fire. Hill survived because of prompt medical treatment, and was replaced as commander of the battalion by Major Pearson, who supervised the routing of the rest of the German and Italian soldiers.

### Normandy

After his injuries were treated, Hill was evacuated to a hospital in North Africa to recover; although forbidden to do so, he often exercised by climbing out of the window of his hospital ward at night. For his actions in North Africa, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), which "paid tribute to the brilliant handling of his force and his complete disregard of personal danger," as well as the French Légion d'honneur. By February 1943 he had recovered from his injuries, and was flown back to England where he met up with Brigadier Gerald W. Lathbury, commander of the newly raised 3rd Parachute Brigade. The War Office had authorised the raising of the brigade on 5 November 1942, comprising the 7th, 8th and 9th Parachute Battalions, all converted infantry battalions. The 9th Parachute Battalion was in need of a commanding officer and Lathbury offered the job to Hill, who accepted. His first action was to send the entire unit on a forced march, at the end of which he announced that the battalion would "work a six and a half day week" with Sunday afternoons off, until it was well-trained and fit. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was initially attached to the 1st Airborne Division, but in April 1943 Lathbury was given command of 1st Parachute Brigade, which departed with 1st Airborne Division at the end of April for the Mediterranean theatre and Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was detached from the division in March and remained in England, and on 23 April it was transferred into the newly formed 6th Airborne Division with Hill as the brigade's new commander. On 11 August, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was attached to the 3rd Parachute Brigade; although meant to be assigned to the newly formed 5th Parachute Brigade, also attached to the 6th Airborne Division, it instead replaced the 7th Parachute Battalion, which was transferred to the new parachute brigade.

The 6th Airborne Division, under the command of Major-General Richard Nelson Gale, was fully mobilised by late December 1943, with orders to prepare for airborne operations to be conducted during mid-1944. The division's first airborne operation would also be the first time it saw combat, conducting Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in Normandy on the night of 5/6 June, D-Day. It was tasked with guarding the left flank of the British amphibious landings by securing the area east of the city of Caen, capturing a number of bridges that spanned several rivers and canals, and then preventing any Axis forces from advancing on the British beaches. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was given several tasks to accomplish. The 9th Parachute Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway, was to assault and destroy the Merville Gun Battery, as well as capturing high ground and setting up roadblocks. The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was to destroy two bridges, and the 8th Parachute Battalion had the task of destroying three bridges. When the operation began, the brigade suffered from a combination of poor navigation by the pilots of their C-47 Dakota transport aircraft, heavy cloud cover and incorrectly marked drop zones, which led to all of its units being scattered over a wide area; Hill himself was dropped with several sticks from the 1st Canadian and 9th Parachute Battalions near the River Dives. He landed in a submerged river rank approximately half a mile from Cabourg, and was forced to wade through four feet of water and a number of flooded irrigation ditches before reaching dry land; the same flooded areas claimed the lives of a number of paratroopers from his brigade.

Collecting up a number of his men, he headed for the town of Sallenelles, where he hoped to find out how the 9th Parachute Battalion had fared assaulting the Merville Battery. En route, however, he and his party were strafed by low-flying German aircraft, forcing the paratroopers to dive for cover; when the aircraft had departed Hill stood up again, finding that he had been wounded in the buttocks and the officer next to him had been killed. Most of the other men had either been killed or wounded during the attack, leaving only himself and the commander of his headquarters defence platoon; once first aid had been administered to the wounded, Hill continued on and finally managed reach Ranville, where the headquarters of the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major-General Gale, had been set up. After being informed by Gale that his brigade had successfully completed its objectives, Hill had his wound tended to, and then travelled to his own headquarters; there he found Lieutenant Colonel Pearson in temporary command, who informed him that many the brigade's staff had been killed during the drop. By 00:00 on the night of 6/7 June, the entire division was fully deployed on the eastern flank of the invasion beaches. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was holding a 4-mile (6.4 km) front, with the 9th Parachute Battalion at Le Plein, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion at Les Mesneil and the 8th Parachute Battalion in the southern part of the Bois de Bavent.

