LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ROBERT BLAIR MAYNE 1915-1955

Written by David ‘Davey’ McCallion

War Years Remembered Museum

Newtownards, Northern Ireland

The WAR YEARS REMEMBERED MUSEUM:

Blair Mayne’s story grows day by day as we uncover more information from the Mayne family archive, which contains his personal letters, papers, and photographs, as well as items from the SAS war diary, which were very generously donated to us by Blair’s niece, Fiona Ferguson.

As old veterans have often told us, remembrance is not just about the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, it is every day.  Our task is to carry on their stories, ensuring that all our veterans are remembered every day through their artefacts and memorabilia.

We need your help to reopen the museum in Col Mayne’s hometown of Newtownards so his memory and all the veterans whose artefacts and stories are held at War Years Remembered Museum is never forgotten. Please follow this link to make a donation: 

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/waryearsrememberedmuseum

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ROBERT BLAIR MAYNE 1915-1955

Awards and decorations

• Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and Three Bars
• First award February 24, 1942 (Medal entitlement)
• Second award October 21, 1943 (1st Bar)
• Third award March 29, 1945 (2nd Bar)
• Fourth award October 11,1945 (3rd Bar)
• 1939-45 Star
• Africa Star with 8th Army Clasp
• Italy Star
• France and Germany Star
• 1939-45 Defence Medal
• 1939-45 British War Medal with bronze oak leaf for Mention in Dispatches February 24, 1942
• Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur (France)
• Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 (France)

PRE-WAR YEARS

Blair was born to William Mayne and Margaret Boyle Vance on January 11, 1915 at the family home (later to become the Devonshire Arms Hotel) in the township of Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland.  He was the second youngest of seven children, with two older brothers, Thomas and William, a younger brother Douglas and three sisters. Molly, Barbara, and Frances.

Soon after Blair’s birth, the family moved to their 40-acre country estate in Scrabo Road, overlooking the Newtownards township.  He was educated at the Ladies School in Conway Square, which amalgamated with Newtownards Academy (formerly Newtownards Intermediate School) in 1924 to become Regent House grammar school.

Blair’s talent for sports, especially rugby, soon became evident. He played for the 1st XV at Regent House and was a member of their cadet force. A good all-rounder, he also played cricket and golf and showed an aptitude as a marksman in the rifle club.

Blair went on to play rugby for his local club, Ards RFC, becoming the team’s captain as a 16-year-old. Later, while a law student at Queen’s University Belfast, he played for the university rugby team, also going on to become the university’s heavyweight boxing champion.

It was also at Queen’s that he became a keen photographer. While studying at Queen’s, he worked as a trainee solicitor at TCG Mackintosh, and after graduation in early 1939, he joined the firm of Geo. L. Maclaine & Co in Belfast.

RUGBY
Blair excelled in rugby during the pre-war years, playing his first international game for Ireland on the 1937 team against Wales. He had only been capped three times for Ireland when he was selected for the British Rugby Touring Team (now the British Lions), which toured South Africa in 1938. After the tour, Blair played for Malone RFC, an unofficial pre-requisite for practising as a solicitor.  He also received a further three caps while playing for Ireland and for the Ulster Rugby team before the war put an end to his rugby career.

WORLD WAR II

Blair’s military service had started while he was at Queen’s, where he joined the Officer Training Corps (OTC).  Blair initially enlisted in 1939 in the Supplementary Reserve with the Royal Regiment of Artillery, joining the 5th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery based in Newtownards, which was a detachment of the 8th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment.  During his time with the gunners, he also served with the 102nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment before transferring the Royal Ulster Rifles.

Along with his friend Eoin McGonigal, Blair transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).

They subsequently volunteered for No. 11 (Scottish) Commando, which left for the Middle East in February 1941 as part of “Layforce”, a larger Commando force tasked with carrying out raids in the eastern Mediterranean. 

Blair first saw action during the Syria-Lebanon campaign.

In the early hours of June 9, 1941, the Commando troop he led played an important role in the Litani River operation against Vichy French forces, capturing some 80 prisoners and several guns. He was later Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) for his leadership and courage during this operation. 

