Both Vincent and Alice, but especially Alice, played key roles in three war-time institutions for Canadian officers. The largest was the Beaver Club, a social club in London. The second was the smaller Officers’ Club in London, which served lunch, normally presided over by Alice. The third was Garnons, a luxurious country house for the recuperation of officers just released from hospital. It was an arduous and stressful time and, at one point, Vincent wrote to his brother Raymond expressing concern that Alice’s exhausting labours were having a “draining” effect on her health. In 1941 Vincent was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the British National Gallery and Tate Gallery. In 1945 he was selected as chair of the National Gallery's Board of Trustees. Following their return to Canada, Vincent continued to serve as a trustee of the Massey eee fice serving sles in Landon Foundation and of the National Gallery of Canada. In 1948 he was selected as chair of the Gallery’s Board of Trustees. Garnons, Herefordshire ©) Two more challenges awaited him. The first came in 1949, when he was asked by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent to take the chairmanship of “The Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences”, whose purpose was to take stock of the entire range of cultural:resources in Canada. Vincent and the four other Commissioners presented their report to the Prime Minister on June 1, 1951. The vast majority of its recommendations were implemented, including the most important one: the establishment of an independent, adequately financed “Canada Council”. The Five Royal Commissioners y if us 2 ¥ : t k { ; 'y Fs @ § C @ aie Wi" _ awa S a