William E.

Fairbairn
William Ewart Fairbairn (/ˈfɛərbɛərn/; 28 February 1885 – 20
William E. Fairbairn
June 1960) was a British Royal Marine and police officer. He
developed hand-to-hand combat methods for the Shanghai Police Born 28 February 1885
during the interwar period, as well as for the allied special forces Rickmansworth,
during World War II. He created his own fighting system known Hertfordshire,
as Defendu. Notably, this included innovative pistol shooting England
techniques and the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Died 20 June 1960 (aged
Knife. 75)
Worthing, Sussex,
The television series Secrets of War suggested him as a possible England
inspiration for Q branch in James Bond.
Occupation Royal Marines,
Shanghai Municipal
Police, Combatives
Contents Instructor

Military career
Martial arts
Weapons innovations
Publications
See also
References
Sources
External links

Military career
Fairbairn served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry starting in 1901, and joined the Shanghai
Municipal Police (SMP) in 1907. He served in one of the red light districts. During his service with the
International Police in Shanghai, Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in the course
of his duties over a twenty-year career, where he organised and headed a special anti-riot squad. Much of
his body, arms, legs, torso, even the palms of his hands, were covered with scars from knife wounds from
those fights.[1]:p:191 Fairbairn later created, organised, and trained a special anti-riot squad for the
Shanghai police force. He also developed numerous firearms training courses and police equipment,
including a special metal-lined bulletproof vest designed to stop high-velocity bullets from the
7.63x25mm Mauser pistol.[1]:p:191

During World War II, he was recruited by the British Secret Service as an Army officer, where he was
given the nickname "Dangerous Dan". Together with fellow close-combat instructor Eric Sykes,
Fairbairn was commissioned on the General List in 1941. Fairbairn and Sykes were both commissioned
as second lieutenants on 15 July 1940.[2] He trained British, American and Canadian Commando and No.
2 Dutch Troop 10th Inter-Allied Commando forces, along with Ranger candidates in close-combat,
pistol-shooting and knife-fighting techniques. Fairbairn emphasised the necessity of forgetting any idea
of gentlemanly conduct or fighting fair: "Get tough, get down in the gutter, win at all costs... I teach what
is called 'Gutter Fighting.' There's no fair play, no rules except one: kill or be killed," he declared.[1]:p:192
One of his pupils was Raymond Westerling, who fought behind enemy lines in Burma and Indonesia.

For his achievements in training OSS personnel, Fairbairn eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-
Colonel by the end of the war, and received the U.S. Legion of Merit (Officer grade) at the specific
request of OSS-founder "Wild Bill" Donovan.

Martial arts
After joining the SMP, he studied boxing, wrestling, savate, Shin no Shinto ryu jujutsu (Yoshin ryu) from
Okada-sensei, Kodokan judo in which he gained a 2nd dan black belt, and then Chinese martial arts. He
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.

In 1951, he went to Cyprus to train police and in 1952 (and 1956) Fairbairn provided training to the
Singapore Police Force's Riot Squad unit, which is now Police Tactical Unit.[3]

Weapons innovations
Together with Eric A. Sykes, Fairbairn 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, armoured vests,
and other equipment.

He is perhaps best known for designing the famous Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, or 'Commando' knife,
a stilletto-style fighting dagger used by British Special Forces in the Second World War, and featured in
his textbook Scientific Self-Defence.[1]:p:191 Fairbairn also designed the lesser known Smatchet, and
collaborated on the design of several other combat knife designs.

Publications
Defendu, first published in 1926 in Shanghai by the North China Daily News & Herald Ltd.
Size 7" X 10", hardcover, cloth bound with 171 pages.
Scientific Self-Defence, first published in 1931 by D. Appleton and Company (New York &
London). Size 6 ½" X 9 ½", in hardcover with 165 pages. A slightly modified/updated
version of Defendu.
All-In Fighting, first published in 1942 by Faber and Faber Limited (London). Size 5 ½" X 8
¼" in hardcover with 132 pages.
Get Tough, first published in 1942 by D. Appleton-Century Company (New York & London).
Size 5 ½" X 7 ¾" in softcover with 121 pages. This is a modified version of All-In Fighting for
the American market. Note the first edition has Fairbairn's rank as 'Captain' all subsequent
(1940's) editions as 'Major'.
Self Defence for Women and Girls, first published in 1942 by Faber and Faber (London).
Size 5 ½" X 8" softcover with 48 pages.
 Hands Off!: Self-Defense for Women, first published in 1942 by D. Appleton-Century
Company (New York & London). Size 5 ¼" X 8" in softcover with 41 pages. This is a
modified version of Self Defence for Women and Girls for the American market.
Shooting to Live, co-authored by Eric Anthony Sykes, first published in 1942 by Oliver and
Boyd (London). Size 4 ¾" X 7" in hardcover with 96 pages. ISBN 0-87364-027-6 (reprint).

See also
Close combat
Combatives
Defendu
Camp X
Applegate-Fairbairn fighting knife
All-In Fighting
Smatchet

References
1. Chambers, John W. (2008). OSS Training in the National Parks and Service Abroad in
World War II. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service.
2. "No. 35040" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35040/supplement/237). The
London Gazette (Supplement). 10 January 1941. p. 237.
3. Matthews, Phil. "W.E. Fairbairn: The Legendary Instructor" (https://web.archive.org/web/201
20303050010/http://www.cqbservices.com/?page_id=59). CQB Services. Archived from the
original (http://www.cqbservices.com/?page_id=59) on 3 March 2012.

Sources
Giles Milton The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, 2016, John Murray. ISBN 978-1-444-
79895-1
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. First biography on Fairbairn.
The First Commando Knives by Kelly Yeaton, Samuel S. Yeaton, and Rex Applegate.
Phillips Publications, 1996. ISBN 0-93257-225-1
Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai by Robert Bickers. 2003. ISBN 0-231-
13132-1, ISBN 0-14-101195-5. Life and times of a member of the Shanghai Municipal
Police.
Contemporary Knife Targeting - Modern Science vs. W. E. Fairbairn's Timetable of Death (ht
tp://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1475) by Christopher Grosz and Michael D.
Janich - a thorough analysis of Fairbairn's work on human anatomy and knife fighting.
The Shanghai Fighting Knives, and many fakes!!!! (http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/artiklar/fs/
shanghai/shanghaiknife.htm) (2010) by O. Janson. Summary of the Shanghai Fighting Knife
and its evolution into the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.

External links
Film archives about close-combat with lessons by Major Fairbairn himself (https://www.yout
ube.com/watch?v=elq8kVEVIrQ) (at YouTube)
 The Source by Peter Robins (American Combatives) (http://www.americancombatives.com/i
ndex.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemid=72)
Shanghai Municipal Police by Robert Bickers (http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~hirab/smp2.html)
Get Tough!, a book on close-quarters fighting written by Fairbairn (http://www.ep.tc/problem
s/46/index.html)
Badass of the Week: William E. Fairbairn (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/fairbairn.html)

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This page was last edited on 16 November 2019, at 09:36 (UTC).

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