20th+: November 2013

William Ewart Fairbairn (28 February 1885 – 20 June 1960) was a British Royal Marine and police officer. He developed hand-to-hand combat methods for the Shanghai Police during the interwar period, as well as for the allied special forces during WW2. He created his own fighting system known as Defendu. Notably, this included innovative pistol shooting techniques and the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.

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. 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. Fairbairn created, organised, and trained a special anti-riot squad for the Shanghai police force. He also developed numerous firearms training courses and items of police equipment, including a special metal-lined bulletproof vest designed to stop high-velocity bullets from the 7.63x25mm Mauser pistol.

During WW2, he was recruited by the British Special Operations Executive 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.

Eric Anthony Sykes (5 February 1883 – 12 May 1945), born Eric Anthony Schwabe in Barton-upon-Irwell, Eccles, Greater Manchester, England, was a soldier and firearms expert. He is most famous for his work with William E. Fairbairn in the development of the eponymous Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife and modern British Close Quarters Battle (CQB) martial arts during WW2. Originally working for an import/export company selling weapons in East Asia, he claimed he volunteered for and served in the British Army as a sharpshooter on the Western Front during WW1. Returning to China in 1917, he joined the volunteer branch of the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) Specials with the rank of Inspector in 1926.

Sykes first arrived in Shanghai in 1907 while working for Reiss & Co. He met Fairbairn in 1919, then with the Shanghai Municipal Police, beginning their famous professional association. In 1923 Sykes was working for the China & Japan Trading Co, China representative for Remington and Colt. It was not until 1926 that Sykes officially joined the SMP as an unpaid, part-time volunteer officer in the reserve, and in 1929 he joined S.J. David & Co., where he worked until his departure from China in 1940.

While working for S.J. David & Co., his experience in sharpshooting and his personal friendship with Fairbairn led him to form and oversee a team of civilian and police snipers for the SMP. He became the head of this unit in 1937, working part-time in this capacity until he resigned this position in 1939. Also in 1939 Sykes joined the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS - MI6), where he worked with SIS at the Special Training Centre in Lochailort, Scotland. In 1940, Fairbairn resigned from the Shanghai Municipal Police and returned to Britain, with Sykes following. The pair had apparently planned this, since they shipped crates full of illegal weapons from lax Shanghai into Britain on their boat.

Fairbairn and Sykes were both commissioned as second lieutenants on the British Army, General List on 15 July 1940.

After training special forces units throughout 1940, the two were finally commissioned into the British Army on the General List of 1941. Their 1942 book Shooting to Live, published in 1942, is considered by many to be the classic text of pistol combat, and one of the best codifications of the high-stress point shooting method. Nevertheless, this was the last time the pair worked together in any capacity; by mid-1942 the pair's friendship had split, with Sykes claiming that Fairbairn treated him as an inferior. Soon thereafter, Fairbairn travelled to Canada to teach armed and unarmed combat to commandos and covert agents of the Americas at Camp X. Sykes stayed in Great Britain, training Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents at the various Special Training Centres before being assigned to train the joint UK/US Jedburgh teams at Milton Hall.

Fairbairn trained British, American and Canadian Commandos 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. 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.
The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife is a double-edged fighting knife resembling a dagger or poignard with a foil grip developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes in Shanghai based on ideas which the two men had before World War II while serving on the Shanghai Municipal Police in China.

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.

The F-S fighting knife was made famous during WW2 when issued to British Commandos, the Airborne Forces, the SAS and many other units, especially for the Normandy landings in June 1944. With its acutely tapered, sharply pointed blade, the F-S fighting knife is frequently described as a stiletto, a weapon optimised for thrusting, although the F-S knife is capable of being used to inflict slash cuts upon an opponent when its cutting edges are sharpened according to specification. The Wilkinson Sword Company made the knife with minor pommel and grip design variations.

Applegate-Fairbairn fighting knife .
All-In Fighting .
BC-41 .

Camp X .
Close combat .

Combatives .

Eric A. Sykes .
Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife .
Point shooting .
William E. Fairbairn .

Friday, November 22, 2013

G-Forces

23-7-15 G-Force training - nwyt > .

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hazardous Military Training

.Countries with Most Brutal Basic Training in WW2 - Front > .

21st

22-11-25 US Military's Biggest Crisis = Recruitment, Retention, Training - nwyt > .

22-9-22 How many troops can [desperate] Russia really mobilize? - Binkov > .

