Why Paddy Mayne Never Got The Victoria Cross
Phil Campion Unfiltered
151,528 views
Why was SAS legend Paddy Mayne never awarded the Victoria Cross?
From destroying enemy aircraft behind German lines to leading some of the SAS's most daring operations of the Second World War, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne became one of the most decorated British soldiers of his generation.
But one medal was missing.
The Victoria Cross.
In this episode of Tactical Truth, former UK Special Forces operator Phil Campion examines the extraordinary military career of Paddy Mayne and the controversial decision that meant one of the SAS's most legendary figures never received Britain's highest award for gallantry.
From joining No. 11 Scottish Commando in 1941 to becoming one of the original members of David Stirling's L Detachment SAS, Mayne built a reputation for extraordinary aggression, courage and leadership behind enemy lines.
But it was an action at Oldenburg on 9 April 1945 that would lead to Mayne being recommended for the Victoria Cross.
Phil examines:
• Who Paddy Mayne really was
• How Mayne became one of the original SAS soldiers
• His extraordinary operations behind enemy lines
• The enemy aircraft destroyed during SAS raids
• Why Mayne became one of Britain's most decorated soldiers
• What happened at Oldenburg on 9 April 1945
• Why Mayne went back under fire to rescue trapped men
• The eyewitness accounts behind his Victoria Cross recommendation
• Why Brigadier Robert Calvert recommended Mayne for the VC
• What happened to the recommendation
• Why Mayne received another Bar to his DSO instead
• The controversy that has followed the decision for more than 80 years
• Whether Paddy Mayne's actions met the standard expected of a Victoria Cross recipient
Phil also looks beyond Mayne's reputation and asks whether his personality and behaviour should have had any bearing on the recognition of his actions on the battlefield.
Because the Victoria Cross isn't supposed to recognise an entire career. It recognises an extraordinary act of valour in the presence of the enemy.
And on 9 April 1945, Paddy Mayne's actions were considered extraordinary enough for his commanding officer to recommend him for Britain's highest military honour.
So why didn't he get it?
Was Paddy Mayne denied the Victoria Cross?
And more than 80 years later, should that decision ever be reconsidered?
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🙌 EPISODE SPONSOR
This episode of Tactical Truth is proudly sponsored by Getac.
Getac manufactures rugged laptops, tablets and mobile computing solutions trusted by military, defence, emergency services and frontline organisations worldwide. Built to perform in the harshest environments, Getac technology helps frontline personnel stay connected when reliability matters most.
To learn more about Getac and their defence solutions, visit: Getac
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⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Should Paddy Mayne Have Received The VC?
01:10 Who Was Paddy Mayne?
02:30 How Mayne Helped Build The SAS
04:20 The Mission That Changed Everything
06:15 Why Paddy Mayne Never Got The VC
08:05 The Argument Against Awarding It
09:55 Did Mayne Meet The Victoria Cross Standard?
13:20 The Legacy Paddy Mayne Left Behind
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🎖️ ABOUT PHIL CAMPION
Phil Campion is a former UK Special Forces operator and military commentator providing straight-talking analysis on defence, security, military history, current affairs and the stories dominating Britain and the world.
Drawing on his military and security experience, Phil gives his perspective on the soldiers, decisions, tactics and realities behind some of the most extraordinary stories in military history.
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Want to go deeper?
Get exclusive live updates, behind-the-scenes access, member-only discussions and direct interaction with Phil.
Join through the Join button on the channel homepage.
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👍 LIKE • COMMENT • SUBSCRIBE
Do you think Paddy Mayne should have received the Victoria Cross?
And after more than 80 years, should the decision ever be reconsidered?
Let us know what you think below.
#PaddyMayne #SAS #VictoriaCross #PhilCampion #TacticalTruth #SASHistory #UKSpecialForces #SpecialForces #MilitaryHistory #WW2
20 Comments
That officer who was a VC winner himself had the last word on who would receive the award.
