Frederick William Fairfax GC (17 June 1917,

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– 23 February 1998,

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) was a British policeman awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

for his heroism in chasing the armed robbers Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig on 2 November 1952. The pair had broken into a warehouse in

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and were pursued by Fairfax onto the roof of the building. Fairfax grabbed Bentley then Craig shot him, grazing his shoulder. Despite his injury, the unarmed Fairfax chased Bentley and managed to arrest and subdue him. More officers arrived at the scene and Constable Sidney Miles scaled the roof, to be shot dead by Craig, who then jumped from the roof after expending his ammunition, injured himself upon landing, and was arrested. The award of the medal was announced in the London Gazette of 6 January 1953, as were the George Medals awarded to Police Constables Norman Harrison and James McDonald. Police Constable Robert Jaggs was given the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

and Police Constable Miles was posthumously awarded the

Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

. In January 1953 Fairfax was transferred to duties in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. Fairfax made a full recovery from his injuries and was promoted to Detective Sergeant on the day that he was awarded the GC. He retired from the police force in April 1962 after nearly 26 years of service. He ran a tobacco and sweet shop before selling the business to set up his own private investigations agency. Fairfax Investigators Ltd, which proved a success, was sold in 1980. He retired to Dorset, where he was an active Freemason. Fairfax was a boxer in his youth, and in retirement became a boxing judge. Frederick Fairfax died in Yeovil on 23 February 1998, just a few months before Bentley’s conviction and death sentence for the murder of

Police Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Miles were posthumously quashed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Frederick William 1917 births People from Westminster British recipients of the George Cross Metropolitan Police officers British shooting survivors Royal Berkshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II 1998 deaths Military personnel from London