Reginald Applin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament forEnfield | |
| In office 29 October 1924 – 30 May 1929 | |
| Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | William Henderson |
| Succeeded by | William Henderson |
| In office 27 October 1931 – 14 November 1935 | |
| Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | William Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Bartle Brennen Bull |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1869-04-11)11 April 1869 |
| Died | 5 April 1957(1957-04-05) (aged 87) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | National Party, Anti-Waste League, Conservative and Unionist Party |
Lieutenant-ColonelReginald Vincent Kempenfelt Applin,DSO,OBE (11 April 1869 – 5 April 1957) was aBritish military officer who took a prominent part in the development of machine gun tactics in theBritish Army. He later entered politics, initially in two minorright wing parties before becoming aConservative PartyMember of Parliament.[1]
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He was the eldest son of Captain Vincent Jesson Applin,Military Train, of "Exeview",Alphington, nearExeter.[2] Following education atSherborne School, he initially sought employment as a stage actor.[1] However, in December 1889 he became a cadet with theBritish North Borneo Company.[1][2] He continued to serve in the company's administration of the protectorate, becoming successively a police magistrate andjustice of the peace forLabuan and aDistrict Officer. He was involved in the suppression of theMat Salleh Rebellion from 1895 to 1897 and was awarded The British North Borneo Company's Medal and clasp.[2][3] After eight years service Applin had reached the rank of Captain Superintendent in the British North Borneo Armed Constabulary, but was forced to resign due to ill health and returned to England.[4] He wrote an account of his years in North Borneo entitledAcross the Seven Seas.[1]
In November 1898 Applin obtained a commission as a captain in the6th (7th Royal Lancashire Militia) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers.[4] With the outbreak of theSecond Anglo-Boer War in 1899 the battalion was mobilised and sailed toSouth Africa. He was appointed District Commissioner atBloemfontein in June 1900 and acting Provost-Marshal for the Orange River in October of the same year. He subsequently saw active service in theCape Colony, theOrange Free State and theTransvaal,[2] and was twice mentioned in despatches.[5][6] In April 1902 he was granted the local rank of captain in the Army whilst serving with a provisional battalion,[7] and the following August he transferred to theRoyal Garrison Regiment.[8] For his service in the war, he was made a Companion of theDistinguished Service Order (DSO) in the October 1902 South African Honours list.[9] The following year he was appointed Brigade Major of Royal Artillery atGibraltar.
In July 1905 he transferred to a regular line regiment, the14th (King's) Hussars.[10] In August of the same year he was seconded to the General Staff and was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for Musketry inMalta.[2][11][12] In December 1906 Applin returned to his regiment,[13] and in June 1911 promoted to major.[14] During this period he was involved in developing tactics for the use of the machine gun, and in 1909 published one of the first books on the subject,Machine Gun Tactics.[1][2][15]
During theFirst World War Applin became an instructor in the use of the machine gun, and was attached to theMachine Gun Corps Training Centre in July 1916.[16] In November 1916 he was appointed temporary lieutenant-colonel, and commanded the machine guns of theII ANZAC Corps at the battles ofMessines andPasschendaele.[2] With the entry of theUnited States into the war, Applin was part of a British mission to the country, and gave lectures on machine gun tactics.[1][2] He remained with the MGC until July 1919.[17][18]
In January 1919 Applin was given thebrevet rank of lieutenant-colonel and in February was made commanding officer of the 14th Hussars.[2] He retired from the army in January 1921.[19]
With the ending of his military career, Applin entered politics. After making two unsuccessful attempts to enter parliament with minor parties, he became the ConservativeMP for Enfield.
Applin was originally a member of theNational Party, a xenophobic party that broke away from the Conservatives in 1917. He stood at theparliamentary by-election atDartford in April 1920. The party came in a poor fourth place, with Applin losing his deposit. The intervention of the National Party and anIndependent candidate split the Conservative vote and allowedJohn Edmund Mills of theLabour Party to secure an unexpected victory.[20][21] The National Party was disbanded a year later.[22]
In August 1921 aparliamentary byelection was held for the constituency ofWestminster Abbey. Applin stood as the candidate ofAnti-Waste League, a right-wing party formed byLord Rothermere in opposition to the spending plans of theLloyd George Coalition government. Such was the unpopularity of the government that all three candidates, including the winnerBrigadier-General John Nicholson of the Conservative Party (who formed part of the coalition), claimed to be "anti-waste". Applin finished in second place, receiving 34.9% of the votes cast.[23][24]
In September 1924 Applin was chosen as theConservative Party's candidate to contest the north London seat ofEnfield.[25] The seat had been won byWilliam Henderson of theLabour Party at thegeneral election of 1923. When afurther election was held in October of that year, he was elected with a majority of 2,079 votes in a straight fight with Henderson.[26] At thenext general election in 1929, Applin again faced Henderson as well as aLiberal candidate.[27] Henderson regained the seat for Labour by the narrow margin of 258 votes.[28] Following the collapse of theminority Labour Government, aNational Government was formed in August 1931 and anelection was held in October of the same year. Applin was the Conservative and National Government candidate, and was returned to theCommons when he defeated his Labour opponent by the large majority of 10,886 votes.[29] He retired from parliament at the1935 general election.
In 1935 he emigrated to South Africa. He died at his home inHowick,Natal in April 1957 aged 87.[1] His medals were auctioned in 2009.[3]
| External image | |
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 Gravestone of Lt. Col. Applin at St George's Garrison Church, Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEnfield 1924 –1929 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEnfield 1931 –1935 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
