/ have gathered a posy of other men's flowers and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own (MONTAIGNE) Lt-Col 'Paddy' Blair Mayne , dso (three bars), was the most decorated soldier of the Second World War.
He was an international rugby player, an accomplished boxer and a trained solicitor. He is revered by the SAS, but his feats of daring were punctuated with exploits not so praiseworthy, and he remains a man surrounded by controversy. Why was he not given the VC and why was his life after the war turbulent, until his early death behind the wheel of his sports car? Roy Bradford talks to those who fought with him and those who shared his life. Producer MARTIN DILLON BBC Northern Ireland