He was an amateur boxing champion , qualified as a solicitor and was capped for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions at rugby union before becoming a founding member of the Special Air Service SAS. Serving with distinction during the Second World War , Mayne became one of the British Army's most highly decorated officers.
Mayne attended Regent House Grammar School. While at RHGS he also played cricket and golf , and showed aptitude as a marksman in the rifle club. Mayne then went up to read law at Queen's University Belfast , studying to become a solicitor. He followed this by reaching the final of the British Universities Heavyweight Championship but was beaten on points. Mayne as an adult was 6' 3" tall and weighed Mayne's first full Ireland rugby cap also came in , in a match against Wales.
After gaining five more caps for Ireland as a lock forward , Mayne was selected for the British Lions tour to South Africa. He played in seventeen of the twenty provincial matches and in all three Tests.
Mayne won praise during the three Ireland matches he played in , with one report stating "Mayne, whose quiet almost ruthless efficiency is in direct contrast to O'Loughlin 's exuberance, appears on the slow side, but he covers the ground at an extraordinary speed for a man of his build, as many a three quarter and full back have discovered".
Mackintosh for the five previous years. Then, in April , he was transferred back to the Royal Ulster Rifles. Following Churchill's call to form a "butcher and bolt" raiding force following the Dunkirk evacuation , Mayne volunteered for the newly-formed No.
