The Real Rogue Heroes: Robert Blair Mayne: Founding Member of the Special Air Service

According to the London Gazette: "In March 1939, prior to the outbreak of World War II, Paddy Mayne had joined the Territorial Army in Newtownards Ireland. After training with the Queen's University Officer Training Corps, he received a commission in the 5th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery."

"In April 1940 he transferred to the Royal Ulster Rifles. Following Churchill's call to form a "butcher and bolt" raiding force following Dunkirk, Mayne volunteered for the newly formed 11 (Scottish) Commando. He first saw action in June 1941 as a Lieutenant with 11 Commando, successfully leading his men during the Litani River operation in Lebanon against the Vichy French Forces.

It was after this particularly brutal and confused action, in which 130 officers and men, around a third of the strike force, were wounded or killed, that Mayne reacted violently against what he believed was the ineptitude of his Commanding Officer, whom he considered inexperienced." - London Gazette April 12, 1940

Mayne's leadership on the raid had attracted the attention of Captain David Stirling who recruited him as one of the founding members of the Special Air Service (SAS). From November 1941 through to the end of 1942, Mayne participated in many night raids deep behind enemy lines in the deserts of Egypt and Libya, where the SAS wrought havoc by destroying hundreds of German and Italian aircraft on the ground.

"Mayne received the Distinguished Service Order for a December 14, 1941, raid behind enemy lines in Libya on Wadi Tamet airfield. After eliminating enemy airmen socializing in an officers’ mess, he and his team destroyed 14 planes and damaged 10 others. While serving in North Africa he was credited with personally destroying some 100 enemy aircraft on the ground—47 on a single occasion." - London Gazette February 20, 1942

Promoted to major in 1942, Mayne received a bar to his DSO for destroying coastal batteries at Capo Murro di Porco and capturing the town of Augusta, Sicily, in July 1943. His citation credited him with “courage, determination and superb leadership.”

Following Stirling's capture in January 1943, 1st SAS Regiment was reorganised into two separate parts, the Special Raiding Squadron and the Special Boat Section. As a Major, Mayne was appointed to command the Special Raiding Squadron and he led the unit with distinction in Italy until the end of 1943.

In January 1944 Mayne was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed the Commanding Officer of 1st SAS Regiment. He subsequently led the SAS with great distinction through the final campaigns of the war in France, Holland, Belgium, Germany and Norway, often campaigning alongside local resistance fighters including the French Maquis. - IWM

One of the most highly decorated servicemen of the Commonwealth, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order with three bars, the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour. Paddy died on December 13, 1955 resulting from injuries sustained in a car accident. He lies in rest at Movilla Cemetery in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. Lest We Forget.

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