I have been very much looking forward to the release of Ben MacIntyre's history

[Sir C]

of the regiment, and it doesn't disappoint. He really has the ability to write history as a cracking good yarn.

I am rather taken with Paddy Mayne; this, from The Times review illustrates the point:

"Most disturbing was Paddy Mayne, one of the first officers to join the SAS. Physically violent when drunk, he verged on the unstable even while sober. In one raid on an Italian base in the desert, before trying to destroy the aircraft, he and his comrades burst into a hut containing Italian and German military personnel and machine-gunned them. It is impossible to be sure why Mayne did this, but, as Macintyre says: “It seems quite possible that Mayne, faced with the opportunity to kill at close quarters, had been unable to stop himself.”"

wd pm.

[Burney]

of the regiment, and it doesn't disappoint. He really has the ability to write history as a cracking good yarn.

I am rather taken with Paddy Mayne; this, from The Times review illustrates the point:

"Most disturbing was Paddy Mayne, one of the first officers to join the SAS. Physically violent when drunk, he verged on the unstable even while sober. In one raid on an Italian base in the desert, before trying to destroy the aircraft, he and his comrades burst into a hut containing Italian and German military personnel and machine-gunned them. It is impossible to be sure why Mayne did this, but, as Macintyre says: “It seems quite possible that Mayne, faced with the opportunity to kill at close quarters, had been unable to stop himself.”"

wd pm.

Yes, I remember hearing a radio programme about him a while back. An absolute raving lunatic by all accounts. Drinking and fighting were pretty much all he did.

[Luis Anaconda]

Yes, I remember hearing a radio programme about him a while back. An absolute raving lunatic by all accounts. Drinking and fighting were pretty much all he did.

Was he Irish?

[Burney]

Was he Irish?

An Ulsterman. Played for Ireland and the British Lions also.

[redgunamo]

Was he Irish?

What gave it away, LA?

[Ash]

I am rather taken with Paddy Mayne; this, from The Times review illustrates the point:


Saw a programme about him. Top bwoy. Pwopah nawty.

[Luis Anaconda]

An Ulsterman. Played for Ireland and the British Lions also.

Ah - I thought the name sounded familiar. More likely to have heard in that context

:hehe:

In desperation, the management decided to make Mayne share a room with the fly-half George Cromey, who also happened to be a Presbyterian minister. Even Cromey couldn't stop Mayne sneaking off from an official dinner to go on a late-night hunting trip with a group of men he'd met who were carrying rifles and lamplights. Cromey waited up for his room-mate till 3am, and then, just as he was nodding off, Mayne broke down the door and announced "I've just shot a springbok".

Cromey said his blood ran cold. And then he turned on the light, and saw Mayne, still wearing his cummerbund, with a dead antelope draped over his shoulders. "Jimmy Unwin has been complaining that the meat here isn't as fresh as it is back home," Mayne announced. So he took himself off to his team-mate Unwin's room, broke down that door too, and tossed the beast into his bed. The trouble was that, in all the confusion, Unwin cut his leg on the antelope's horn. That wouldn't do. So Mayne decided to deposit it outside the room of the South Africa manager, with a note saying: "A gift of fresh meat from the British Isles touring team."

[Luis Anaconda]

What gave it away, LA?

Just a hunch