We at Tactical Security Options Ltd are very lucky to have so many people who work for us, who have so much knowledge and experience in law enforcement and self protection skills. One of these people is one of our Trainers and Street Patrol Officers Mr Martin Cooper, who had over 30 years experience as a front line Police Officer, and over 15 years experience as a Close Protection Officer.
Martin was asked by Me Dave Pattinson MD of TSO, to write a blog on the Fairbairn System, so people could have an insight into the system, please read on.
The history of one of the most prolific Law Enforcement Trainers and innovators in the World – W. E. Fairbairn, the “Shanghai Buster“.
Without a doubt the pivotal figure of Close Combat during the dangerous times of World War II was Captain William Ewart Fairbairn. He was primarily responsible for the enduring practicality of the training of British and allied commandos.
Fairbairn’s first experiences with combat were as a result of signing up for the Royal Marines after lying about his age: he was 15 at the time. During this time he successfully competed in and developed new methods for bayonet fighting, for which annual international military competitions were held. He also served as part of the legation guard for the British Consul in Seoul, Korea.
But to discover the real roots of his training we must travel back in time almost a century, to Shanghai in 1907.
The International Settlement was an open “port” city that was rife with every imaginable criminal activity and vice. Tong wars, dope smuggling, murder for hire, political assassination, prostitution, kidnapping, and a host of other underworld endeavours made Shanghai one of the most dangerous places in the world. It was this violent and deadly environment that forced W.E. Fairbairn to develop effective and practical methods of survival. Fairbairn had always been considered by his peers to be a “good man in a dust-up” or brawl. His record established the fact that he was already a rough customer in close combat in bayonet fighting while with the British Royal Marines. In Shanghai however, the odds against him proved greater. While on routine foot patrol assigned to one of the notorious “Red light” districts of Shanghai waterfront he fell afoul of a group of Tong members.
The Chinese Tong and their infamous “Hatchet-men” were legend for their brutal and lethal manner of dealing with any opposition. Fairbairn was overpowered, severely beaten, and left for dead. After a fairly lengthy recovery, Fairbairn was directed to the services of Professor Okada, a Japanese Jujutsu expert & bonesetter teaching in Shanghai, and at one time, personal instructor to the Emperor of Japan. Prof. Okada’s school was situated in a dirty alley down which Fairbairn passed for the next 3 1/2 years every day.
Fairbairn entered into his new found passion completely, determined to never again suffer a similar fate, in great part because he realized the next time he may not be so fortunate. In the years that followed he studied and became proficient in Chinese systems under the direction of Tsai Ching Tung, who at one time was employed at the Imperial Palace, Peking, as an Instructor to the Retainers of the late Dowager Empress. In 1918 Fairbairn applied for entrance to and was accepted by the Kodokan Judo University in Tokyo. Fairbairn received a 3rd degree brown belt in January 1919, a 1st degree black belt in February 1926 and a 2nd degree black belt in February 1931. Fairbairn’s certificates are signed by Jigoro Kano.
Throughout his over thirty year career with S.M.P., Fairbairn not only made an in depth study of almost every known form of close-combat, but was also able to test these methods in actual combat against determined and often armed criminals who would rather kill an officer and make good an escape than be captured and face almost certain execution.
Fairbairn rose through the ranks and was charged with the duty of instructing firearms and hand to-hand combat. He revised completely the firearms training previously employed and instituted a method, which reflected actual conditions of real gun-fighting. In 1920, Fairbairn took an extended leave, during which time he was attached as a captain to the New York City Police department for a ten-week period of observation. During this period he participated in everything from routine patrol duty to major gambling raids, in order to absorb as much as he could. His innovations in unarmed combat were taught not only to the nine thousand (9000) officers of the Shanghai Police, but also the famed 4th Marine Regiment known as the “China” Marines. He founded, developed, trained, and headed the Shanghai Riot Squad called the Reserve Unit (RU).
This was the first ever Special Weapons & Tactics Unit, and served as the prototype for today’s S.W.A.T. and Hostage Rescue Teams.
Along with his friend and colleague Eric Anthony Sykes, a reserve officer in the SMP and chief of the Riot Squad Sniper unit, Fairbairn pioneered many of the tactics which Law Enforcement still use today.
Fairbairn began work on the prototypes of what would become the most famous combat knife in the world, the F/S fighting knife. Fairbairn’s career with the S.M.P. came to a close in 1940.
