April 7, 2010

Wedensday 7 April, 2010 – Wine & Cheese starts at 5:00 pm, Program from 5:45 – 7:00 pm

Location: Grand Ballroom, the Vancouver Club

Please join us on Wednesday, April 7th to welcome our guest speaker Colonel (Ret’d) Keith Maxwell, who will address our Society on Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele; steps towards the making of Canada with a special recognition of British Columbia’s Battalions. In 1917 the Canadian Corps fought three major battles on the Western Front – Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 and Passchendaele. The level of success of the Corps in all three battles was unprecedented. They took objectives that had confounded other Armies time and again, and built a reputation as the most effective formation of its size on the whole front. Additionally, the exploits of the Canadian Corps in France and Flanders that year had a profound effect on the development of Canada as a Nation. By the end of the year the Canadian Corps was no longer operating as an integral part of the Imperial Army; rather, it had achieved a great deal of autonomy. It was truly Canada’s National Army. That transformation was the harbinger for the Statutes of Westminster in 1931, where Canada achieved full independence from the United Kingdom in the areas of foreign policy and national defence. The presentation will look at the reasons for the success of the Corps and why that success had such a significant impact.

In 1968, Colonel Maxwell joined the British Columbia Regiment in Vancouver. He then transferred to the regular force in 1970 and was commissioned as an officer in Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in 1973 serving with that Regiment until 1977 when he transferred to the Canadian Air Force.

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Colonel Maxwell then served as an Air Weapons Controller (fighter controller) and operations staff officer in a number of positions and locations in the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD). His final posting in NORAD was in Colorado Springs where he worked in the HQ NORAD Cheyenne Mountain complex. He was the director of the Air Defence Operations Centre and was a member of the crew in the NORAD Command Post providing early warning of SCUD missile launches from Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War. During his time in NORAD Colonel Maxwell flew as a Mission Commander and Battle Commander on Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft over a period of fifteen years. These duties included the interception of numerous Soviet aircraft operating in the vicinity of North American airspace. In 1993 Colonel Maxwell was posted on promotion to Colonel, to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), in Mons, Belgium as the head of the Air Command and Control Branch in the Operations Division.

Colonel Maxwell retired from the Canadian Forces in September 1998, and joined the NATO International Staff in the NATO Air Command and Control System Management Agency (NACMA) in Brussels, Belgium. He was the Chief of the Requirements and Architecture Branch for that Agency for ten years.

During his time in Europe Colonel Maxwell lived within an hour’s drive of many of the Canadian battlefields of both World Wars. With that proximity he started a serious study of the battles and battlefields where so many Canadians had fought and died. He began conducting battlefield tours in the mid-1990s for a variety of Canadian groups interested in furthering their understanding of Canada’s history in Europe; his tour groups have included several NATO Staff College groups, the Canadian National Defence College, the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Minister of National Defence. He also helped organize several tours for Canadian Veterans returning to Europe for commemorative occasions.

Colonel Maxwell has a History degree from the University of Manitoba and is a graduate of the Canadian Forces Staff School, the US Air Force Air War College and the Canadian Forces Senior Defence and Security Studies Programme. He has written several articles on Canada’s role in both wars. He is now retired and lives in Sechelt BC.

We intend to organize a Canadian Battlefield Tour with Colonel Maxwell for Churchill Society members either before and/or after the Churchill Conference in the UK in October 2011. Please email Brooke Campbell, [email protected], if you might be interested.

Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Location: Grand Ballroom, the Vancouver Club, 915 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, B.C.
Time: Wine & Cheese starts at 5:00 pm, Program from 5:45 – 7:00 pm
Cost: $30 for a Member accompanied by a spouse or a family member. $20 each for Member, a Member’s guest or a non-Member

The ticket cost includes one beverage ticket per attendee for 1 glass of wine or beer, or for 2 soft drinks. Additional drinks can be purchased from the bar.

Please inform our Society Administrator, Linda Metcalfe, of your attendance by Email at [email protected], by voice registration at 604-290-0880, or registering online at www.winstonchurchillbc.org .

I look forward to seeing you on April 7th. Please feel free to send this notice to any interested parties.

Ian E. Marshall, Secretary
Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill Society of British Columbia

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