For the rest of its time in Normandy the division acted in an infantry role. From 7 June until 16 August, it first consolidated and then expanded its bridgehead. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was responsible for a section of front around the Chateau Saint Come and a nearby manor, with the latter being used as the brigade's primary defensive position. The brigade was positioned next to the 1st Special Service Brigade, and from 7 June onwards German pressure rapidly increased against both brigade's positions, with a number of attacks being repelled between then and 10 June. On 10 June the decision was taken to expand the bridgehead to the east of the River Orne, with the 6th Airborne Division tasked with achieving this; however, it was deemed not to be strong enough, and the 5th Battalion, Black Watch was placed under the 3rd Parachute Brigade's command; the battalion launched an attack on the town of Breville on 11 June, but was met with extremely heavy resistance and was repulsed after suffering a number of casualties. The next day 3rd Parachute Brigade's entire front was subjected to fierce artillery bombardment and assaults by German tanks and infantry, with the Germans particularly focusing on the positions held by 9th Parachute Battalion. Both the 9th Parachute Battalion and the remnants of the 5th Black Watch defended the Chateau Saint Come but were gradually forced to retreat. Lieutenant Colonel Otway informed brigade headquarters, some 400 metres (1,300 ft) away, that his battalion would be unable to hold its ground for much longer; upon hearing this message, Brigadier Hill gathered together forty paratroopers from the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and led a counter-attack that forced the German troops to withdraw.

German attempts to breach the 9th Parachute Battalion's positions did not end until 12 June, and Hill stated that the period 7–12 June were "five of the toughest days fighting I saw in five years of war." It was during this period that Hill was awarded the first Bar to his Distinguished Service Order, after supervising an assault by 12th Parachute Battalion on the town of Breville; the town dominated a long ridge near the Allied bridgehead, from which the German 346th Infantry Division launched repeated attacks. From then on until mid-August the division remained in static positions, holding the left flank of the Allied bridgehead and conducting vigorous patrolling. Finally, on 7 August the division was ordered to prepare to move over to the offensive, and on the night of 16/17 August it began to advance against stiff German opposition, its ultimate objective being the mouth of the River Seine (see 6th Airborne Division advance to the River Seine). Hill's 3rd Parachute Brigade led the division's advance, being held up until nightfall at the village of Goustranville, but then securing several bridges and allowing the 5th Parachute Brigade to pass through its positions and continue the division's advance. The brigade remained around the Dives canal for several days, and then on 21 August it advanced towards Pont L'Eveque, but was stalled by German infantry and armour near Annebault until 8th Parachute Battalion secured the village. Fighting continued to be fierce, but by 24 August the entire division had advanced across the River Touques. After another three days of reorganising and patrolling, the division's time in Normandy came to an end; in nine days it had advanced 45 miles, captured 400 square miles (1,000 km<sup>2</sup>) of occupied territory and taken prisoner over 1,000 German soldiers. Its casualties for the period were 4,457, of which 821 would be killed, 2,709 wounded and 927 missing. It was finally withdrawn from the frontline in the last days of August, and embarked for England at the beginning of September.

### Ardennes

On 16 December 1944, the Germans launched a huge offensive in the Ardennes forest, with the German objective to split British and American forces apart and capture the port of Antwerp, an important logistical base for the Allies. The initial assaults were extremely successful, creating a salient some fifty miles wide and forty-five miles deep, and by 23 December German units were advancing towards Dinant. American resistance was fierce, however, and blunted German advances in several areas, particularly the U.S. 101st Airborne Division around the town of Bastogne. By Christmas Day the offensive had been halted and contained, and an Allied counter-offensive began. Although the majority of the troops committed belonged to the American First and Third Armies, British XXX Corps also participated, with the British 6th Airborne Division as one of its leading divisions. The division had been in England since the beginning of September, and had been due to go on Christmas leave only days before the counter-offensive began; however, it was quickly transported to the Ardennes, arriving on the night of 24 December. By 26 December the 6th Airborne Division, now commanded by Major-General Eric Bols, had positioned itself between the towns of Dinant and Namur, and on 29 December it advanced against the German salient, with the 3rd Parachute Brigade, under James Hill, occupying an area around Rochefort.

