|  Born
at Lachute, Quebec, MacDowell moved to Maitland in
1897. He attended local schools and graduated from
the University of Toronto in 1915.
 During
World War I, he enlisted on January 9, 1915, in the
38th Battalion, C. E. F.
On April 9, 1917 during the Battle of Vimy Ridge,
assisted by two runners, he captured two machine guns,
two officers and seventy-five men. With the vision
of the enemy obscured by a turn in a passage in their
dug-out, he was able to convince them that he commanded
a vastly superior force. His action eliminated a serious
obstacle to the gaining of his battalion's objective,
and he was awarded the British Empire's highest decoration
for valour, the Victoria Cross. 
Lieut. Colonel Thain Wendell MacDowell V. C. D.
S. O.
38th Batt'n C E F
(The Cameron Highlanders of Canada)
16th September 1890 - 27th March 1960
Corner of Highway 2 and Church Street,
Maitland
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