Commander X

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. He married the 23-year-old Mabel Laming and they remained together until Mabel's death in 1992. Bond experienced the Fraud Squad, the Flying Squad, the Murder Squad, and became the first commander of the newly formed Bomb Squad (later the Anti-Terrorist Branch, now merged into Counter Terrorism Command). His notable achievements in the bomb squad were negotiating the rise of The Angry Brigade, eventually jailing several members. The other major event he negotiated as commander with the Bomb Squad was the Balcombe Street siege, in which two people were taken hostage by four Irish Republican Army members, who demanded a plane to Ireland. 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.