When the German offensive had begun, Hill had been in hospital, undergoing reconstructive plastic surgery; this meant that he was unable to join the 3rd Parachute Brigade for two days. When he had recovered, however, he and his batman were flown to the Ardennes and he was able to rejoin the brigade. The 5th Parachute Brigade launched several attacks against German positions in the village of Bure, which resulted in heavy British casualties, and both brigades conducted a large number of offensive patrols. The 3rd Parachute Brigade did not see any action, as those German units occupying positions opposite to it withdrew without fighting. By the end of January, however, the division was transferred back to the Netherlands and set up new positions along the Maas river, where it conducted more patrolling against elements of the German 7th Parachute Division, which held positions on the other side of the Maas. These operations came to an end in late February, when the 6th Airborne Division was withdrawn back to England to prepare for a major airborne operation in March.

### Rhine

On 24 March 1945 Operation Varsity began, an airborne operation to aid in the establishment of a bridgehead on the east bank of the River Rhine which involved the British 6th Airborne Division and the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, under Major General William Miley. Varsity was the airborne component of Operation Plunder, in which the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Miles C. Dempsey, and the U.S. Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William Simpson, crossed the Rhine at Rees, Wesel, and an area south of the Lippe Canal. Both divisions would be dropped near the town of Hamminkeln, and were tasked with a number of objectives: they were to seize the Diersfordter Wald, a forest that overlooked the Rhine, including a road linking several towns together; several bridges over a smaller waterway, the River Issel, were to be seized to facilitate the advance; and the town of Hamminkeln was to be captured. The 6th Airborne Division was specifically tasked with securing the northern portion of the airborne bridgehead, including Hamminkeln, a section of high ground to the east of Bergen, and several bridges over the River Issel. Hill's 3rd Parachute Brigade was to drop at the north-eastern corner of the Diersfordterwald forest and clear the western portion of the forest. It would then seize a hill known as the Schneppenberg, secure a road junction near Bergen and eventually link up with the 5th Parachute Brigade.

The 3rd Parachute Brigade dropped nine minutes later than planned, but otherwise landed accurately on drop zone 'A'. Hill landed near to the Diersfordterwald forest, which was occupied by German soldiers "who are switched-on people," killing a number of paratroopers whose parachutes became tangled up in the trees. His brigade headquarters was positioned by a copse which was supposed to have been immediately cleared, but when he arrived it was still occupied by German troops; Hill immediately ordered a company commander of the 8th Parachute Battalion to clear the copse. The officer did so, but was killed in the process. Hill then moved his headquarters to the copse, but was then nearly killed by an approaching glider which barely managed to pull up in time, landing in the trees above him; upon investigation, Hill discovered that it contained his batman and personal Jeep, which took some time to lower down safely. The brigade suffered a number of casualties as it engaged the German forces in the Diersfordter Wald, but by 11:00 hours the drop zone was all but completely clear of enemy forces and all battalions of the brigade had formed up. The key town of Schnappenberg was captured by the 9th Parachute Battalion in conjunction with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, the latter unit having lost its commanding officer to German small-arms fire only moments after he had landed. Despite taking casualties the brigade cleared the area of German forces, and by 13:45 Hill could report that the brigade had secured all of its objectives.

With Varsity a success, the 6th Airborne Division was ordered by Major General Matthew Ridgway, commander of U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, to advance eastwards. It was supported by the 6th Guards Tank Brigade, and many of the airborne troops used unconventional transport during the advance, including captured German staff cars, prams and even horses. Hill requisitioned a motorcycle for his batman and travelled alongside the 3rd Parachute Brigade as it advanced; at one point his batman stopped the motorcycle and relieved a captured German colonel of his binoculars before driving off again. Hill disapproved of battlefield looting and admonished his batman, although eventually relented by stating "If you can get me a pair [as well], you can keep them!" At midnight, 27/28 March the division came under the control of British VIII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Evelyn Barker, and became part of the general Allied advance through Germany towards the Baltic Sea, with the 3rd Parachute Brigade as the division's leading unit. German resistance continued to be heavy, but the division managed to advance at a rapid pace despite this, with the brigade at one point advancing fifteen miles in twenty-four hours, with eighteen of those being spent in combat. By early April the 6th Airborne reached the River Weser, with the brigade approaching it near the town of Minden, accompanied by armoured support; as it did so, the brigade found itself moving parallel to several German tanks, with Hill sitting on the rear of one of the British tanks. Both sides opened fire, but did little damage, the two German tanks managing to outpace the brigade.

