BBC TV series SAS Rogue Heroes gives momentum to fresh call for Victoria Cross for Robert Blair 'Paddy' Mayne
The celebrated BBC TV series SAS Rogue Heroes has given momentum to a fresh campaign for Lt Col Robert Blair Mayne to be given the Victoria Cross.
The former Newtownards solicitor's exploits leading the SAS against the Nazis in WWII are the stuff of legend – resulting in his character being the central focus of the drama.
He retired from the war as a Lt Col after having been recommended for the Victoria Cross, the highest military award for gallantry.
However this was later downgraded to a Distinguished Service Order (DSO), which – added to three others previously awarded to him – made him one of the most highly decorated soldiers of the war.
After the war he returned to work as a solicitor and became secretary to the Law Society of Northern Ireland. He died in a car accident in 1955.
During the SAS North Africa campaign he destroyed more than 100 enemy aircraft and led 1st SAS Regiment through campaigns in Sicily, Italy, France and Germany during the Allied invasion of Europe.
Strangford MP Jim Shannon is campaigning for a posthumous VC for him and has put forward a motion in the House of Commons.
“My motion has been well supported, there is lots of interest from across all political parties,” he told the News Letter.
“Even if you go back in history, Lindsay Hoyle the speaker of the House signed another motion for this in 2005 which was also signed by Jeremy Corbyn.
“Rogue Heroes, while not totally portraying him as they should have, has raised a level of interest. After four DSOs and a recommendation for the VC which was never honoured, now is the time to get it right.”
He hopes that a parliamentary debate on the matter will happen in February.
UUP MLA Doug Beattie, who was awarded the Military Cross for his service with the Royal Irish Regiment in Afghanistan, said: “Lt Col Robert Blair Mayne's exploits in the desert of North Africa and Europe are legendary and venerated today within military circles.
“To receive four Distinguished Service Orders is an incredible achievement. Yet without a doubt the last citation which resulted in his final DSO recommended the Victoria Cross (VC). This would and should have been the correct award. Therefore the campaign to have Blair Mayne’s DSO upgraded to a VC is a fair and just campaign and it is one the Ministry of Defence should take seriously.”
‘Paddy’ Mayne (1915-55) was born into a prosperous family in Newtownards. He was a superb athlete and all-round sportsman, most notably representing both Ireland and the British Lions at rugby.
The National Army Museum biography of him says: “Mayne was a complex and enigmatic character. A man of great intelligence, he trained as a solicitor and developed a love of literature. Overly fond of alcohol, with an outrageous sense of humour, Mayne’s raucous behaviour could often spill over into violence.
“His antics during the British Lions tour of South Africa in 1938 have become the stuff of legend.”
He reportedly smashed hotel rooms, brawled with dockers, freed a convict and dumped the carcass of an antelope on the floor of his hotel following a midnight hunting adventure, it added.