Ernest Radcliffe Bond

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.

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.

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. on 23 June 1971, The press lauded Commander X as a "mystery supremo to hunt down the Angry Brigade." 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. There were concerns that the police had "over-reached themselves." 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." 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 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 their parents. 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, Bond died of prostate cancer in Welling, in his home.