A month later, Blair was hospitalised with malaria. While recuperating, he was recruited by David Stirling for “L Detachment of the Special Air Service Brigade”, a deception designed to fool the enemy into thinking there was a brigade-sized paratrooper regiment with numerous units operating in the area.

In reality, L Detachment consisted of only five or six officers and 60 other ranks but soon expanded to become the very real British SAS.  Blair was to become one of its founding fathers, alongside David Stirling and Jock Lewes.

Blair took part in the first L Detachment raid, known as “Operation Squatter”, an ill-fated parachute raid against Axis airfields in North Africa in support of Operation Crusader, on November 16, 1941.  The men were dropped in a severe thunderstorm, with disastrous consequences. Of the 65 men who jumped, only 22 returned. One of the men lost was Eoin McGonigal, Blair’s best friend from back home.

According to some of the men who served with Blair, the loss of Eoin McGonigal on this raid affected him deeply for the rest of his life.

WADI TAMET
The future of the wartime SAS was secured by L Detachment’s second raid at Wadi Tamet on December 14, 1941, where Blair and his troop destroyed 24 enemy aircraft, ammunition, and petrol dumps, even pocketing some silverware from the mess hall as a souvenir.

A raid at Sirte on the same night had to be abandoned abruptly when David Stirling, the troop leader, tripped on a sleeping Italian sentry, alerting the enemy to their presence.

Blair went on to exceptional service during the war years, commanding the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) as a Major in Sicily and Italy through to the end of 1943 and the 1st SAS Regiment as a Lieutenant-Colonel in Europe from early 1944 onwards.  When planning operations, Blair paid meticulous attention to detail, whether he was to take part himself or planning an operation on behalf of his men.  He seemed to know instinctively what the enemy’s response to their actions would be and was able to give his orders accordingly.

Moreover, he would never ask his men to do anything that he would not do himself.

Blair took any casualties among his men very personally and wrote detailed letters to the families of the men who fell under his command.

He collected the Distinguished Service Order, the second highest decoration for bravery, on an almost unprecedented four occasions. The citations are as follows.

Distinguished Service Order February 24,1942

At Sirte on 12/13 December 1941, this officer was instrumental in leading and succeeded in destroying with a small party of men, many aeroplanes, a bomb dump and a petrol dump. He led this raid in person and himself destroyed and killed many of the enemy. The task set was of the most hazardous nature, and it was due to this officer’s courage and leadership that success was achieved. I cannot speak too highly of this officer’s skill and devotion to duty.

First Bar, October 21, 1943

Operation HUSKY, SICILY. On July 10th 1943 & 12th July 1943, Major R.B. Mayne carried out two successful operations. The first, capture and destruction of coastal defence battery on Capo Murro Di Porco, the outcome of which was vital to the safe landing of XIII Corps. By nightfall 10/7/43, Special Raiding Squadron had captured three additional Btys, 450 prisoners as well as killing 200 to 300 Italians. The second, the capture and holding of the town of Augusta. The landing was carried out in daylight, a most hazardous combined operation. By the audacity displayed, the Italians were forced from their positions in masses, and most valuable stores and equipment was saved from certain destruction. In both these operations it was Major Mayne’s courage, determination and superb leadership which proved the key to success. He personally led his men from the landing craft in the face of heavy machine gun fire and in the case of the Augusta raid, mortar fire. By these actions he succeeded in forcing his way to ground where it was possible to form up and sum up the enemy’s defences.

Second Bar, March 29, 1945

Lt Col. R.B. Mayne DSO has commanded 1st SAS Regt throughout the period of operations in France. On 7th August 44 he was dropped to the “HOUNDSWORTH” base located west of Dijon in order to co-ordinate and take charge of all available detachments of his Regiment and co-ordinate their action with a major airborne landing which was then envisaged near Paris. He then proceeded in a jeep in daylight to motor to the “GAIN” base near Paris making the complete journey in one day. On the approach of Allied forces he passed through the lines in his jeep to contact the American forces and lead back through the lines his detachment of 20 jeeps landed for operation “WALLACE”. During the next few weeks, he successfully penetrated the German and American lines in a jeep on four occasions in order to lead parties of reinforcements. It was entirely due to Lt. Col. Mayne’s fine leadership and example, and due to his utter disregard of danger that the unit was able to achieve such striking success.