21-11-2 Describing Military Doctrine - Anders Puck Nielsen > .

> Conscription, Recruitment >>

24-4-17 Stealthy Mobilisation in Ruscia | Konstantin Samoilov - Silicon > .

24-4-16 Is Mandatory Military Service Actually a Good Idea? - Context Matters > .

24-1-14 Demography & Armies - Recruitment, Retention, Manpower - Perun > .

24-2-1 Could National Service fix British forces recruitment crisis? | Sitrep > .

Monday, November 18, 2013

Kinesiology of Parkour

.Traceurs and the Kinesiology of Parkour - ScSh > .

Commando training ..

Commandos, WW2 ..
Fairbairn & Sykes ..

Kinesiology of Parkour ..
SOE training ..

Traceurs, or parkour athletes, seem superhuman in their ability to scale up walls and drop down from rooftops without injury. But it turns out that there’s a fair amount of biomechanics at play behind these powers.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Mechanical Typewriter

How a Mechanical Typewriter Works - Animagraffs > .

MRAP - Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles

MRAP vehicles in U.S. Military - Defense > .

23-8-20 Up to 30% of Ukrainian territory contaminated by mines, UXBs - U24 > .

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP) In US Military - Military > .

MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) Drivers' Training - asm > .

15 Awesome Military Vehicles That Civilians Can Own - milt > .

Foxhound | The British Army's Light MRAP - ImDef > .

? https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=MRAP ?

Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected - Light armored vehicles designed specifically to resist land mines were first introduced in specialized vehicles in the 1970s by the Rhodesian Army, and further developed by South African manufacturers, starting in 1974 with the Hippo armored personnel carrier (APC).

Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected is a term for United States military light tactical vehicles produced as part of the MRAP program that are designed specifically to withstand improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and ambushes.

The United States Department of Defense MRAP program began in 2007 as a response to the increased threat of IEDs during the Iraq War. From 2007 until 2012, the MRAP program deployed more than 12,000 vehicles in the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan.

MREs, Field Kitchens

WW1 ...

MRE Review: WWI US Doughboy Reserve Ration > .
A Soldier's Food - WW1 Uncut: Dan Snow > .
WW1 - Cooking in the Trenches > .

WW1 - Cooking in the Trenches (Red, White and Blue Day 2014) > .

WW2 ...

WWII Field Kitchen Overview > .
Feeding The Troops (1943) > .
Pack your Bag: Kit and Uniform - namUK > .

WW2 - Making a cup of tea > .
Making a cup of tea - World War Two (Red, White and Blue Day 2014) > .

Friday, November 15, 2013

NVG - Night Vision Goggles, Scopes

23-11-4 World's Best Night Vision vs World's Darkest Room - Veritasium > .

24-4-16 NVGs - Performance of Army's $60,000 Combat Goggles - T&P > .

21-8-16 History of Scopes in How the Army's New 'Smart Scope' Works - Task > .

23-8-12 Delivering Night Vision Devices to Ukrainian Units - Artur > .

23-6-20 NVGs vs PLA - US Night Superiority, Can Xina [steal] it? - T&P > .

23-4-15 Ukrainian Special Forces' Night Vision Game-Changers - Artur > .

22-1-7 FILS assault rifle that can communicate with troops - Forces > .

21-4-11 Why the US Military No Longer Owns the Night - Task > .

21-4-4 British Army's New Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) - Forces > .

21-4-3 Night Vision - Has the US Lost the Advantage at Night? - CoCa > . skip > .

Kit, Gadgets - Fyrd Færeld >> .

NVG - Night Vision Goggles, Scopes ..

Scopes - Future ..
Scopes - History ..

A night-vision device (NVD), also known as night optical/observation device (NOD) and night-vision goggles (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. The image may be a conversion to visible light of both visible light and near-infrared, while by convention detection of thermal infrared is denoted thermal imaging. The image produced is typically monochrome green, because it was considered to be the easiest color to look at for prolonged periods in the dark. NVDs are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users. The term usually refers to a complete unit, including an image intensifier tube, a protective and generally water-resistant housing, and some type of mounting system. Many NVDs include a protective sacrificial lens, or optical components such as telescopic lenses or mirrors. An NVD may have an IR illuminator, making it an active as opposed to passive night-vision device. They are often used in conjunction with IR laser sights which project a beam onto the target that is only visible through an NVD.

