Paddy Mayne | |
|---|---|
 Mayne as a lieutenant nearKabrit, Egypt, in 1942 | |
| Nicknames | Paddy The Irish Lion |
| Born | (1915-01-11)11 January 1915 Newtownards,County Down, Ireland |
| Died | 14 December 1955(1955-12-14) (aged 40) Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Service years | 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Service number | 87306 |
| Commands | 1stSpecial Air Service Regiment |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | |
| Alma mater | Regent House Grammar School Queen's University Belfast |
| Other work | Solicitor, Secretary to theLaw Society of Northern Ireland |
Lieutenant-ColonelRobert Blair Mayne,DSO &Three Bars (11 January 1915 – 14 December 1955), best known asPaddy Mayne or familiarly asBlair, was aBritish Armyofficer fromNewtownards. He was anamateur boxing champion, qualified as a solicitor and playedrugby union forIreland and theBritish Lions before becoming a founding member of theSpecial Air Service (SAS).[1]
Serving with distinction during theSecond World War, Mayne became one of the British Army's most highly decorated officers.[2] He was controversially denied theVictoria Cross, a decoration which King George VI remarked "so strangely eluded him".[3]
Robert Blair Mayne was born atNewtownards,County Down, Ireland, the child of a staunchPresbyterian family ofScottish extraction.[4] The Maynes became prominent inUlster as merchants and landowners, owning several retail businesses inCounty Down. Mayne was christened Robert Blair after a second cousin,Lt Claude Leslie BlairMC, who at the time of his birth was serving with theRoyal Engineers in theFirst World War.[5] The family home, Mount Pleasant House, was situated on the hills above Newtownards.[6]
Mayne attendedRegent House Grammar School.[7] His talent forrugby union became evident, and he played for the school first XV and also the localArds RFC team from the age of 16. While at RHGS he also playedcricket andgolf, and showed aptitude as a marksman in therifle club. Mayne then went up to read law atQueen's University Belfast, studying to become a solicitor.[8]
As an undergraduate at Queen's, Mayne took up boxing, becoming Irish Universities Heavyweight Champion in August 1936. He followed this by reaching the final of the British Universities Heavyweight Championship but was beaten on points. With ahandicap of 8, he won the Scrabo Golf Club President's Cup the next year.[9]
Mayne as an adult was 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall and weighed 15.5 stone (98 kg).[10]
Mayne's first fullIrelandrugbycap also came in 1937, in a match againstWales. After gaining five more caps as alock forward, Mayne was selected for the1938 British Lions tour to South Africa.[11] While theLions lost the first Test, a South African newspaper stated Mayne was "outstanding in a pack which gamely and untiringly stood up to the tremendous task". He played in seventeen of the twenty provincial matches and in all threeTests.[12] While touring, Mayne's rambunctious nature came to the fore, smashing up teammates' hotel rooms, temporarily freeing a convict he had befriended and who was working on the construction of theEllis Park Stadium, and also sneaking off from a formal dinner to go antelope hunting.[13] Returning home from South Africa, he joinedMalone RFC in Belfast.[14]
Mayne won praise during the three Ireland matches he played in 1939, with one report stating "Mayne, whose quiet almost ruthless efficiency is in direct contrast toO'Loughlin's exuberance, appears on the slow side, but he covers the ground at an extraordinary speed for a man of his build, as many a three quarter and full back have discovered".[15]
Also anOfficer Cadet inQueen's University, Belfast Contingent,Officers' Training Corps,[16] Mayne graduated from Queen's asLLB in early 1939, joining George Maclaine & Co. in Belfast,[17] having beenarticled in the solicitor's firm of Thomas C.G. Mackintosh for the five previous years.[18]
