One of the lesser known figures in the world of combat handgunning was William Ewart Fairbairn. Born in 1885, this slender Englishman was in the British service by 1901 and the Shanghai Municipal Police by 1907. He served in this famous agency of Sikh, Chinese and English officers for more than 30 years, forever studying the martial arts to include close quarters pistol shooting. In that period, the so-called “International” Settlement was one of the most violent cities on earth. Administered by a joint commission of several nations, Shanghai’s police department faced daily episodes of violent crime and was an ideal laboratory for study.
July 27, 2012
