The son of a labourer, Maxwell was employed as an apprentice boilermaker when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 8 February 1915. He was a member of the 18th Battalion and served at Gallipoli before proceeding to France in March 1916. For his valour in France Maxwell was awarded the D.C.M., the M.C. and bar and the V.C. although he was only twenty-two when the war ended.
Maxwell later engaged in a variety of occupations in Sydney, Canberra and New South Wales country towns. In 1921 he married Mabel Maxwell but after the birth of a daughter the marriage was dissolved in 1926. Maxwell failed to succeed in enlisting in the second AIF because of his age. He married Anne Martin in 1956 and left his medals to the Army Museum, Victoria Barracks, Paddington, New South Wales.