The brigade continued its fast pace of advance, with Hill continuing to ride pillion on his motorcycle, and by 23 April it had reached the River Elbe, having advanced 103 miles in fourteen days; the division had captured more than 19,000 prisoners during this period. After crossing the Elbe, the division once again came under the command of U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, with General Ridgway informing Major General Bols that it was vital the division reach the port of Wismar before the approaching Russian Army did, to ensure that Denmark was not occupied by the Soviet Union. Although the 5th Parachute Brigade was ordered to lead the division's advance, Hill was determined to reach Wismar first; after an extremely rapid advance he succeeded, with troops from the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion being the first to enter Wismar, beating an advancing Russian tank column by only a few miles. A few days later, on 7 May 1945, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe came to an end. Hill was awarded a second Bar to his DSO for his command of the 3rd Parachute Brigade during its advance from the Rhine to the Elbe, as well as the American Silver Star.

## 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 the 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 the 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. On 6 June 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, two days after his 95th birthday. He is survived by his second wife and a daughter from the first marriage, Gillian Bridget Sanda.

British Army officer (1911–2006)

Companions of the Distinguished Service Order

Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst

Recipients of the King Haakon VII Freedom Cross


Mike Shinoda

Michael Kenji Shinoda (/ʃɪˈnoʊdə/; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's collaborative vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, primary songwriter and producer. Shinoda later created a hip-hop-driven side project, Fort Minor, in 2004. He has also served as a producer for tracks and albums by artists such as Lupe Fiasco, Styles of Beyond and the X-Ecutioners.

Born in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California, and raised in Agoura Hills, Shinoda formed Xero, which later became Linkin Park, with two of his high school friends: Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon in 1996, later joined by Joe Hahn, Dave Farrell and Mark Wakefield. Chester Bennington joined Linkin Park in 1999, replacing Wakefield as lead vocalist. The band later signed a record deal with Warner Bros Records.

Shinoda is also the co-founder of Machine Shop Records, a California-based record label. Outside of music, Shinoda is an artist and graphic designer. He has painted several pieces of artwork, some of which have been featured in the Japanese American National Museum. In 2018, Shinoda released his debut solo album Post Traumatic, which consists of 18 songs about his feelings following the death of his Linkin Park bandmate Bennington.

## Life and career

### Early life

Michael Kenji Shinoda (Japanese: 篠田 賢治, romanized: Shinoda Kenji) was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California, and raised in Agoura Hills, California. His father is Japanese-American, he has a younger brother named Jason, and he was raised as a liberal Protestant. Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano lessons when he was six. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues, and hip hop. He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his middle school and high school years.

Shinoda attended Agoura High School with future Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration. He attended classes with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn. While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, he told an interviewer:

> I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house, in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know. There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much of it was there.

Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic designer.

### Linkin Park

Shinoda founded Linkin Park with Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson in 1996. They eventually brought in turntablist Joe Hahn, bassist Dave Farrell, and vocalist Mark Wakefield. The earliest incarnation of the band was called Xero. The band was limited in resources and originally produced and recorded music in Shinoda's bedroom, which resulted in the release of a four-track demo tape, entitled Xero, in 1997. When the band was unable to find a record deal, Wakefield and Farrell left the band to pursue other musical interests, though Farrell's departure turned out to be temporary. The band later recruited Chester Bennington and successfully landed a record deal with Warner Bros Records. Linkin Park's first studio album, Hybrid Theory went on to become a breakthrough success and helped the band attain international success.

