Please join us on Sunday, September 17, 2023 to welcome our Guest Speaker, Col. Keith Maxwell OMM CD, who will address our Society on D Day and the Encounter Battle. The Canadian Army was assigned one of five beaches to be captured by assaulting amphibious forces on D-Day, the opening day of the Battle of Normandy. It was the 3 rd Canadian Division’s baptism by fire. The assault on the beaches and the following five-day encounter battle with the 12 th S Panzer Division was studied by Staff and Defence Colleges for decades. The presentation will focus on the dedication and sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers in this, the first step leading to the final defeat of Germany eleven months later.
Colonel (retired) Keith Maxwell joined the Canadian Army (Militia) in 1968 at the age of sixteen. He transferred to the regular Canadian Army in 1970. He was deployed to the streets of Ottawa and Montreal during the FLQ Crisis in 1970. Colonel Maxwell transferred to the Air Force in 1977 serving in NORAD at North Bay, Ontario, Tacoma, Washington, Oklahoma City, Winnipeg, Anchorage and at HQ NORAD in Colorado Springs where he was and Assistant Command Director in the Command Post providing strategic and tactical early warning of SCUD missile launches from Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War. In 1993 he was posted to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium and later joined the NATO International Staff in Brussels, Belgium.
Col. 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 Program. Col. Maxwell was appointed as an Officer I the Order of Military Merit in 1989 while serving at Alaskan NORAD Region.
Date: Sunday, September 17, 2023
Location: Seaforth Armoury, home of The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1650 Burrard, Vancouver
Time: 3:00 p.m. Reception, Tour of the Renovated Armoury, Cash Bar, 4:00 p.m. Speaker Presentation
Cost: $25 each for a Member of the Society, $35 each for a non-Member, $15 for students
Dress is business attire
To register your attendance, please email churchillsocietybc@gmail.com. Payment can be made by e-transfer to churchillsocietybc@gmail.com or cash/cheque at the door.