Local hero

This statue is of Lt Col Blair (Paddy) Mayne, sited in the Newtownards town square. He was a local man who was one of the most highly-decorated soldiers of WWII. An intro by the Blair Mayne Society reads as follows:

Each one of his four citations reached the same conclusions when they described Mayne's qualities of superb, fine and brilliant leadership. They also mentioned his outstanding gallantry and great courage. The D.S.O. ranks just slightly lower in stature than the Victoria Cross and to gain that prestigious award while holding the junior rank of Lieutenant made it an even more significant achievement. Only seven other men were to be awarded three bars to the D.S.O. The French people and their Government knew his worth and held Blair Mayne in very high esteem for his gallant and fearless conduct in helping to free their country from the Germans. They honoured him with the award of The Legion D'Honneur & Croix De Guerre on 5th March 1946 for his services. Those two great honours made him one of the most highly decorated Allied soldiers at the end of World War Two.

I was reminded of this local hero after reading Sydney 's wonderful blips about the experiences of her grandfather in WWI. If you haven't read them yet, you should!

Apologies for the quality of this photo (I seem to be saying that a lot, lately), it was after 6pm when I took it.