Maxwell, Barbara Edwina Audrey (1932 - 1991)

Born in Burma in 1932, Barbara Maxwell came to Australia with her family in 1946 and attended Girdlestone School, Perth, Western Australia. She joined the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) in 1952, serving in Japan, and was in every Australian Command with the exception of Eastern Command.

While posted to the 11th RAANC, Western Command, Warrant Officer 2 (WO2) Barbara Maxwell gained selection for the Officers' Cadet School. This was after the Military Board gave approval for other ranks of the RAANC to attend the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) Officer Cadet School. Except for the last few days of the course Barbara Maxwell wore her RAANC grey uniform and she won the 'Scarf of Honour' (dux) for the course.

Barbara Maxwell was fourth Director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps from 5th July 1977 to 14th March 1979. She was the first Director who had not previously served in Australia's wartime army. Following her retirement from the Army Barbara Maxwell pursued a business career with her husband, Bruce Starrett. [1]

[1] Soldiers of the Queen by Janette Bomford p. 117

• Starrett, Barbara (married name)

Events

1951 - 1959	Served with the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC)
1954	Member of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces in Japan
1954	Awarded the British Commonwealth Occupation Force medal
1960	Attended officer cadet course at Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) School, Georges Heights
1960	Awarded top academic cadet prize
1961 - 1962	Lieutenant instructor and platoon commander of the WRAAC School Recruit Training Wing
1963 - 1964	Lieutenant Adjutant and Quartermaster at the WRAAC Barracks, Melbourne
1964 - 1965	Captain Staff Officer at the Royal Military College, Duntroon (Australian Capital Territory)
1966 - 1967	Captain Staff Officer with the Department of Defence (Army Office)
1968	Captain Staff Officer and Officer Commanding 6 WRAAC Headquaters Tasmania Command
1969	Captain, senior instructor at the WRAAC School
1969 - 1972	Major, chief instructor at the WRAAC School
1969 - 1972	Involved in organization and conduct of collections for Red Cross, Austcare, etc., with Mosman City Council
1972	Married (Lieutenant Colonel) Bruce Starrett
1972 - 1974	Lieutenant Colonel, assistant director WRAAC Headquarters Eastern Command at Victoria Barracks, Paddington
1972 - 1979	Member of the Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association
1973 - 1974	First servicewoman crew member of service-owned yacht in the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race
1974 - 1975	Lieutenant Colonel, commanding officer and chief instructor at the WRAAC School
1974 - 1975	Involved in organization and conduct of collections for Red Cross, Austcare, etc., with Mosman City Council
1975 - 1977	Lieutenant Colonel, staff officer grade 1 at the Directorate of Service Conditions with the Department of Defence (Army), Canberra
1977 - 1978	Involved in establishment of WRAAC Association
1977 - 1979	Colonel, director of the WRAAC
1978	Awarded National Medal and Bar
1979 - 1991	Colonel in Reserve of Officers Headquarters, 2nd Military District

Director

• Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) (1951 - 1985)

  [1977 - 1979]

Related Corporate Bodies

• Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) (1948 - )
• Women's Royal Australian Army Corps Association (NSW Branch) (1977 - )

  Patron

  [1982 - 1984]

Journal Articles

• 'Vale - Barbara Edwina Audrey Starrett (nee Maxwell) Colonel and Last Director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps', Best Times, August, 1991, 1991. [ Details... ]

See also

• Bomford, Janette, Soldiers of the Queen : women in the Australian Army, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic., 2001, 183 pp. [ Details... ]
• Lofthouse, Andrea (ed.), Who's who of Australian women, Methuen Australia, North Ryde (NSW), 1982, 504 pp. [ Details... ]
• Ollif, Lorna, Colonel Best and her soldiers: The Story of the 33 years of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, Ollif Publishing Company, Hornsby, NSW, 1985, 249 pp. [ Details... ]
• WRAAC Association, A Stroll down memory lane, 2001, 38 pp. [ Details... ]