Ernest Radcliffe Bond, OBE, QPM, (1 March 1919 – 20 November 2003), also called Commander X, was a British soldier, and later policeman famous for his service in the

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. Bond experienced the

Fraud Squad A Fraud Squad is a police department which investigates fraud and other economic crimes. *Fraud squad (United Kingdom) *Garda Fraud Squad Fraud squad may also refer to: *Fraud Squad (duo), musical partnership between Daz Sampson and with JJ ...

, the

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...

, the

Murder Squad Major Investigation Teams (MIT) are the specialised homicide squads of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. Forming part of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, there are 24 MITs within the Met. MITs investigate cases of murder, manslau ...

, and became the first commander of the newly formed

Bomb Squad Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the militar ...

(later the Anti-Terrorist Branch, now merged into

Counter Terrorism Command Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) or SO15 is a Specialist Operations branch within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch (SO13) and Special Bran ...

). His notable achievements in the bomb squad were negotiating the rise of

The Angry Brigade The Angry Brigade was a far-left British terrorist group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in England between 1970 and 1972. Using small bombs, they targeted banks, embassies, a BBC Outside Broadcast vehicle, and the homes of Conservativ ...

, eventually jailing several members. The other major event he negotiated as commander with the Bomb Squad was the

Balcombe Street siege The Balcombe Street siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and London's Metropolitan Police lasting from 6 to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA members and the r ...

, in which two people were taken hostage by four

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

members, who demanded a plane to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Bond, answering the demands, refused saying that the police "are not going to make any deals". The gunmen surrendered, the event a success for police with no casualties on either side.

Early life

Ernest Radcliffe Bond was born on 1 March 1919 in Barrow-in-Furness, where he lived in a "close-knit community" at 58 John Street. His father, William Edward Bond, was a shipyard worker, and his mother was Annie Elizabeth Bond née Radcliffe. Bond was an apprentice

French polish French polishing is a wood finishing technique that results in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and chatoyancy. French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of shellac dissolved in denatured alcohol using a rubbing pad lubri ...

er after he left school.

Military career

Bond joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

on 16 September 1935, entering the 2nd battalion of the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

. His objective was to fight in any short

engagement An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

that he could, and then to become a police officer. He was sent to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

to help with the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On t ...

. However, his plan was scuppered by the outbreak of World War II, and he stayed with his battalion, serving first in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

as a sergeant. After a short time in

No. 8 (Guards) Commando No. 8 (Guards) Commando was a unit of the British Commandos and part of the British Army during the Second World War. The Commando was formed in June 1940 primarily from members of the Brigade of Guards. It was one of the units selected to be sen ...

, where he served in a group of units under

Robert Laycock Major-General Sir Robert Edward Laycock, (18 April 1907 – 10 March 1968) was a senior British Army officer best known for his influential role in the establishment and command of British Commandos during the Second World War. Early life L ...

's command fighting in the Middle East in 1941, by that time Bond had been promoted to the rank of sergeant. The unit was disbanded, and he journeyed to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

with his original battalion in the Scots Guards, fighting in the Eighth Army. In 1941, still in North Africa, Bond joined "L" Detachment in the

Special Service Brigade The Special Service Brigade was a formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940, after the call for volunteers for Special Service who eventually became the British Commandos. Background In 1940, volunteers wer ...

, which became

David Stirling Sir Archibald David Stirling (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British army, a mountaineer, and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. ...

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

. Bond was part of a parachute training mission in Kabrit, Egypt, against the airfields of

Gazala Gazala, or ʿAyn al-Ġazāla ( ), is a small Libyan village near the coast in the northeastern portion of the country. It is located west of Tobruk. History In the late 1930s (during the Italian occupation of Libya), the village was the site of ...

and Tmimi. The conditions were "atrocious", and his aeroplane crashed in desert. He became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

for the remainder of the conflict. He was reported to have spent four years in jail in his military career.

Police career

When Bond was released from his imprisonment by the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

, he was demobilised in 1946 and entered the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

with the warrant number 128434, realising his pre-war ambition. He was ' on the beat' for 2 years, working in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

with 'M' division. His division became 'E' division, patrolling

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

, when he decided to enter the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

(CID) in 1948. He experienced another promotion in 1957, to become a

Detective Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

; "he began to develop a reputation for his discerning skill as a detective." Bond rapidly experienced both the

and the

; and in 1963 joined the

at the rank of

Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

. Bond joined the

, newly formed in January 1971 due to concern over

. Bond became the unit's first commander on 23 June 1971, being promoted to that position in 1969. The unit served at Tintagel House, and Bond's name was theoretically meant to be kept secret and he should be called 'Commander X', so that he was not bombed, but journalists have since claimed to have known his name within days of his appointment. The press lauded Commander X as a "mystery supremo to hunt down the Angry Brigade." The Angry Brigade was a new political group; "a small group .html" ;"title="round 200">round 200of leftwing radicals and anarchists," who claimed responsibility for about 20 small bombings which began on 20 November 1970, with the bombing of a BBC van. At its formation, the Bomb Squad comprised around 30 men, one third from CID, the rest from

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

. The Angry Brigade's decline came in 1971, when various conspirators were arrested. At the 1971–72 trial, the nine conspirators were denied bail at Clerkenwell Court after Bond opposed the move, and the judge, J Purcell, "remanded all nine in custody for a week." There were concerns that the police had "over-reached themselves." The Angry Brigade member John Barker later said that "the police framed a guilty man," and Bond was called an "old-fashioned plod" by a defendant. He told the Purcell that "I am quite certain that, sooner or later, we would have had somebody killed." Due to his success, in 1972 he was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal 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 of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...

and promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Operations). The

(IRA) also had a bombing campaign ongoing, and in December 1975 Bond "saturated" the centre of London with plainclothes police officers. Four IRA members took two people hostage in Balcombe Street, following a police chase which involved a shoot out on 7 December. The terrorists called the police, in a call which was routed to Bond; who refused their demands of a plane to fly to Ireland, proclaiming that

"They are not going anywhere and they are not getting any plane to Ireland. We are not going to make any deals at all."

The gunmen gave up on 12 December, their surrender sparking fears of reprisals, after what Bond called a "rather humiliating episode," Bond "masterminded" the operation to regain the hostages. He retired the following year, in 1976, and received the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the New Year's honours list. Upon his retirement in February 1976, he had served in the police for 30 years, full of "exemplary conduct." In his time, Bond received 12 Commissioner's Commendations and 7 for "courage, diligence and determination in the course of investigations."

Personal life

Bond married the 23-year-old Mabel Phoebe Isabell née Laming on 29 October 1939, the daughter of a dock worker, Alfred Thomas Laming. They had two sons and two daughters together, who all survived both Ernest and Mabel. When Bond had retired, he indulged his interests in decorating and gardening, and remained a Freemason. Mabel died in 1992, and on 20 November 2003, Ernest died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

Welling Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. ...

; in his home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Ernest Radcliffe 1919 births 2003 deaths Military personnel from Cumberland British World War II prisoners of war Scots Guards soldiers British Army Commandos soldiers Counterterrorism in the United Kingdom Metropolitan Police chief officers British Army personnel of World War II People from Barrow-in-Furness Officers of the Order of the British Empire English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Metropolitan Police recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in England