In 1929 Hungarian physicist Kálmán Tihanyi invented an infrared-sensitive electronic television camera for anti-aircraft defense in the UK. AEG started developing the first devices in 1935.

Night-vision devices were first used in WW2 and came into wide use during the Vietnam War. Night-vision devices were introduced in the German Army as early as 1939 and were used in WW2. In mid-1943, the German Army began the first tests with infrared night-vision (Nachtjäger) devices and telescopic rangefinders mounted on Panther tanks. Two different arrangements were constructed and used on Panther tanks. The Sperber FG 1250 ("Sparrow Hawk"), with a range of up to 600 m, had a 30 cm infrared searchlight and an image converter operated by the tank commander.

An experimental Soviet device called the PAU-2 was field-tested in 1942.

From late 1944 to March 1945 the German military conducted successful tests of FG 1250 sets mounted on Panther Ausf. G tanks (and other variants). Before World War 2, ended in 1945, approximately 50 (or 63) Panthers had been equipped with the FG 1250 and saw combat on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. The "Vampir" man-portable system for infantry was used with StG 44 assault rifles.

Parallel development of night-vision systems occurred in the US. The M1 and M3 infrared night-sighting devices, also known as the "sniperscope" or "snooperscope", saw limited service with the US Army in World War 2 and in the Korean War, to assist snipers. These were active devices, using a large infrared light source to illuminate targets. Their image-intensifier tubes used an anode and an S-1 photocathode, made primarily of silver, cesium, and oxygen, and electrostatic inversion with electron acceleration was used to achieve gain.

The technology has evolved greatly since their introduction, leading to several "generations" of night-vision equipment with performance increases and price reductions. Consequently, they are available for a wide range of applications, e.g. for gunners, drivers and aviators.

Night Vision - Has the US Lost the Advantage at Night? - CoCa > . skip > .

British Army's New Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) - Forces > .

Why the US Military No Longer Owns the Night - Task > .

Monday, November 11, 2013

Recruiting, Training, Retaining, Equipping - 21st

USA

24-1-14 Demography & Armies - Recruitment, Retention, Manpower - Perun > .

24-1-14 Revitalizing Trust in the US Military | Hoover, RAI > .

22-11-25 US Military's Challenge = Recruitment, Retention, Training - nwyt > . skip > .

23-9-4 The Recruiting Crisis: US Military Adapts to Zoomers || Peter Zeihan > .

23-8-20 US contribution to NATO's R-U Response - Perun > .

23-8-9 Why The US Military Is Running Out Of Soldiers - Versed > .

23-5-16 US Army 'fat camp' helping would-be recruits to lose weight - Forces > .

22-8-26 Why US Military Faces Growing Recruiting Crisis - CNBC > .

22-8-15 4 Reasons Nobody is Joining the Military - T&P > .

22-8-6 How Many BCTs can the US Army Form for a Large Scale War? - CoCa > .

21-6-4 US Military's Shady Recruitment Practices - Second > .

> Conscription, Recruitment >> > Propaganda >>

24-4-27 $115 Billion & Ukrainian Conscription Law Gives Ukraine Hope - gtbt > .

24-4-16 Is Mandatory Military Service Actually a Good Idea? - Context Matters > .

24-1-14 Demography & Armies - Recruitment, Retention, Manpower - Perun > .

23-2-8 [Propaganda - Effective Emotional Manipulation] - OBF > .

24-2-1 Could National Service fix British forces recruitment crisis? | Sitrep > .

NATO

23-8-20 NATO's Rearmament & Spending - NATO's R-U Response - Perun > .

PLA

24-2-9 4 Reasons for PLA's Recruitment Problems - T&P > .

PMCs

23-7-2 Is Vladimir P00tin’s power coming to an end? | 60 Min Aus > .

23-3-5 Wagner Group, Russian PMCs & Ukraine - Hx, R-U - Perun > .

24-2-1 Could National Service fix British forces recruitment crisis? | Sitrep > .

24-1-14 Demography & Armies - Recruitment, Retention, Manpower - Perun > .

23-9-11 British Army ⇒ most lethal army in Europe by 2030 - CGS - Forces > .

23-3-20 British Army's giant virtual battlefield - Forces > .

23-3-19 Britain's Shrinking Military - Cold War to Cash-Strapped Shadow - mfp > .

Ukraine

23-2-9 Who could be conscripted to fight in Ukraine? | BBC > .

