Brigadier Justin Maciejewski, DSO MBE
Director, The National Army Museum
Justin Maciejewski has been Director of The National Army Museum, Chelsea (NAM) and its Research Institute since 2018. Prior to this appointment he was with McKinsey & Company, 2012-2018, continuing thereafter as a Senior Expert Adviser. He is also Director of a Defence Consultancy, working in Central Europe. On leaving the Army in 2012 he held a visiting fellowship with the Changing Character of Warfare Programme at the University of Oxford, under Professor Sir Hew Strachan.
He is an experienced Battlefield Guide and Historian with over 20 Battlefield Tours in Europe and North America under his belt. He has worked extensively in Poland, with its Museums and Historical Institutes, since 2018. He was appointed to the Advisory Panel for the project to establish a military Cemetery at Westerplatte, Gdansk, for those who were killed defending it in 1939. He was awarded the Medal of the Commission of National Education, the highest distinction in the Polish Education System for contribution to history by the Polish Deputy Prime Minister in 2023. In January 2026 he was awarded The Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by its President, Dr Karol Nawrocki, for services to history, culture and British-Polish relations.
Justin served in the British Army for 27 years (1985-2012). His final appointment was as Director Combat, the Professional Head of the Army’s Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps. He Commanded 12th Mechanized Brigade 2009-2011 following three years as Chief of Staff of 3rd (UK) Division. He Commanded the 2nd Battalion The Rifles which included a tour in Basra (Iraq) 2006-2007 for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He was the lead Operations Officer for 1st (UK) Armoured Division (2001-2004) which included the Invasion of Iraq in 2003. He was awarded the MBE and Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service. He also served in Africa, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. He is a member of His Majesty’s Body Guard, the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms.
Justin is a graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge (History), The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, The Joint Services Command and Staff College, and Kings College, London where he was awarded a Distinction for his MA in Defence Studies. He is the son of a soldier of the Polish Home Army, who fought in the Warsaw Rising in 1944 during which his father’s twin brother was killed.
