| Date of birth |
1933-06-12 |
Melbourne, VIC. |
| Other |
1940 |
Entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon. |
| Other |
1954 |
McNeill graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon. |
| Other |
1955 |
Was posted as a rifle platoon commander to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment then serving in Korea. |
| Other |
1957 |
Became a founding member of the Special Air Service Company as a platoon commander. |
| Other |
1961 |
Joined the headquarters of the Australian Army Force in Singapore. |
| Other |
1965 |
Joined the Australian Army Training Team, Vietnam, as a military advisor. |
| Other |
1971 |
Participated in the final anti-war Moratorium march. |
| Other |
1972 |
Joined the Military History Cell at Army Headquarters in Canberra. |
| Other |
1982 |
Resigned from the army with the rank of major. |
| Date of discharge |
1984 |
Joined the Australian War Memorial's Official History Unit. |
| Other |
1993 |
Wrote the first volume of the Vietnam series of the Official History, 'To Long Tan'. |
| Other |
1997 |
Awarded a Doctorate of Letters for 'The Team' and 'To Long Tan' from the University of New England. |
| Date of death |
1998-10-03 |
Died of a heart attack in Canberra, ACT. |
| Other |
2003 |
The companion volume to 'To Long Tan' was published as 'On the offensive'. McNeill was working on 'On the offensive' at the time of his death. |