Third Bar, October 11, 1945

On Monday April 9th 1945, Lt. Col .R .B. Mayne was ordered by the GOC 4th Canadian Armoured Division to lead his Regiment (then consisting of two armoured jeep squadrons) through the British lines and infiltrate through the German lines. His general axis of advance was N/East towards the city of Oldenburg, with the special task of clearing a path for the Canadian armoured cars and tanks and also causing alarm and disorganisation behind the enemy lines. As subsequent events proved the task of Lt. Col. Mayne’s force was entirely and completely successful. This success however was solely due to the brilliant military leadership and cool calculating courage of Lt Col. Mayne who, by a single act of supreme bravery drove the enemy from a strongly held key village thereby breaking the crust of the enemy defences in the whole of this sector.

The following is a detailed account of the Lt Col’s individual action which called for both unsurpassed heroism and cool clear sighted military knowledge.

Lt Col. Mayne on receiving a wireless message from the leading squadron reporting that it was heavily engaged by enemy fire and that the squadron commander had been killed immediately drove forward to the scene of the action. From the time of his arrival until the end of the action Lt Col. Mayne was in full view of the enemy and exposed to fire from small arms, machine guns, sniper rifles and Panzerfausts. On arrival he summed up the situation in a matter of seconds and entered the nearest house alone and ensured the enemy here had either withdrawn or been killed. He then seized a Bren gun and magazines and single handedly fired burst after burst into a second house, killing or wounding the enemy there and also opened fire on the woods. He then ordered a jeep to come forward and take over his fire position before returning to the forward position where he disposed the men to the best advantage and ordered another jeep to come forward. He got into the jeep and with another officer as rear gunner drove forward past the position where the Squadron Commander had been killed a few minutes previously and continued to point a hundred yards ahead where a further section of jeeps was halted by intense and accurate enemy fire. This section had suffered casualties and wounded owing to the heavy enemy fire and the survivors were unable at that time to influence the action in any way until the arrival of Lt Col. Mayne. The Lt Col. continued along the road all the time engaging the enemy with fire from his own jeep. Having swept the whole area with close range fire he turned his jeep around and drove down the road again, still in full view of the enemy. By this time the enemy had suffered heavy casualties and had started to withdraw. Nevertheless, they maintained intense fire on the road, and it appeared almost impossible to extricate the wounded who were in a ditch near to the forward jeeps. Any attempt of rescuing these men under those conditions appeared virtually suicidal owing to the highly concentrated and accurate fire of the enemy. Though he fully realised the risk he was taking. Lt Col. Mayne turned his jeep round once more and returned to try and rescue these wounded. Then by superlative determination and displaying gallantry of the very highest degree and in the face of intense enemy machine gun fire he lifted the wounded one by one into the jeep, turned round and drove back to the main body. The entire enemy positions had been wiped out, the majority of the enemy having been killed or wounded leaving a very small percentage who were now in full retreat. The Squadron having suffered no further casualties were able to continue their advance and drive deeper behind the enemy to complete their task of sabotage and destruction of the enemy. Finally, they reached a point 20 miles ahead of the advance guard of the advancing Canadian Division thus threatening the rear of the Germans who finally withdrew. From the time of the arrival of Lt Col. Mayne his gallantry inspired all ranks. Not only did he save the lives of the wounded but he also completely defeated and destroyed the enemy.

As is now widely known, Blair had been recommended for the Victoria Cross for his actions at Oldenburg, but the award was anonymously downgraded to a 3rd Bar to his DSO.

The war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. The 1st and 2nd SAS regiments were subsequently dispatched to Norway to disarm a German garrison, which they did successfully. After a considerable amount of “rest and recreation”, the regiments returned to their bases in the UK in August 1945, on standby for continued fighting in the East. Following the sudden conclusion of Far East hostilities in September 1945, both regiments were disbanded on October 8, 1945.