In February 1939, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Mayne joined the 4th Battalion (Extra Reserve) of theRoyal Ulster Rifles at Newtownards before receiving, the following month, acommission in theRoyal Artillery[19] and was posted to 5 Light Anti-AircraftBattery (5LAA), in 8 Anti-Aircraft Regiment, later8 (Belfast) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment.[19] When 5 LAA Battery was assigned to9 Anti-Aircraft Regiment for overseas service, Mayne was transferred out to66 Light AA Regiment in Northern Ireland. Then, in April 1940, he was transferred back to the Royal Ulster Rifles.[20]
FollowingWinston Churchill's call to form a "butcher and bolt" raiding force following theDunkirk evacuation, Mayne volunteered for the newly-formedNo. 11 (Scottish) Commando being seconded to theCameronians (Scottish Rifles). He first saw action in June 1941 as asecond lieutenant with 11 Commando during theSyria–Lebanon campaign. Mayne successfully led a section of men during theBattle of the Litani River inLebanon againstVichy French Forces. The operation was commanded by Major Dick Pedder,Highland Light Infantry,[21] who was killed in action. Mayne played a distinguished part in the raid, beingmentioned in despatches.[22]
Mayne's friend LieutenantEoin McGonigal recommended him to CaptainDavid Stirling[23] McGonigal was a fellowsubaltern in No. 11 (Scottish) Commando, and an early volunteer for theSpecial Air Service (SAS), then known simply as the "Parachute Unit". It is widely believed that Mayne was under arrest for hitting his commanding officer,Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Keyes when Stirling met him.[citation needed] According to Keyes' personal diary he was not at 11 Commando officers' mess atSalamis onCyprus on the evening of 21 June 1941, the date on which Mayne was accused of beating up a fellow officer, Major Charles Napier. Keyes had stayed the night elsewhere, and arrived at Salamis the following day, 22 June 1941, when the trouble was already over. Keyes states in his diary that he conducted an investigation and found Mayne responsible.[24][full citation needed]
Keyes' diary makes it clear that Mayne was brought before Brigadier Reginald Rodwell, on 23 June, for assaulting Napier, the second-in-command of his battalion. Mayne had a grudge against Napier, who had not taken part in the Litani raid, and who, according to a serving member of 11 Commando, had shot Mayne's dog in his absence. Mayne was furious about this, having been attached to his loyal pet.[25] Keyes' diary records that, on the evening of 21 June, after drinking heavily in the mess, Mayne waited by Napier's tent and assaulted him when he returned. Keyes also records in his diary that Mayne was dismissed from 11 Commando the following day, 23 June, but does not state that he was arrested.[26][full citation needed]
From November 1941 through to the end of 1942 during theWestern Desert Campaign, Mayne participated in numerous night raids deep behind enemy lines in the deserts of Egypt andLibya, where the SAS wrought havoc by destroying many enemy aircraft on the ground. Mayne pioneered the use ofmilitaryjeeps to conduct surprise hit-and-run raids, particularly onAxis airfields. The National Army Museum stated that Mayne had "a personal tally of more than 100 aircraft destroyed."[27]
The first successful raid at Wadi Tamet in Libya on 14 December 1941, where aircraft and petrol dumps were destroyed, helped keep the SAS in existence, following the failure of the previous initial raid behind enemy lines at Sirte. For his part in the Tamet raid Mayne was awarded theDistinguished Service Order (DSO).[28] Promoted to lieutenant after the second raid of Tamet on 27 December 1941, Mayne also received a mention in despatches on 24 February 1942.[29]
Mayne's official report on the Tamet raid notes:[30]
The following damage was done on or in the vicinity of the aerodrome:
(a) Bombs were placed on 14 aircraft;
(b) 10 aircraft were damaged by having instrument panels destroyed;
(c) Bomb and petrol dumps were blown up;
(d) Reconnaissance was made down to the seafront but only empty huts were found;
(e) Several telephone poles were blown up;
(f) Some Italians were followed, and the hut they came out of was attacked by sub-machine gun and pistol fire and bombs were placed on and around it. There appeared to be roughly thirty inhabitants. Damage inflicted unknown.