Shinoda is closely involved in the technical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand. Shinoda, with guitarist Brad Delson, engineered and produced the band's Hybrid Theory EP, and performed similar roles in the recording of Hybrid Theory. He has contributed to the instrumental and lyrical composition on most of Linkin Park's songs. Though Bennington primarily served as Linkin Park's lead vocalist, he occasionally shared the role with Shinoda. Bennington had a higher pitched and emotional style of singing, whereas Shinoda has a baritone hip-hop style delivery. Shinoda organized and oversaw the band's first remix album Reanimation in 2002, contributing his own production of remixes that he made in his home studio for "Crawling" and "Pushing Me Away". Shinoda collaborated with graffiti artist DELTA, graphic designer Frank Maddocks, and bandmate Joe Hahn to prepare Reanimation's artwork. Mike also collaborated with the Flem, Delta, James R. Minchin III, Nick Spanos, and Joe Hahn for the artwork of the band's second studio album Meteora. Shinoda also produced the album, with his bandmates and Don Gilmore which was his first production experience. By the release of the Jay-Z and Linkin Park collaborative mashup EP, entitled Collision Course in 2004, Shinoda's involvement in the creation of the albums continued to grow. He produced and mixed the album, which won a Grammy Award for "best rap / song collaboration" in 2006.

The band released their next album, Minutes to Midnight, on May 14, 2007. On this album, Shinoda shared a production credit with longtime producer Rick Rubin. This album was also the first time that Shinoda, best known for his rapping, sang a featured vocal (even though he sang backing vocals for their previous two albums). Shinoda sang in the songs "In Between" and the B-side song, "No Roads Left", as well as rapping and singing in the songs "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High". Despite the rarity of Shinoda-fronted singing tracks, music magazine Hit Parader ranked him at number 72 of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.

Shinoda and Rubin again shared a production credit for Linkin Park's fourth album, A Thousand Suns, which was released on September 14, 2010. This album featured more of his singing than rapping. Shinoda raps in three tracks, specifically "When They Come for Me", "Wretches and Kings" and second single "Waiting for the End", while he sings on numerous songs (specifically verses), such as third single "Burning in the Skies", "Robot Boy", "Blackout", fourth single "Iridescent" and lead single "The Catalyst". Bennington and Shinoda sang simultaneously together on "The Catalyst", "Jornada del Muerto" and "Robot Boy", while "Iridescent" features all band members singing together.

Linkin Park released their fifth album, Living Things, on June 26, 2012. This album was stated as more "rap-centric" by Shinoda compared to the previous two albums. Whereas there were tracks like "Skin to Bone", "Roads Untraveled" and "Castle of Glass" which featured the singing vocals by Shinoda and had folk music, influenced by the works of Bob Dylan, as well as the inspirations of Dylan. Allmusic described Shinoda's work for the album as, "a fitting soundtrack for aging rap-rockers who are comfortable in their skin but restless at heart". Recharged, which is a remix album consisting remixes of original songs from Living Things, was released on October 29, 2013. Shinoda used his EDM experience he got from Avicii while working on the track "Wake Me Up", and also from Steve Aoki while working on "A Light That Never Comes", to remix some songs for the album. Shinoda reinterpreted songs like "Castle of Glass" and "Victimized". He also worked with his old friends like DJ Vice and Ryu for the album.

In 2014, Shinoda worked with Delson to produce the band's sixth studio album, The Hunting Party, which was released on June 17, 2014. The album is the first one to have featuring artists like Page Hamilton of Helmet, Rakim, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. The first single of the album, "Guilty All the Same", is the first non-remix song by the band to feature rap by a guest artist instead of Shinoda.

The pre-production of their seventh studio album began in mid-2015 during The Hunting Party Tour by Shinoda on his phone. In 2017, Shinoda again worked with Delson on the production of One More Light. The album is the first to feature other songwriters rather than the band itself. The album overall includes singing from Shinoda, but a few songs have rap in them. "Good Goodbye" is a song that features rapping from Shinoda, Stormzy and Pusha T.

### Fort Minor

In 2004, Shinoda formed a side project called Fort Minor, which he used as an avenue to further showcase his hip-hop background. He explained the origin of the project's name in an interview stating,

> 'Fort' represents the more aggressive side of the music. 'Minor' can mean a few things: if you're talking about music theory, the minor key is darker. I wanted to name the album rather than having my name on the cover, because I want people to focus on the music, not me.

Shinoda began recording songs for this side project following the release of Collision Course in November 2004. Fort Minor: We Major was a mixtape by Shinoda and DJ Green Lantern to promote his upcoming studio album. The Rising Tied, the debut album of Fort Minor, was released in November 2005. Robert Hales directed its first video "Petrified", which was released the previous month.

