Colonel Paddy VC-less

[Foxyboy43]

Like many my age I have heard much of our local lad who did rather well fighting the enemy in World War Two - indeed much of his “work” was shown in a recent TV series.
Recently there has been an upsurge in demand for awarding the Victoria Cross to this holder of the DSO and 3 bars (or 4 DSOs if you like) and there has been much conjecture over whether the “establishment” effectively blocked this - even King George VI was recorded at the time as asking "why it so strangely eluded him". I guess we will never really know the true answer but reading between the many lines…..
Anyhoo for those of a certain age these are the citations for each of the 4 medals - I expect that the phrasing reflects the then typical military understatement approach to recording extreme valour…

 

[finnbear270]

Possible that someone somewhere's, that has a deciding vote had received a clout from Paddy in the past.

 

[sako751sg]

A truly fearless individual.

 

[sako751sg]

Possible that someone somewhere's, that has a deciding vote had received a clout from Paddy in the past.

That will play a huge part of it.

 

[enfieldspares]

The third bar, yes, for pretty much any other person likely it would have been a VC as the narrative infers a risk of death above the supposed 90% certainty threshold that supposedly applies. Or does it? The original and others in the cold light of day probably were adjudged not to. I'd think it be difficult to judge as there are so many acts of bravery, or gallantry, not the same except that they must carry that 90% high risk of death. Norman Cyril Jackson ad James Allen Ward were two "wingwalkers" of WWII both awarded VCs. Was Mayne's risk comparable to theirs? The benchmark is set long. There is similar level of risk of death applied to the George Cross and below that risk level a George Medal was instead given and further below the George Medal benchmark the King's Gallantry Medal.

 

[Foxyboy43]

The third bar, yes, for pretty much any other person likely it would have been a VC as the narrative infers a risk of death above the supposed 90% certainty threshold that supposedly applies. Or does it? The original and others in the cold light of day probably were adjudged not to. I'd think it be difficult to judge as there are so many acts of bravery, or gallantry, not the same except that they must carry that 90% high risk of death. Norman Cyril Jackson ad James Allen Ward were two "wingwalkers" of WWII both awarded VCs. Was Mayne's risk comparable to theirs? The benchmark is set long. There is similar level of risk of death applied to the George Cross and below that risk level a George Medal was instead given and further below the George Medal benchmark the King's Gallantry Medal.

Indeed so but a common thread running through many of his reported actions he regularly or indeed even routinely faced almost certain death (how the hell do you determine 90% anyhoo?).
There is a wonderful “picture” of him in a programme which took the views of those hugely brave SAS guys who were there with him and they, to a man were in no doubt but then again….
Anyways it still rumbles on.

"He will be remembered as the bravest man in history to never be awarded the Victoria Cross" - Lord Ashcroft

First published in the Telegraph Magazine on Saturday, 14 November 2020. Fearless, wild and brilliant – Paddy Mayne, founding father of the SAS, is reputed to have destroyed more German planes during the Second World War than the RAF’s top ace. So why was his bravery never fully recognised in...

www.lordashcroft.com

 

[enfieldspares]

"He will be remembered as the bravest man in history to never be awarded the Victoria Cross" - Lord Ashcroft

First published in the Telegraph Magazine on Saturday, 14 November 2020. Fearless, wild and brilliant – Paddy Mayne, founding father of the SAS, is reputed to have destroyed more German planes during the Second World War than the RAF’s top ace. So why was his bravery never fully recognised in...

www.lordashcroft.com

Johnnie Johnson who was Britain's leading scoring fighter pilot in WW2 didn't get a VC despite his tally.

 

[Long drag]

Remember what the system done to Alan Turing, and there you will find your answer.

 

[Dickie]

The 2 crew members from HMS Petard Lt Fasson and AB Grazier that died retrieving the code books, cypher and enigma machine of U559, both got posthumously awarded the George cross because the crew had abandoned the submarine so their swimming and entering the stricken submarine which sank taking them with it.
So their act wasn’t in the face of the enemy as required by the criteria for the VC even though it’s probable the information they retrieved saved thousands of tons of shipping and shortened the war by 2 years.