Rogue Warrior of the SAS The Blair Mayne Legend

More than half a century after his death, Lt Col. Robert Blair Mayne is still regarded as one of the greatest soldiers in the history of military special operations. He was the most decorated British soldier of the Second World War, receiving four DSOs, the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d'honneur, and he pioneered tactics used today by the SAS and other special operations units worldwide. Rogue Warrior of the SAStells the remarkable life story of 'Colonel Paddy', whose exceptional physical strength and uniquely swift reflexes made him a fearsome opponent. But his unorthodox rules of war and his resentment of authority would deny him the ultimate accolade of the Victoria Cross. Mayne also had a conflicted personal life, dominated by his mother. He never married and several of his contemporaries felt that his resentment of gays in the military reflected his concerns about his own sexuality. Mayne was undoubtedly a complex character and in Rogue Warrior of the SASthe authors have presented a rounded and perceptive portrait of the man. Drawing on personal letters and family papers, declassified SAS files and records, together with the Official SAS Diary compiled in wartime and eyewitness accounts from many who served with him, the picture emerges of a soldier who, although a flawed hero, was unquestionably one of the most distinctive combatants of the campaigns in the Western Desert and Europe.

Martin Dillon is the author of The Trigger Men, The Shankill Butchers, God and the Gun, and The Dirty War. The late Roy Bradford served with Army Intelligence during World War II and subsequently worked as a TV producer and writer. He was the author of two novels, Excelsior and The Last Ditch.