Fort Minor's debut album, titled The Rising Tied, was released on November 22, 2005. The album featured musical collaborations from Styles of Beyond, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Black Thought of the Roots, John Legend, Holly Brook, Jonah Matranga, and Celph Titled. Jay-Z, who had previously collaborated with Linkin Park on the 2004 album Collision Course, also served as the album's executive producer. Shinoda told Corey Moss of MTV News that he imposed on himself a requirement to play all the instruments and write all the lyrics to the album, except for the strings, percussion, or choir parts. The Rising Tied was positively received by critics. The album's most successful single, "Where'd You Go", peaked at \#4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other songs like, "Petrified" and "Remember the Name" gained popularity when they were used as the soundtrack for NBA Overtime on TNT. Another track, "Kenji", describes the experiences of a Japanese-American family during the Japanese American internment of World War II.

Due to the success of "Where'd You Go" during the week of April 26, 2006, sales of The Rising Tied increased by 45 percent, and the album chart position went up 89 positions to No. 104 on the Billboard 200." "Where'd You Go" was awarded Ringtone of the Year at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. In mid August 2006 Fort Minor performed at the Summer Sonic 2006 alongside Linkin Park.

In November 2006, Fort Minor released a video for "Where'd You Go." Shinoda has stated he felt the video was a nice wrap-up for Fort Minor. Also in November, Shinoda stated that Fort Minor would go on an indefinite hiatus, because of his dedication to Linkin Park. In the Billboard One-hit Wonders of the 2000s, Fort Minor (along with Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga) were listed at No. 19, due to the success of "Where'd You Go" (since it was Fort Minor's only single that reached the top 25). In an interview in 2014, Shinoda stated that there could be a possible Fort Minor album in 2015.

On June 21, 2015, Shinoda officially confirmed Fort Minor's return with a status update and the release of a new single, "Welcome". Fort Minor also appeared as the musical guest on the TBS late-night talk show Conan on Monday, June 22. Fort Minor also appeared on a few shows during Linkin Park's touring schedule.

### Solo work

On January 25, 2018, Shinoda released the Post Traumatic EP, featuring three songs about his own feelings in the aftermath of Chester Bennington's death on July 20, 2017. Shinoda released the EP under his own name instead of under his side-project, Fort Minor.

On March 8, 2018, Shinoda announced through social media that he was working on a new solo album. He also added that he was in Los Angeles filming a music video and also invited fans to appear in the video, including a map of the old Tower Records in Hollywood, California. Shinoda performed in Los Angeles on May 12 as part of Identity LA, marking one of his first performances since Bennington's death. On March 28, 2018, the 2018 Reading & Leeds Festivals roster was announced, with Shinoda included. He performed on August 25 and 26 as part of the Reading & Leeds Festivals, joining artists and bands such as Post Malone, Panic! at the Disco, Dua Lipa, Brockhampton, and Travis Scott; Fall Out Boy, Kendrick Lamar, and Kings of Leon were headlining the event. The next day, Shinoda released two new songs, "Crossing a Line" and "Nothing Makes Sense Anymore," from his upcoming studio album, Post Traumatic which was released on June 15. On March 29, 2018, Shinoda did an interview with KROQ where his single “Crossing a Line” was debuted on the radio. On April 26, 2018, Shinoda released a song, "About You," featuring hip hop artist, Blackbear. About a month later he revealed that he would be releasing a new song called "Running From My Shadow" which featured Grandson. Another single was released just a few weeks after "Running From My Shadow" was released. The new single, "Ghosts", was released on June 7, 2018, 6 days before the release of Post Traumatic.

On October 30, 2019, Shinoda announced that he would be releasing a new single, "Fine," two days later, on November 1.

In March 2020, Shinoda began sharing new musical content by live streaming from his home studio. He called these tracks, CoronaJams, after the COVID-19 pandemic. Shinoda later released these tracks over three separate albums beginning in July: Dropped Frames, Vol. 1, Dropped Frames, Vol. 2, and Dropped Frames, Vol. 3.

