Introduction
Brigadier Duncan Stuart Maxwell, also known as Duncan Struan Maxwell, MC (8 January 1892 – 21 December 1969) was a Medical Practitioner and an Australian army officer who served in the First and the Second World Wars. He was commander of the 27th Brigade during the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the Battle of Singapore in the Second World War.
Biography
Maxwell was born on 8 January 1892 in Hobart, Tasmania, the son of a bank manager. He and his brother both served in the First World War, volunteering for the Australian Light Horse and participating in the Gallipoli Campaign. He later transferred to the infantry and fought on the Western Front with the 52nd Battalion. He was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in 1916 at the Battle of Mouquet Farm.
Returning to civilian life after the war, he studied medicine at the University of Sydney. He became a doctor and established his own practice in the town of Cootamundra, in New South Wales. He joined the militia in 1939, serving as the second-in-command of the 56th Battalion. When the 22nd Brigade was being formed in 1940, he was selected by its commander, Brigadier Harold Taylor, to lead the 2/19th Battalion.