W.E. Fairbairn On His Method of Combat Shooting And The Reasons Behind It Based On his Experiences in the Shanghai Municipal Police

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W.E. Fairbairn on the "Fairbairn Method of Shooting"

Background:
"Prior to my association with the armed forces of Great Britain and the United
States I served as Assistant Commissioner in Command of the Riot Squads of
the Shanghai Municipal Police Command from 1925 to 1940. During this
period, our force handled over 2000 riot calls of all types and descriptions,
including shooting affrays, many of which were against armed robbers and
kndnappers. In addition, the squads were responsible for the investigation and
tracking down of vice-rings and narcotics smugglers."..........

".......The art of close contact fighting includes fighting with and without
knives; firing of a pistol under every conceivable condition and at every
possible position likely to be met in actual combat during day or night.........."


Mystery Ranges:
"In order to create simulated combat conditions for training purposes, I planned
and supervised the erection of indoor mystery ranges at Areas B-2, A-3, E and
F. These ranges were originally developed by me in connection with police
work in China and were first used in military training in the courses given to
the British Commandos and the British Army. In the mystery ranges a
simulation was affected of actual battle noises, conditions under which
shooting affrays occur, especially in house to house combat. The training
included methods of entering closed and locked doors, methods of bursting
open such doors, methods of using trap doors, methods of roof top fighting and
firing on moving and possibly concealed targets. Under varying degrees of
light, darkness, and shadows, plus the introduction of sound effects, moving
objects, and various alarming surprises, an opportunity is afforded to test the
moral fiber of the student and to develop his courage and capacity for self
control."

"The course consists of practical war methods of shooting with the one-hand
gun, in which any man of average intelligence can be taught to draw, load fire
and hit his opponent within a second."

"This is not a new-fangled idea, but a proven method which has been in use in
the far-east since 1919, against some of the most desperate criminals in the
world - men who were, (in most cases), known killers, who preferred always to
shoot it out, rather than being captured and finishing up in front of a firing
squad, etc....."

"All affrays were on the run - up and down stairways, over roofs, down cobbled
alleyways, or in very crowded streets. Ninety percent of the shooting was in the
dark and the majority of hits were within four yards. Some of the police were
killed by being shot in the back at a matter of inches distance only."

"Students should be informed that the average shooting with the one-hand gun is
over, so far as they will be concerned, in a very few seconds. There will no
time to reload. If there first shot takes longer than a third of a second to fire,
they will not be the one to tell the newspaper about it. It is literally a matter of
the quick and the dead - so they can take their choice."