William E. Fairbairn

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William Ewart Fairbairn (1885-1960) was a soldier, police officer, and exponent of hand-to-hand combat methods for the Shanghai police between the World Wars, and allied special forces in World War II.

1 Biography
2 Trivia
3 See also
4 Books
- 4.1 External links

[edit] Biography

He served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry starting in 1901. After joining the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) in 1907, he studied Jujitsu and then Chinese martial arts, developed his own fighting system -- Defendu -- and taught it to members of that police force in order to reduce officer fatalities. He described this system as primarily based on his personal experience, which according to police records included some 600 non-training fights, by his retirement at age 55 from the position of Assistant Commissioner in 1940. Together with Eric A. Sykes he developed innovative pistol shooting techniques and handgun specifications for the SMP which were later disseminated through their book Shooting To Live With The One-Hand Gun (1942), along with various other police innovations such as riot batons, armored 'Mauser-proof' vests, and other equipment.

During WWII, he was recruited by the British Secret Service as an Army officer; he trained UK, U.S. and Canadian Commando forces, along with Ranger candidates in close-combat, pistol-shooting, and knife-fighting techniques. He is perhaps best known for designing the famous Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, or 'commando' knife which was used by British Special Forces in World War II, and featured in his textbook Scientific Self-Defence.

Fairbairn eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel by the end of World War II, and received the U.S. Legion of Merit at the specific request of "Wild Bill" Donovan, founder of the U.S. O.S.S.

[edit] Trivia

The television series Secrets of War suggested him as a possible inspiration for James Bond.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

[edit] Books

The Legend of W.E. Fairbairn, Gentleman and Warrior: The Shanghai Years by Peter Robins, edited by Paul Child. 2005. ISBN 0-9549494-0-4 Shooting to Live with the One-Hand Gun by Captain William E. Fairbairn and Captain Eric Anthony Sykes. 1942. Reprint ISBN 0-87364-027-6 Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai by Robert Bickers. 2003. ISBN 0-231-13132-1, 0141011955. Life and times of a member of the Shanghai Municipal Police.