Mayne took part in the most successful SAS raid of the Desert War when, on the night of 26 July 1942, with eighteen armed jeeps, British and French commandosraided the Sidi Haneish Airfield. Avoiding detection, they destroyed up to 40 German aircraft escaping with the loss of only three jeeps and two men killed in action.[31]
Following Stirling's capture in January 1943, 1st SAS Regiment was reorganised into two separate parts, theSpecial Raiding Squadron (SRS) and theSpecial Boat Section (the forerunner of theSpecial Boat Service). As amajor, Mayne was appointed to command the Special Raiding Squadron and led the unit inSicily and Italy until the end of 1943. InSicily, Mayne was awarded abar to his DSO.[32] The official citation reads as follows:
On 10 July 1943, Major Mayne carried out two successful operations, the first the capture ofCDbattery the outcome of which was vital to the safe landing of13 Corps. By nightfall SRS had captured three additional batteries, 450 prisoners, as well as killing 200 to 300 Italians. The second operation was to capture and hold of the town ofAugusta. The landing was carried out in daylight – a most hazardous combined operation. By the audacity displayed, the Italians were forced from their positions and masses of stores and equipment were saved from enemy demolition. In both these operations it was Major Mayne's courage, determination and superb leadership which proved the key to success. He personally led his men from landing craft in the face of heavy machine-gun fire. By this action, he succeeded in forcing his way to ground where it was possible to form up and sum up the enemy's defences.
In January 1944 Mayne was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and appointedcommanding officer of the re-formed 1st SAS Regiment. He subsequently led the SAS with great distinction and valour through the final campaigns of the war in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Norway, often campaigning alongside local resistance fighters including theFrenchMaquis. In recognition of his leadership and personal disregard for danger while in France, where he trained and worked closely with theFrench Resistance, Mayne received a second bar to his DSO.[33] The official citation stated:
Lt-Col. R.B. Mayne DSO has commanded 1 SAS Regiment throughout the period of operations in France. On 8 August 1944, he was dropped toOperation Houndsworth base, located west ofDijon, in order to co-ordinate and take charge of the available detachments of his Regiment and co-ordinate their activities with a major Airborne landing which was then envisaged near Paris. He then proceeded in a jeep in daylight to motor to theGAIN base making the complete journey in one day. On the approach of Allied Forces, he passed through the lines in his jeep to contact the American Forces and to lead back through the lines his detachment of twenty jeeps landed forOperation Wallace. During the next few weeks, he successfully penetrated the German and American lines on four occasions in order to lead parties of reinforcements. It was entirely due to Lt-Col. Mayne's fine leadership and example, and his utter disregard for danger, that the unit was able to achieve such striking successes.
During the course of the War, Mayne became one of theBritish Army's most highly decorated soldiers receiving the DSO with three bars.[34]
In April 1945, Mayne led two armoured jeep squadrons through the front lines towardOldenburg inOperation Howard, the last one of its type in the war. He rescued his wounded men and eliminated a German machine-gun position in a local village. A citation, approved byField MarshalBernard Montgomery, commander of theAllied21st Army Group, was issued recommending Mayne for theVictoria Cross.[35]
The success of his mission to clear a path for the4th Canadian (Armoured) Division and sow disorganisation among the enemy was due to his "brilliant military leadership and cool calculating courage" and a "single act of bravery" which "drove the enemy from a strongly held key village thereby breaking the crust of the enemy defences in the whole of this sector."[36] However, in a standard practice of the time, the award was downgraded to a lesser award, and Mayne instead received a third bar to the DSO (a fourth award of the DSO).[37]
Major GeneralSir Robert Laycock, post-War Chief of Combined Operations and former commanderSpecial Service Brigade, wrote:
I feel I must drop you a line just to tell you how very deeply I appreciate the great honour of being able to address, as my friend, an officer who has succeeded in accomplishing the practically unprecedented task of collecting no less than four DSOs (I am informed that there is another such superman in theRoyal Air Force[a]).You deserve all the more, and in my opinion, the appropriate authorities do not really know their job. If they did they would have given you a VC as well. Please do not dream of answering this letter, which brings with it my sincerest admiration and a deep sense of honour in having, at one time, been associated with you.[38]
