At a Glance
1883 – 1945
Fairbairn’s partner in instinctive pistol shooting and the Fairbairn-Sykes knife.
Schools
- Shanghai Municipal Police reserve (from 1926)
- SOE Special Training Centre, Lochailort, Scotland (WWII)
Accomplishments
- Led the Shanghai police sniper unit (1937 to 1939)
- Co-designed the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife
- Trained SOE agents and Jedburgh teams in WWII
- Remington and Colt representative in China
Books
- Shooting to Live (with W.E. Fairbairn) (1942)
Feb 5, 1883 – May 12, 1945
work with William E. Fairbairn
- 1907 arrived in Shanghai
- 1919 met Fairbairn
- 1923 worked for Remington and Colt as rep to China & Japan Trading Co
- 1926 worked for Shanghai Municipal Police
- 1937 Head of SMP Snipers
- 1939 joined the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS – MI6)
- 1940 resigned from the Shanghai Municipal Police and returned to Britain
- 1942 Shooting to Live, published
About Eric A. Sykes
Eric Anthony Sykes (1883-1945), born Eric Anthony Schwabe in Barton-upon-Irwell near Manchester, England, was William E. Fairbairn’s partner in developing combat pistol shooting and close-quarters fighting methods. He changed his surname in 1917. Sykes first went to Shanghai in 1907 with the trading firm Reiss and Co., met Fairbairn in 1919, and in 1923 was the China representative for Remington and Colt.
He joined the Shanghai Municipal Police reserve in 1926 as an unpaid volunteer officer and, from 1937 to 1939, led a sniper unit of police and civilian marksmen. He left China in 1940; on July 15, 1940, he and Fairbairn were commissioned in the British Army, and Sykes went on to train Special Operations Executive personnel at the Special Training Centre at Lochailort, Scotland. With Fairbairn he gave his name to the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife and co-wrote Shooting to Live (1942), whose instinctive point-shooting methods still influence defensive pistol training. He relinquished his commission as a captain on April 6, 1945, keeping the honorary rank of major, and died at Bexhill-on-Sea on May 12, 1945.
Key Facts
- February 5, 1883: Born in Barton-upon-Irwell, England
- 1907: Arrived in Shanghai
- 1937-1939: Led the Shanghai Municipal Police sniper unit
- July 15, 1940: Commissioned with Fairbairn in the British Army
- 1942: Shooting to Live published with W.E. Fairbairn
- May 12, 1945: Died at Bexhill-on-Sea, England
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Sources
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