On February 19, 2021, Shinoda released a single titled "Happy Endings". The song features guest vocals from Iann Dior and Upsahl. Shinoda also remixed the Deftones song "Passenger" which earned him a Grammy at the 2022 Grammy Awards for the category of Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. On March 10, 2023, in the midst of re-releasing Linkin Park's Meteora to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Shinoda released a new solo single titled "In My Head" as part of the soundtrack to the film Scream VI. The pop rock song contains a feature appearance from Kailee Morgue. Shinoda also produced and co-wrote "Still Alive", a song recorded by Demi Lovato which also appears in the film.

### Art and painting

Shinoda has had a hand in most artistic facets of Linkin Park's imagery, including the group's album artwork, band merchandise, web design, and on-stage production art. He designed the cover art for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold, Saukrates' debut album, The Underground Tapes, and DJ Frane's debut album, Frane's Fantastic Boatride, all released in 1999. He has also worked on several art projects throughout his career.

In 2003, he did a collaborative "remix" shoe for DC Shoes, remixing the "Clientele". He reworked the colors and materials for the shoe, and additionally designed all the packaging and print advertisements. The following year, he also designed a customization of a Kid Robot "Munny" doll for a charity auction. Later in 2008, Shinoda partnered with DC Shoes again on a second DC Remix Series project. The new collaboration featured a "great juxtaposition of Shinoda's unique influences: accomplished artist versus recording-breaking musician, American upbringing versus Japanese heritage." The MS/DC limited edition remix has two different versions – Xander and Pride. Roughly 2000 pairs of the limited edition shoes were made available for purchase when the sneaker was released on August 1, 2008.

In 2004, Shinoda created a series of ten paintings which became the basis of the Fort Minor debut album, The Rising Tied. That series became the backbone for the packaging of the album, and was featured in Shinoda's first public art show "Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs". In addition to the ten Fort Minor pieces, the show also featured thirteen more original works and five collaborative pieces. "Diamonds Spades Hearts & Clubs" opened at Gallery 1988 on Sunday, November 19, 2006. Later that year, Shinoda founded a college scholarship at Art Center College of Design to benefit future illustration and graphic design students. Named the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship, it is awarded based on financial need and merit. The scholarship was awarded for the first time in 2006. The scholarship fund is made possible through the sale of his original artwork on his website, art shows and his DC Shoes projects.

On July 11, 2008, Shinoda's second public art show "Glorious Excess (BORN)" premiered at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The show included nine new pieces, with an exclusive signing on opening night. The show served as part one of the two-part "Glorious Excess" series, with the second installment "Glorious Excess (DIES)" due at JANM on August 22, 2009. Shinoda commented on the inspiration behind the Glorious Excess series, stating, "It Got to a point where the pervasiveness of 'celebrity news' concerned me. It seemed like it has jumped out of its niche into places where it doesn't belong. I would be watching the news, and thinking, 'of all the things going on in the world right now, why are they covering so-and-so's breakup?' It didn't make sense to me. Add to that the fact that I'm supposed to somehow 'belong' to that celebrity group—and I really don't feel like I do in a lot of ways—and you can see how the topic started to become really interesting to me. The Glorious Excess (BORN) show was my way of diving into those topics, trying to find answers. It follows a central 'celebrity' character, who is filthy rich, slightly violent, and famous without any particular skill or talent."

On November 6, 2014, Shinoda and Hahn painted an artwork on the Berlin Wall.

### Other musical activities

Shinoda has also served as a music producer for several other artists and groups. In 2002, Shinoda and Joe Hahn collaborated with the X-Ecutioners to produce and perform on their single "It's Goin' Down". Later in 2002, Shinoda and Brad Delson established their own record label, Machine Shop Recordings. He helped produce Lupe Fiasco's 2006 release, Food & Liquor. He extensively worked with Styles of Beyond between 2009 and 2012 to help produce Reseda Beach, which also features his instrumental and vocal contribution. In addition albums, Shinoda scored the MTV VMA's in 2005 and also worked with Ramin Djawadi to score the video game, Medal of Honor: Warfighter. In 2011, he collaborated with Joseph Trapanese to compose the score for the American release of The Raid: Redemption.

