Historical person
William E. Fairbairn
1885–1960
William E. Fairbairn was a British police officer and close-combat instructor who served for decades with the Shanghai Municipal Police. Drawing on street violence and martial arts, he developed practical methods of armed and unarmed combat later taught to Allied commandos and Special Operations Executive personnel.
In dynastic and political terms, William E. Fairbairn was associated with United Kingdom. The biographical record places the beginning of William E. Fairbairn’s life at Rickmansworth and the end at Worthing, giving the career a geographical span that is not apparent from the headline events alone.
Giles Milton’s Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare traces the small group of officers, engineers and unconventional fighters who developed that capability through Section D, MI(R) and the Special Operations Executive. Figures including Colin Gubbins and William Fairbairn helped turn improvised weapons, demolitions and close-combat methods into a system for clandestine warfare.
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring William E. Fairbairn (1 book)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.