William E. Fairbairn
William Ewart Fairbairn (1885–1960) was a soldier, police officer, and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the Close combat, for the Shanghai police between the World Wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons tactics. Notably, this included innovative pistol shooting techniques and the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife.
The television series Secrets of War suggested him as a possible inspiration for Ian Flemming's James Bond character.
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Military career
He served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry starting in 1901, and joined the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) in 1907.
During World War II, he was recruited by the British Secret Service as an Army officer; together with Sykes he was commissioned on the General List in 1941. He trained UK, US and Canadian Commando forces, along with Ranger candidates in close-combat, pistol-shooting, and knife-fighting techniques.
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 William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, founder of the U.S. O.S.S.
Martial arts
After joining the SMP, he studied jujutsu 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.
Weapons innovations
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.
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.
Criticism
Christopher Grosz and Michael D. Janich analyzed Fairbairn's work on human anatomy and knife fighting, and claimed that some of it was flawed. They published their own update in the book Contemporary Knife Targeting - Modern Science vs. W.E. Fairbairn's Timetable of Death.
Publications
- Defendu (1926)
- Scientific Self-Defence - a slightly modified reprint of Defendu (1931)
- All-In Fighting (1942)
- Hands Off! Self Defense for Women (1942)
- Shooting to Live (1942) with Capt. E. A. Sykes
- Get Tough
See also
References
- 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.
- Contemporary Knife Targeting - Modern Science vs. W.E. Fairbairn's Timetable of Death by Christopher Grosz and Michael D. Janich - a thorough analysis of Fairbairn's work on human anatomy and knife fighting.
- W E Fairbairn Gentleman & Warrior The Shanghai Years (2005) First biography on Fairbairn.
External links
- Film archives about close-combat with lessons by the Major Fairbairn himself
- The Source by Peter Robins (American Combatives)
- Shanghai Municipal Police by Robert Bickers
