BBC does one of greatest war heroes - Blair Mayne - a 'massive injustice' in SAS: Rogue Heroes

David McCallion who runs War Years Remembered said the six part series exploring the origins of the SAS, co-founded by Ulsterman Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne, was “entertainment not education”.

David said: “Yes it’s a drama but I feel that it was a wasted opportunity to highlight the real men behind the SAS as well as Blair Mayne, rather than the fiction written by certain authors in the past.

“It has done one of the greatest war heroes to leave our isles and his family a massive injustice.”

He said the series that is based on the book of the same name by Ben Macintyre portrays Lieutenant Colonel Mayne, played by Jack O'Connell, as a “working class thug”.

"It couldn’t be further from the truth,” said David.

“He was a well educated man, a solicitor. He did not swear in the way he does in this programme. He was not an angry drunk.”

David’s museum which was set up in 1994 hosts a large range of memorabilia which traces Irish military and social history relating to the First and Second World Wars.

His collection in Ballyclare also includes an archive donated by the family of Blair Mayne, who was born in Newtownards in 1915.

As well as the items donated by his family, David said the team at War Years Remembered have also recorded oral histories of those who knew Mayne personally.

He said: “These are people who knew the real him, not the fiction you will read in some books.

"We are busting the myths and legends, preparing a new chronicle and documentary of his life story to share with the world.”

David added: “Alec Borie, one of only two left to serve under him, said that he never saw him drunk or angry, in fact he would put his arm around you and ask, ‘what do you think of this operation’ before going on it.

“He was man that inspired his men to do what others wouldn't or couldn't – take the fight to the enemy behind their own lines.”

Of the SAS he said: “They were bravest of the brave – from poets, scholars, solicitors – educated men who had to think on their feet in situations that helped bring the Second World War to a close, sometimes at huge costs.

"They went anyway knowing they may never return. Hence the motto ‘Who Dares Wins’.”

During World War Two, Mayne, who is commemorated with a bronze statue in Conway Square, Newtownards, became one of the British Army's most highly decorated soldiers though was controversially denied a Victoria Cross.

As well as being a decorated military man Mayne was an amateur boxer and played rugby for Ireland and the British Lions, with whom he toured South Africa.

David said: “It is so important we carry on the work of researching his archive here at the museum and educating all on the selfless acts of bravery carried out by him and his men, giving him and his family the recognition they deserve.”