He retired with the rank of Assistant Commissioner. During his tenure of over three decades he had been involved with hundreds upon hundreds of violent clashes between Mao Tse Tungs communist “Red” army and Chiang Kai Shek’s “Kumontong” forces. He had seen the invasion of China by the Japanese and the bloody and brutal siege of Shanghai and the surrounding provinces by the Imperial Japanese Army. He had worked closely with the S.M.P. “Special Branch”; an intelligence gathering unit that operated covertly throughout Shanghai. It was with this tremendous amount of experience and real-world savvy that Fairbairn would enter into the next phase of his life.
Fairbairn returned to England in 1940. England was at war with Nazi Germany and was hanging on by a thread. The devastation of Dunkirk, and North Africa, and soon to be felt defeat in the Far East by Japanese forces, would render Great Britain almost incapable of fighting a conventional war.
It was the genius and steely resolve of Sir Winston Churchill that would pave the way for W.E. Fairbairn to once again put his talents and knowledge to excellent use.
Churchill’s declaration to “set Europe ablaze” was the war cry of the neophyte covert and Special Forces operations that would strike at the Nazi forces with daring and deadly speed, guile, and audacity.
Fairbairn was tasked with the responsibility of turning these men into deadly foes at Close-quarters. Fairbairn and Sykes, as well as other former Shanghai Police officers who were likewise expert in Fairbairn’s methods were assigned as instructors to various elite forces and covert intelligence units. These included the numerous Commando units, Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6), Special Operations Executive (SOE), Royal Marines, as well as giving special instruction to the British Home Guard. Fairbairn and Sykes taught not only unarmed combat, and small arms, but devised a number of nasty methods for dealing with an enemy which were classified under the heading of “Silent Killing”.
In March 1942, Fairbairn was ordered to temporary duty, assigned to Canada, where at the behest of the BSC (British Security Co-ordinator) he taught his methods to covert operatives at Camp X.
Ian Fleming, the creator of the fictional spy James Bond, also trained at the Special Operations Executive (SOE) secret base. It was here that men bound for undercover operations in Europe were prepared in all aspects of guerrilla warfare. Located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Camp X was run by William Stephenson’s BSC in New York, with the cooperation of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Here agents learned about forged papers, demolition, hand-to-hand combat, secret inks, and the art of silent killing.
So when you watch the beginning of a Bond film and you see him shoot at the rifle scope at the start of every film, you are seeing Fairbairn’s shooting method.
While Fairbairn was at Camp X, Sykes remained in England engaged as a supervisor to SOE personnel engaged in underground action, sabotage, espionage, and assassination in German occupied Europe.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the United States entry into the war against the axis powers, Fairbairn was engaged in instructing U.S. personnel at a secret training camp in Maryland, known as Area B It is actually believed that training was already under way, long before the official declaration of war).
This camp was one of several “schools” that were set up to train covert operatives assigned to the Office of Strategic Services. For a time Fairbairn divided his schedule between Camp X, and Area B in Maryland. Soon, however, the O.S.S. would have him full time.
Fairbairn’s contributions to the field of close combat are numerous. Virtually every allied military force adopted his methods. These included the U.S. Army Special Forces, Army Rangers, Paratroopers, Marine Raiders & Scouts, Office of Naval Intelligence, Counter Intelligence Corps), Military Intelligence Division and the First
Special Service Force, also known as the “Devil’s Brigade,” (taught by former S.M.P. Detective Sergeant Capt. Dermot M. “Pat” O’Neill.
Another driving force in close combat during this period was Fairbairn’s U.S. counterpart Colonel Rex Applegate. Col. Applegate was given the specific job of learning all there was to learn about close-quarter combat. Col. Applegate is responsible for numerous innovations in all fields of Close Combat, armed and unarmed.
As the war ended, Fairbairn was 60 years of age. In the mid-1950’s, he found himself in Singapore, employed by the Singapore Police to create a riot squad. In 1956, at the age of 71 he was employed in Cyprus, by the Cyprus Police, teaching riot work, point shooting and authoring a riot control manual.
William Fairbairn died at his home in England on June 20th, 1960. Fairbairn’s methods of unarmed combat made it possible for a person of average strength and skills to meet and win against a highly trained opponent in the martial arts.
His theories of close-quarter use of the gun represent the first systematic approach to combat pistol-craft ever devised, and remains valid to this very day.
The same may be said for his riot training and his development of the police role in urban combat. WWII was the Zenith of all methods of Close-Quarters Combat.
The contributions made by Captains W. E. Fairbairn and his colleague, E. A. Sykes are of enormous value to us today. These methods of close combat were battle tested during the Shanghai years and the ensuing Second World War. They have been proven effective under conditions of actual combat are obviously of great importance to anyone seeking realistic and effective training in personal combat.