Gerard Fairlie

Gerard Fairlie had an interesting and varied life as a soldier, sportsman, journalist, fiction writer and broadcaster. As a child, he studied music in Belgium and was a cello prodigy. He then attended Downside school in Somerset before going to the Sandhurst Military College, from where he joined the Scots Guards. Fairlie spent six years in the Guards and during his time with them was a fine boxer and rugby player and, in 1924, was invited to join the British bobsleigh team at the first Winter Olympics. He was chosen purely because of his weight and build. He had never seen a bob, let alone ridden in one at that point of time, and only agreed to join the team because of the promise of a free holiday!

During the Chamonix Games, Fairlie penned results and statistics which were used by The Times and, as a result, he became a journalist for them, and also worked for the Bystander and News of the World. He was The Times’ special correspondent at both the 1928 Summer and Winter Olympics. A good friend of Fairlie’s was Herman Cyril “Mac” McNeile, an author who used the pseudonym “Sapper”, and created the character Bulldog Drummond. “Sapper” announced live on a BBC radio programme that he based the Bulldog Drummond stories on Fairlie. As flattered as he was, Fairlie, who appeared on the same radio programme, was not convinced this was true. “Sapper” died at a young age in 1937, and Archie kept the Drummond character alive by writing seven more books in the series, having earlier been inspired by “Sapper” to write his first novel Scissors Cut Paper in 1927.

During World War II, Fairlie worked as a correspondent for the War Office in France. He also worked on intelligence, but was captured by the Germans. However, he managed to escape, and get back to England before returning to intelligence work in France, for which he was twice awarded the Croix de Guerre. After the war, Fairlie went to Hollywood and wrote plays and films, including some based on the Bulldog Drummond character, and some featuring his own private eye creation, Johnny Macall. In total Fairlie wrote more than 40 books, and spent part of his later life living in Malta.