Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne was a rugby player, boxer, golfer, and solicitor, and in WWII a commando and one of the first members of the SAS (Special Air Service), participating in raids behind enemy lines in Egypt and Libya (depicted in the board above), and later, as SAS commander, in France, Belgium and other countries. His many decorations, including the DSO (four times) and French Croix De Guerre and Legion D’Honneur, are pictured below. His WP page includes an explanation of the ribbon bars.
Mayne was born in Newtownards and returned there at the end of the war. His statue stands in the town’s Conway Square and this board can be found in Queen Street.
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Copyright © 2010 Peter Moloney
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Peter Moloney Collection 