Among others, Mayne's contemporaries questioned why he was not awarded a Victoria Cross. The matter came to a head when, after a public campaign, the issue of a posthumous award was brought before the UK Parliament. AnEarly Day Motion was put before theHouse of Commons in June 2005, supported by more than 100 MPs, stating that:
This House recognises the grave injustice meted out to Lt-Col. Paddy Mayne, of 1st SAS, who won the Victoria Cross at Oldenburg in North West Germany on 9th April 1945; notes that this was subsequently downgraded, some six months later, to a third Bar DSO, that the citation had been clearly altered and that David Stirling, founder of the SAS has confirmed that there was considerable prejudice towards Mayne and thatKing George VI enquired why the Victoria Cross had 'so strangely eluded him'; further notes that on 14th December it will be 50 years since Col. Mayne's untimely death, in a car accident, and this will be followed on 29th January 2006 by the 150th anniversary of the signing of theRoyal Warrant to institute the Victoria Cross; and therefore calls upon the Government to mark these anniversaries by instructing the appropriate authorities to act without delay to reinstate the Victoria Cross given for exceptional personal courage and leadership of the highest order and to acknowledge that Mayne's actions on that day saved the lives of many men and greatly helped the Allied advance onBerlin.[39]
Whilst theUK Government declined to re-open the case, the Blair Mayne Association has vowed to continue campaigning for the Victoria Cross to be retrospectively conferred upon Mayne.[40]
In 2025 there were renewed calls for Mayne to be posthumously awarded theVictoria Cross, the highest military decoration for gallantry, for his repeated heroic and gallant actions, in the face of the enemy, during the Second World War.[41][42][43]
Recruited in 1945 by theFalkland Islands Dependencies Survey, he was appointed Deputy Expedition Leader, underSurgeon CaptainEdward Bingham,[44][45] to theFalkland Islands,Deception Island andPort Lockroy.[44]
Mayne returned to Newtownards first practising as a solicitor and then becoming Secretary to theLaw Society of Northern Ireland.[46] He suffered severe back pain which prevented him even watching rugby as a spectator.[47] He seldom talked about his wartime exploits.[48]
On the night of Tuesday 13 December 1955, after attending a regular meeting of the Friendship Lodge, Mayne continued drinking with a fellowFreemason in the nearby town ofBangor, before driving home in the early hours. At about 04:00 he was found dead in hisRiley roadster in Mill Street, Newtownards, reportedly having collided with a farmer's vehicle.[49][47]
At his funeral, hundreds turned out to pay their respects before his burial in the Mayne family plot at OldMovilla Abbeychurchyard.[50] After his death, hismasonic jewel was preserved for many years by an old schoolfriend before being presented toNewtownards Borough Council where it is displayed in theMayoral Chamber atArds and North Down Council Offices.[51] Blair Mayne Road in the town was later named in his honour and, in 1997, a statue was dedicated to him outsideNewtownards Town Hall.[47]
During the 1938 Lions tour it is said that Mayne relaxed by "wrecking hotels and fighting dockers".[52]
Growing increasingly withdrawn as the War progressed, Mayne is described as preferring books to the company of friends, a tendency said to have become more marked after the death of his father, William Mayne (1876–1943). Refused leave to attend his father's funeral in Newtownards, a story tells of Mayne embarking on a drinking binge and rampage in centralCairo with a view to finding and beating upRichard Dimbleby, so as to highlight the travesty.[53]
Abronze statue of Blair Mayne stands in his memory at Conway Square, Newtownards.[46]
In 2003 a temporary British Army base inKuwait, occupied by the First Battalion of theRoyal Irish Regiment, was named after him:Camp Blair Mayne. It was there thatLieutenant-Colonel Tim Collins, 1 Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment's commanding officer (himself a former SAS officer), delivered his celebrated address to British troops on the eve of the2003 invasion of Iraq.[54]
Mayne is depicted byJack O'Connell in the 2022BBC television historical dramaSAS: Rogue Heroes.[55]
 | Companion of the Distinguished Service Order with three Bars | 24 February 1942 21 October 1943 (1st Bar) 29 March 1945 (2nd Bar) 11 October 1945 (3rd Bar)[56] |
 | 1939–45 Star | [56] |
 | Africa Star | With8th ARMY clasp[56] |
 | Italy Star | [56] |
 | France and Germany Star | [56] |
 | Defence Medal | [56] |
 | War Medal 1939–1945 with bronze oak leaf clasp forMention in Despatches | 24 February 1942 (MiD)[56] |
 | Officer of the Legion of Honour | 1946 (France)[56] |
 | Croix de guerre 1939–1945 | 1946 (France)[56] |
