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Robert Blair Mayne | |
|---|---|
 Lt Paddy Mayne near Kabrit, Egypt, in 1942 | |
| Nickname(s) | Paddy The Irish Lion |
| Born | 11 January 1915 Newtownards, County Down, Ireland |
| Died | 14 December 1955 (aged 40) Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Service number | 87306 |
| Commands | 1st Special Air Service Regiment |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
| Alma mater | Regent House Grammar School Queen's University Belfast |
| Other work | Solicitor, Secretary to the Law Society of Northern Ireland |
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne, DSO & Three Bars (11 January 1915 – 14 December 1955), best known as Paddy Mayne or familiarly as Blair, was a British Army officer from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions at rugby union, a solicitor, amateur boxer, and a founding member of the Special Air Service (SAS).[1]
Serving with distinction during the Second World War, Mayne became one of the British Army's most highly decorated officers.[2] He was controversially denied receiving the Victoria Cross, a decoration which King George VI remarked "so strangely eluded him".[3]
- ^ "21 & 23 Special Air Service (SAS) | The British Army". www.army.mod.uk.
- ^ The Oxford Companion to World War II, Oxford University Press, 2001 paperback edition, ISBN 0198604467, 'Special Air Service'
- ^ ""The Bravest Man never to have been awarded a VC": A…". Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum. 11 August 2022.