In 2004, he released a remixed single and animated music video of the 1990 Depeche Mode single, "Enjoy the Silence". In 2005, Shinoda hosted the Rock Phenomenon mixtape/remix CD with DJ Vlad and Roc Raida. The CD is the first (and to date, only) in DJ Vlad's Rock Phenomenon series (which itself is a spin-off of Vlad's Rap Phenomenon mixtape series), and features a mashup of Linkin Park's "Papercut", and David Banner's "Like a Pimp (Remix)". For the 2006 Grammy awards, Shinoda and Brad Delson assembled the mashup track of "Numb/Encore" and "Yesterday" by the Beatles to be performed live by rapper Jay-Z, Linkin Park and former Beatles singer Paul McCartney. Shinoda teamed up with former bandmate Mark Wakefield to record and release a single, "Barack Your World", in October 2008.

Shinoda contributed to the music for the CNN original documentary television series, This Is Life with Lisa Ling. Shinoda contributed the title theme for American television series Into the Badlands. Shinoda also created and provided the theme song for Noor Tagouri's A Woman's Job.

## Other ventures

### Machine Shop records

As Linkin Park succeeded in multi-platinum record sales, Warner Music Group granted Shinoda his own record label in 1999. It was first known as The Shinoda Imprint. He and bandmate Brad Delson together worked on the label in 2004 and renamed it to Machine Shop Records. The label signed several artists through late 2007.

### Philanthropy

Music for Relief is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to providing aid to survivors of natural disasters and the prevention of such disasters through environmental programs. Music for Relief was founded by Linkin Park in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Since its inception in 2005, Music for Relief has raised over \$8 million for the victims of various natural disasters, including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the October 2007 California wildfires, cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, hurricane Sandy, and typhoon Haiyan.

## Musical style and influences

Shinoda was greatly inspired by both rock and hip-hop acts when he was a child. He grew up listening to Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, N.W.A, and Juice Crew, and later Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, the Roots and Aphex Twin. Other influences and favorites of Shinoda's include Led Zeppelin, Run-DMC, the Beatles, Rage Against the Machine, Purity Ring, Arctic Monkeys and Santigold. In an interview about his work with Linkin Park as their sound evolved over time from heavy metal toward a more electronic approach, Shinoda explained in an interview with Rolling Stone that "We want to hopefully move even more into being able to make more substantial music. We're definitely paying attention to the substance and the nuance, and we hope to make something that's really cutting edge and really different."

In an Impericon interview, Shinoda stated his 'non-definitive' top three bands of all time to be Nine Inch Nails, Led Zeppelin, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Various critics have compared Shinoda's rapping style to that of fellow rapper Eminem. A reviewer for Entertainment Weekly noted that Shinoda's vocals were "flowing like Eminem on Ambien" An editor for Uncut stated that The Rising Tied was "bound to please fans of Linkin Park and Eminem alike." Jo Timbuong of The Star thought "Where'd You Go" is similar to Eminem's song "When I'm Gone", noting the former as "more melancholic." A reviewer of the Scripps Howard News Service stated that Shinoda's rapping is "a smidge closer to Eminem than he is to Vanilla Ice."

## Personal life

Shinoda is a third-generation Japanese American (sansei). His grandfather and aunt were both interned in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II.

Shinoda married author Anna Hillinger in 2003, and together they have three children.

Shinoda was awarded with the Japanese American National Museum's Award of Excellence in 2006. In 2009, Shinoda received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from the Art Center College of Design. East West Players honored him with a Visionary Award and a dinner in 2010. In September 2012, he started writing articles for The Big Issue in the UK and was the publication's U.S. election correspondent.

## Discography

### As Mike Shinoda

- Post Traumatic (2018)
- Dropped Frames, Vol. 1 (2020)
- Dropped Frames, Vol. 2 (2020)
- Dropped Frames, Vol. 3 (2020)

### As Fort Minor

- The Rising Tied (2005)

### With Linkin Park

- Hybrid Theory (2000)
- Meteora (2003)
- Minutes to Midnight (2007)
- A Thousand Suns (2010)
- Living Things (2012)
- The Hunting Party (2014)
- One More Light (2017)

## Awards and nominations

### As Mike Shinoda

Grammy Awards

### As Fort Minor

MTV Video Music Awards

### With Linkin Park

American musician (born 1977)

Musicians from Los Angeles County, California