[Bill Harsey]

One last comment here on the men Fairbairn and Sykes. W.E. Fairbairn spent a long career with the Shanghai China police. He began as a constable in 1907 and retired as Assistant Commisioner in 1940. Eric Anthony Sykes began as a civilian reserve sergeant in charge of the sniper unit for the Shanhai Municipal Police under Fairbairn around 1926. Both men returned home to England in 1940. These men with skills in armed and unarmed combat honed on the streets of Shanghai China, were recognized for their special talents but not in a good way. Remember this was in a time when police in Britian did not as a rule carry a firearm. According to what Col. Rex Applegate told me, in his own words " Fairbairn and Sykes were considered pariahs by the old guard British military, their way of doing things was too brutal for proper British society to accept." This would hold true until the British Army disaster at Dunkirk. Both men then were immediately tasked with training the Home Guard and the British Commando units. They were commisioned as Captains in the Army for this purpose. In 1942 Fairbairn and Sykes were assigned to the Special Operations Executive while the brand new OSS was being formed in the United States. This same year Fairbairn was ordered to temporary duty in the United States to work with his American counterpart, Rex Applegate in the OSS. Sykes remained in England to supervise SOE personal engaged in clandestine operations in German occupied Europe. Sykes was promoted to Major in 1943 but sadly passed away from a heart problem just two years later. I bring this up because very little is known or written about Eric Anthony Sykes but his name did appear in print in the book co-authored with Fairbairn called "Shooting To LIve". I think Paladin Press has or had done a reprint of this book.