23-1-13 No more doubts for the West | Ukraine weaponized (subs) - Katz > .

Urban Combat Training

Breaching Explosives ..

Alternate Troops - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Bear's Paw - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Becoming Prepared - Military Investment - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Boot Camp - BusIn >> .

Dragon's Scale - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Eagle's Talon - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Future - British Forces - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Future of Conflict - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Kit, Gadgets - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Lion's Roar - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Mercenaries, Protection Racket - Fyrd Færeld >> .

NATO - Militaries, MICs, Spending - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Regular Troops - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Urban Combat - Fyrd Færeld >> .

Recruitment Blues ..

Red Army Special Ops Training

1923 Red Army Special Ops Training; Odessa; Military Vintage Film - Ushanka > .

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Sandhurst - Royal Military Academy

Sandhurst 1975 - The Royal Military Academy - BrAr > .

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Doc - Part 1 > .

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Doc - Part 2 > .

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Doc - Part 3 > .

23-3-19 Britain's Shrinking Military - Cold War to Cash-Strapped Shadow - mfp > .

Selection and training, British Army w

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of Sandhurst, Berkshire, though its ceremonial entrance is in Camberley, southwest of London. The Academy's stated aim is to be "the national centre of excellence for leadership". All British Army officers, including late-entry officers who were previously Warrant Officers, as well as other men and women from overseas, are trained at The Academy. Sandhurst is the British Army equivalent of the Britannia Royal Naval College and the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was formed on the site of the former Royal Military College (founded in 1801 for the training of officers for arms other than the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers) in 1947 when it amalgamated with the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, (founded in 1741 for the training of officers for the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers).

The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps. RMA Woolwich was commonly known as "The Shop" because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal.

The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence of the realm and its overseas possessions, and as the supplier of munitions and equipment to both the Army and the Navy'. The Board also maintained and directed the Artillery and Engineer corps, which it founded in the 18th century. By the 19th century, the Board of Ordnance was second in size only to HM Treasury among government departments. The Board lasted until 1855, at which point (tarnished by poor performance in supplying the Army in Crimea) it was disbanded.

Following the demise of the Board of Ordnance, Parliament had explored the possibility of a merger between the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst (which only trained officers for the Infantry and Cavalry); although senior Army officers rejected the idea at the time it persisted into the twentieth century. Arguments in favour of a merger gained momentum in the 1920s when the specialist and scientific training which had been Woolwich's preserve began to be outsourced to other locations. In 1936 it was decided that the merger should take place; but WW2 intervened and in 1939 both institutions closed as their cadets were called up for active service.

The Royal Military Academy Woolwich closed in 1939 and in 1947 the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was formed on the site of the former Royal Military College with the objective of providing officer training for all arms and services.

Following the ending of National Service in the UK and the closing of the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in 1972, the RMAS became the sole establishment for male initial officer training in the British Army, taking over the responsibilities of Mons for training Short Service Officer Cadets, Territorial Army officers, and those joining the Regular Army as graduates. In 1984, the Women's Officer Training College Bagshot was also merged into Sandhurst. In 1992, a new Commissioning Course finally unified the training of male, female, and overseas cadets.

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Collection illustrates the history of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The collection includes the Gentlemen Cadet registers, historic archives, uniforms, paintings, photographs, and other artefacts.

For the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the newly created Academy hosted the running leg of the modern pentathlon competition.

Military Colleges, UK

BRNC - Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth ..

RAFC - Royal Air Force College Cranwell ..

Sandhurst - Royal Military Academy ..

Pages

Saturday, November 30, 2013

●● Military Training, Tactics, Kit

● Military/Services - Hand Weapons/Packs

● Military/Services - Kit/Uniforms/Clothing

● Military Strategy

● Military Vehicles

Thursday, November 28, 2013

ATGM & Missiles

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

BEF versus German Infantry

British Uniforms - Evolution

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Commandos, WW2

Sunday, November 24, 2013

EMV - Electric Military Vehicles

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Fairbairn & Sykes

Friday, November 22, 2013

G-Forces

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hazardous Military Training

Monday, November 18, 2013

Kinesiology of Parkour

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Mechanical Typewriter

MRAP - Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles

MREs, Field Kitchens

Friday, November 15, 2013

NVG - Night Vision Goggles, Scopes

Monday, November 11, 2013

Recruiting, Training, Retaining, Equipping - 21st

Red Army Special Ops Training

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Sandhurst - Royal Military Academy

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