Who is W.E. Fairbairn?

William E. Fairbairn

I have already posted two articles on combat knives, both of which reference W.E. Fairbairn. Who was he and why is he so important to the study of close combat? Fairbairn pretty much started the whole thing.

Fairbairn joined the Royal Marines in 1901 and transferred to the Shanghai Police in 1907.

From the end of the Boxer Rebellion to 1940, part of Shanghai was controlled by an international community of Western powers. They were responsible for policing the International Community. Shanghai was a pretty wild place then. What with the illegal opium trade, organized crime and other disturbances, the police had a tough job. Fairbairn found that out when he was nearly beaten to death in the line of duty.

Fairbairn demonstrates chop in Shanghai manual

Fairbairn took up the study of Asian martial arts, specifically Judo, Jujitsu and Chinese Boxing. He became a formidable fighter. Using his knowledge of police work, Fairbairn set about composing a practical system of police combatives. He called the system Defendu. It worked! Police officers were trained in the system. As many of the police were military units rotated into Shanghai by member states of the Community, Fairbairn’s fighting system spread. He taught the Bengal Lancers and 200 US Marines, among others.

Fairbairn demonsrates a capture and hold

In 1940, the Western powers were leaving Shanghai. The war between Japan and China was spilling over. Fairbairn and his partner, E.A. Sykes, went to Britain. There they trained the Home Guard and the Commandos. Fairbairn devised two weapons for the commandos: the Fairbairn-Sykes Combat knife and a heavy weapon called the Smatchet.

Fairbairn-Sykes Commando Dagger

Fairbairn went to the United States to teach the Army and Office of Strategic Services agents. He teamed with Colonel Rex Applegate to develop an unarmed combat, knife fighting and combat pistol shooting program.

Fairbairn demonstrates the neck chop.

In the 1950s, Fairbairn trained the Cyprus police force and the Singapore Police riot squad. He died in 1960 at age 75.

Many of Fairbairn’s techniques are still taught by armies and police forces around the world. You can see several of his methods in every Army Combatives manual from 1954 to 1992. The knife system was heavily influenced by Fairbairn.

The Smatchet

Thanks to his work with Rex Applegate of the OSS, Fairbairn’s influence spread. Agents from many nations were trained by the OSS, and they brought those lessons home after the war. Applegate contributed to the development of Army combatives. Many of Fairbairn’s lessons were incorporated in Army combatives.

Fairbairn shows Point Shooting with Tommy gun

Fairbairn and E.A. Sykes also developed practical combat pistol shooting as well as use of the shotgun and submachine gun. These methods were also taught to the O.S.S., British S.O.E. and the. Army. Fairbairn's shooting methods influenced the techniques taught in subsequent US Army manuals. His methods had been tested and proven in the deadly streets of Shanghai.

Here are a few of Fairbairn’s hand-to-hand tricks from an article on my hobby blog: http://thortrains.blogspot.com/2015/10/classic-hand-to-hand-combat.html

(The fighting techniques are only shown for informational purposes. They are dangerous and can do serious bodily harm, Use them at your own risk, The author takes no responsibility for the consequences of using them. )

Fairbairn's foot stomp and shin scrape, from 1971 US Army manual

Fairbairn wrote several books:

“Get Tough” was published in 1942. It is a course in hand-to-hand combat, knife righting, stick fighting and disarming.  This stuff works! Simple, practical, effective.

“All-in-Fighting” is identical to Get Tough ,with the addition of a bayonet fighting trick and how to aim the Enfield rifle. This version was written for distribution in Britain.

“Hands Off’ was Fairbairn’s book of self defense for women.

“Scientific Self Defense” was first published in 1931. It contains methods used by the police as well as stick fighting methods..

“Shanghai Municipal Police Self Defense” was written in 1913 and shows several basic defenses and arresting techniques. ( Click here for PDF copy - http://www.thortrains.net/downloads/shanghai-police-sd.pdf )

“Shooting to Live” is Fairbairn’s course on combat pistol craft.

Since Paladin Press, the current publisher of these books has gone out of business, many can be found online in PDF format.

The Ordnance Soldier’s guide is a World War II manual that shows a variety of soldiering skills, A nice overview for the World War II fan. The section on “Commando Combat” is drawn from Fairbairn’s book, “Get Tough!” Download it here: http://www.thortrains.net/milihistriot/ord-soldiers-guide-merged.pdf

Applegate's Kill or Get Killed illustrates several of Fairbairn's unarmed techniques as well as knife combat and combat point shooting. https://ia800308.us.archive.org/25/items/milmanual-fmfrp-12-80-kill-or-get-killed/fmfrp_12-80_kill_or_get_killed.pdf

Here are films of Fairbairn instructing troops:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWSLXXdg9Bw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkvHoOH9I3w

Feel free to check out the other articles on this blog.