Cosmo Nevill

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Cosmo Alexander Richard Nevill (14 July 1907 – 19 September 2002) was a senior British Army officer who fought in World War II and later led the 2nd Division from 1956 to 1958. Born in Bordon, Hampshire, he was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1927 and served in India from 1932.

In World War II he fought in Burma and then commanded the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment during the Normandy landings. His battalion captured the Longues-sur-Mer battery and took 120 prisoners, earning him the Distinguished Service Order. After the war he worked on the General Staff of the Military Staff Committee at the United Nations in New York. He later held a series of commands: CO of the 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers in Germany (1950), commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade at Münster and Wuppertal (1951), and commandant of the School of Infantry at Warminster (1954). He retired in 1960 after a heart attack.

In retirement Nevill was known as an oil painter. He married Grania Goodliffe in 1934, and they had a son and a daughter. His honors included Companion of the Bath (CB), Commander of the British Empire (CBE), and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).