Air Marshal William Ross MacBrien, OBE, CD,

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

(1913–1986), commonly known as Bill MacBrien or Iron Bill, was a senior

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and a senior commander in the 1950s and 60s. MacBrien was born in 1913 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He joined the

in 1935 and during

he commanded a Canadian fighter sector in continental Europe. In the early 1950s, he was a senior staff officer at the Headquarters of Canada's Air Defence Command in

Saint-Hubert, Quebec Saint-Hubert ( , , ) is a Boroughs of Longueuil, borough in the city of Longueuil, Quebec, Longueuil, located in the Montérégie, Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. It had been a separate city prior to January 1, 2002, when it along with sev ...

before being appointed to further staff duties at No. 4 ATAF at Lansberg in Germany. In September 1958 MacBrien took over as Air Officer Commanding Air Defence Command. Deputy commander in chief at the SHAPE HQ in Belgium in 1967. From August 1967 to January 1969 MacBrien was the Deputy Commander of

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

(NORAD). MacBrien died in 1986.

References

, - 1913 births 1986 deaths Royal Canadian Air Force air marshals Canadian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II {{canada-mil-bio-stub