 Famous picture of Mayne, taken in north Africa Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Blair 'Paddy' Mayne DSO & 3 Bars (11 January 1915 - 14 December 1955) was a Northern Irish soldier. Image File history File links Mayne. ...
Image File history File links Mayne. ...
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...
January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...
December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Official Languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area - Total Ranked 4th UK 13,843...
A soldier is a person who serves in an armed force for pay. ...
Early life and sporting achievements
Born in the County Down town of Newtownards, Mayne attended Regent House Grammar School. It was here that his talent for rugby union became evident, playing for the 1st XV whilst also playing for local Ards RFC team at the age of 16. County Down, (An Dún in Irish) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, covering an area of 2,448 km² (945 square miles). ...
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...
Regent House Grammar School is an co-ed voluntary grammar school situated in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. ...
General phase play in rugby union. ...
He later studied law at Queen's University of Belfast, qualifying as a solicitor. Whilst at university he took up boxing, becoming Irish Universities Heavyweight Champion. The Queens University of Belfast (QUB) is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland; the Irish translation of the name is Ollscoil na BanrÃona, Béal Feirste. ...
Professional boxing bout featuring Ricardo Dominguez (left) vs. ...
After gaining six caps for the Irish rugby team, Mayne was selected for the 1938 British Lions Tour of South Africa. He played in seventeen of the twenty provincial matches and all three tests. First international England 7 - 0 Ireland (15 February 1875) Largest win United States 3 - 83 Ireland (10 June , 2000) Worst defeat New Zealand 59 - 6 Ireland (6 June 1992) World Cup Appearances 5 (First in 1987) Best result Quarter Finals, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2003 The Irish rugby union team, as...
The official 2005 Lions logo The British and Irish Lions (formerly British Isles and then the British Lions; commonly the Lions) is a Rugby Union side comprising a pick of the best players from the British Isles international teams - ( England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales). ...
His sporting career was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. Combatants Allies: Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France/Free France, United States, China, Canada, India, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, Greece, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Burma, Slovakia Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8...
World War II After initially serving with The 5th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery SR, The Royal Ulster Rifles, The Cameronians and The 11th (Scottish) Commandos, Mayne was chosen by David Stirling as one of the founder members of the SAS. Categories: Possible copyright violations ...
Cameronian was a name given to a section of the Scottish Covenanters who followed the teachings of Richard Cameron, and who were composed prinicpally of those who signed the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680. ...
David Stirling in 1941 Colonel Sir David Stirling, OBE, DSO (November 15, 1915 - November 4, 1990) was a Scottish laird, keen mountaineer, officer in the British Army during World War II, and the founder of the Special Air Service. ...
It has been suggested that SAS Troops be merged into this article or section. ...
After Stirling's capture Mayne was given joint command of 1st SAS and saw active service in Italy, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany and Norway eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. During the course of the war he became one of the British Army's most decorated soldiers and receiving the Distinguished Service Order with three bars, one of the few people to receive the award four times. Holland is a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands. ...
The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...
It has often been questioned why Mayne was not awarded a Victoria Cross. Major General Sir Robert Laycock, Post War Chief of Combined Operations stated that: Victoria Cross medal, ribbon, and bar. ...
Layforce consisted of Nos. ...
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 DSO's. (I am informed that there is another such superman in the Royal Air Force.)
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.
An Early Day Motion in June 2005 also stated 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 that King 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 the Royal 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 on Berlin. Oldenburg (Low German: Ollnborg) is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor) (14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was the third British monarch using the name Windsor. ...
This article is about Germanys largest city. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (697x952, 72 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (697x952, 72 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
After the war After a period with the British Antarctic Survey, cut short by a crippling back complaint that emerged during his army service, Mayne returned to Newtownards to work as a solicitor and then as Secretary to the Law Society of Ireland. It is also said the Mayne could not adapt to being second in command in the survey party. In December 1955 he died in a car crash a short distance from his home, in a collission with a lorry parked with no lights in the middle of a road. BAS headquarters The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), formerly the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), is an institute of the Natural Environment Research Council, and has, for the last fifty years, undertaken the majority of Britains scientific research on and around the Antarctic continent. ...
Reputation Accounts of Mayne's personality and appearance vary greatly. He is mentioned as being anything between six feet and six feet four inches tall. Some sources describe him as being reckless and uncontrollable when drunk, he was allegedly under arrest for knocking out his Commanding Officer when David Stirling came to recruit him for the SAS. But all accounts describe him as a courageous leader of his men and a ferocious opponent. He was wont to remonstrate with colleagues in the SAS who showed little understanding of the political situation in Northern Ireland. David Stirling in 1941 Colonel Sir David Stirling, OBE, DSO (November 15, 1915 - November 4, 1990) was a Scottish laird, keen mountaineer, officer in the British Army during World War II, and the founder of the Special Air Service. ...
A statue of Mayne stands in Conway Square, Newtownards, and the western bypass of the town is also named in his honour. Image File history File links This work is copyrighted. ...
Image File history File links This work is copyrighted. ...
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...
A British Army base in Kuwait was named for him. It was here that Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins made his famous speech to his troops on the eve of the Gulf War. Tim Collins OBE (born Belfast, United Kingdom, April 1960) is a former colonel in the British Army. ...
Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush Norman Schwarzkopf Colin Powell Saddam Hussein Ali Hassan al-Majid Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also called...
A film of his life has long been mooted, with recent speculation linking Liam Neeson to the role. Eddie Irvine has become executive producer for the film. Two books have been written about Mayne. Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne Legend was written by Martin Dillon and published by Mainstream Publishing in 1989 and updated in 2003. It features a foreword by written by David Stirling. Paddy Mayne by Hamish Ross was published by Sutton Publishing in 2004. Liam Neeson Liam Neeson OBE (born William John Neeson June 7, 1952) is an Oscar-nominated Northern Irish actor. ...
Eddie Irvine is a former Formula One racing driver. ...
Martin Dillon is an author and journalist from Ireland. ...
Full list of decorations DSO (24 February 1942, Middle East) Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...
1st bar (21 October 1943, Sicily)
2nd bar (29 March 1944, Normandy)
3rd bar (9 April 1945, Germany)
Africa Star, 8th Army bar, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, 1939-45 War Medal, Defence Medal, War Medal & Oak Leaf, Légion D' Honneur, Croix De Guerre & Palm. Africa Star Medal The Africa Star was a decoration of the British Empire that was issued between 1939 and 1945 for service in the North African theater of the Second World War. ...
French Legion of Honor The Légion dhonneur (Legion of Honor ( AmE) or Legion of Honour ( ComE)) is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the President of France. ...
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of both Belgium and France which was first created in 1915. ...
See also The following is a list of known Special Air Service (SAS) operations. ...
// Air Troop The main objective of the SAS Air Troops is to parachute out of an aeroplane at 25,000 feet and land deep behind enemy lines. ...
External links and sources - The Blair Mayne Association website
- Mayne's Distinguished Service Order Citations
- SAS Founding Fathers
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