I can’t remember the officers name but it was in a documentary on the history channel years ago.
Why Paddy Mayne Never Got The Victoria Cross
Phil Campion Unfiltered
151,528 views
Why was SAS legend Paddy Mayne never awarded the Victoria Cross?
From destroying enemy aircraft behind German lines to leading some of the SAS's most daring operations of the Second World War, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne became one of the most decorated British soldiers of his generation.
But one medal was missing.
The Victoria Cross.
In this episode of Tactical Truth, former UK Special Forces operator Phil Campion examines the extraordinary military career of Paddy Mayne and the controversial decision that meant one of the SAS's most legendary figures never received Britain's highest award for gallantry.
From joining No. 11 Scottish Commando in 1941 to becoming one of the original members of David Stirling's L Detachment SAS, Mayne built a reputation for extraordinary aggression, courage and leadership behind enemy lines.
But it was an action at Oldenburg on 9 April 1945 that would lead to Mayne being recommended for the Victoria Cross.
Phil examines:
• Who Paddy Mayne really was
• How Mayne became one of the original SAS soldiers
• His extraordinary operations behind enemy lines
• The enemy aircraft destroyed during SAS raids
• Why Mayne became one of Britain's most decorated soldiers
• What happened at Oldenburg on 9 April 1945
• Why Mayne went back under fire to rescue trapped men
• The eyewitness accounts behind his Victoria Cross recommendation
• Why Brigadier Robert Calvert recommended Mayne for the VC
• What happened to the recommendation
• Why Mayne received another Bar to his DSO instead
• The controversy that has followed the decision for more than 80 years
• Whether Paddy Mayne's actions met the standard expected of a Victoria Cross recipient
Phil also looks beyond Mayne's reputation and asks whether his personality and behaviour should have had any bearing on the recognition of his actions on the battlefield.
Because the Victoria Cross isn't supposed to recognise an entire career. It recognises an extraordinary act of valour in the presence of the enemy.
And on 9 April 1945, Paddy Mayne's actions were considered extraordinary enough for his commanding officer to recommend him for Britain's highest military honour.
So why didn't he get it?
Was Paddy Mayne denied the Victoria Cross?
And more than 80 years later, should that decision ever be reconsidered?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🙌 EPISODE SPONSOR
This episode of Tactical Truth is proudly sponsored by Getac.
Getac manufactures rugged laptops, tablets and mobile computing solutions trusted by military, defence, emergency services and frontline organisations worldwide. Built to perform in the harshest environments, Getac technology helps frontline personnel stay connected when reliability matters most.
To learn more about Getac and their defence solutions, visit: Getac
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Should Paddy Mayne Have Received The VC?
01:10 Who Was Paddy Mayne?
02:30 How Mayne Helped Build The SAS
04:20 The Mission That Changed Everything
06:15 Why Paddy Mayne Never Got The VC
08:05 The Argument Against Awarding It
09:55 Did Mayne Meet The Victoria Cross Standard?
13:20 The Legacy Paddy Mayne Left Behind
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🎖️ ABOUT PHIL CAMPION
Phil Campion is a former UK Special Forces operator and military commentator providing straight-talking analysis on defence, security, military history, current affairs and the stories dominating Britain and the world.
Drawing on his military and security experience, Phil gives his perspective on the soldiers, decisions, tactics and realities behind some of the most extraordinary stories in military history.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔒 JOIN UNFILTERED+
Want to go deeper?
Get exclusive live updates, behind-the-scenes access, member-only discussions and direct interaction with Phil.
Join through the Join button on the channel homepage.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
👍 LIKE • COMMENT • SUBSCRIBE
Do you think Paddy Mayne should have received the Victoria Cross?
And after more than 80 years, should the decision ever be reconsidered?
Let us know what you think below.
#PaddyMayne #SAS #VictoriaCross #PhilCampion #TacticalTruth #SASHistory #UKSpecialForces #SpecialForces #MilitaryHistory #WW2