THE POST-WAR YEARS

Blair spent the first few weeks after disbandment attending to correspondence, assisting many of his men with the practicalities of returning to civilian life.  The answer as to what to do next himself came soon enough, when the regiment received a letter seeking volunteers for the Falkland Island Dependencies Survey (FIDS) expedition to Antarctica.

At the height of WW2, the British government conducted an expedition to Antarctica called Operation Tabarin. Under the guise of monitoring enemy shipping in the region, Operation Tabarin was in reality focused on establishing manned British bases in Antarctica to counter the territorial claims of Argentina and Chile. With the cessation of hostilities, the operation of the bases was transferred to the newly formed FIDS. The already established survey and science programmes were expanded with the establishment of more bases, further strengthening the British claim to these territories. The expedition was charged with relieving the original Operation Tabarin personnel and establishing new bases, including one at Stonington Island in Marguerite Bay, much further south on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Blair joined immediately, as did two of his ex-SAS colleagues, Major John Tonkin and Major Mike Sadler, leaving the UK in late December 1945 on a contract that was to run for two years.  The expedition was led by Commander Bingham, a former naval surgeon, with Blair appointed as second in command.

Like most FIDS personnel, Mayne kept a journal detailing his experiences and took many photographs capturing both the places he visited and the men he was with, including his ex-SAS colleagues. This recently discovered journal is now held by War Years Remembered as part of the Blair Mayne Collection.

Sadly, having made it as far south as Deception Island and Port Lockroy, he was invalided home after just a few weeks because of a wartime spinal injury that deteriorated badly in the early weeks of the expedition. After a brief stay in hospital at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, Blair returned home to Northern Ireland in March 1946 for spine surgery and convalescence. Unfortunately, the surgery was not a complete success, and he was unable to rejoin the Antarctic expedition.

Later in 1946, Blair was appointed Secretary to the Law Society of Northern Ireland, a position he held for the rest of his life. He was a freemason, becoming Master of Eklektikos Lodge Number 542 in 1954. He also joined Lodge Number 44. Throughout the post-war years, he also held many honorary positions, including being vice president or chairman of several prominent organisations, and regularly attended SAS regimental reunions and dinners.

AN UNTIMELY DEATH

The evening of Tuesday December 13, 1955 would be the last that Blair would spend on this earth. After attending a meeting at his local Masonic Hall in Newtownards, not far from his family home of Mount Pleasant, he visited the Royal British Legion in Bangor, where he met with friends for a drink and played cards until the early hours.

At around 4 am on Wednesday December 14, 1955 Blair met his untimely death at only 40 years of age on Mill Street in Newtownards, when returning home. His red Riley sports car (called variously the “Red Rocket” or “Big Red Fire Engine”) glanced the side of a parked truck and careered across the road, becoming wedged between an electricity pole and a house on the corner of John Street Lane, resulting in a fatal skull fracture.

Blair’s funeral took place on December 16, 1955 (only two days after his death) and was the largest his hometown of Newtownards had ever seen. The service was held at the family home by the Reverend A.M. Adams and Blair’s wartime comrade and friend, the Reverend J. Fraser McCluskey MC. The cortege was a mile long and took over an hour to travel through the town. Blair is buried in the family plot at Movilla Abbey cemetery. Sadly, his mother died a short few weeks later on February 25, 1956.

LEGACY

Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne is one of Northern Ireland’s bravest sons and certainly its most decorated soldier. The esteem in which Blair was held by the men of “L Detachment” and the SAS reverberates to this day.

Blair became a legend because of his stellar pre-war rugby career and wartime heroism, but was also an all-round sportsman, solicitor, elite soldier, photographer, Antarctic explorer, and freemason. Devoted to his family, his favourite pursuits were landscape gardening, growing roses, and tending his sheep and poultry. He also worked with troubled youth at a time when this was not a popular pastime.

However, despite his legendary status, it must be said that Blair was a complex man, for whom alcohol was a problem on and off throughout his adult life and a source of concern to his family, close friends, and colleagues.  His long periods of abstinence suggest that he was aware of the problem and trying to deal with it, but at a time when there were no specialist services to which he could turn for help.