Francis Gerard Luis Fairlie (1 November 1899 – 31 March 1983) was an English writer and scriptwriter on whom 'Sapper' (H. C. McNeile) supposedly based the character of Bulldog Drummond.
Ian Fleming stated that James Bond was influenced partially by the Drummond character.
[1][2] After Sapper's death in 1937, Fairlie continued the Bulldog Drummond book series.
[citation needed] He was educated at Downside School in Somerset and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned in December 1918 in the Scots Guards.
[4] The French awarded Fairlie with a Croix de Guerre during the Second World War[5] while he was undertaking intelligence work.