Lieutenant-Colonel Reginald Vincent Kempenfelt Applin, DSO,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(11 April 1869 – 5 April 1957) was a

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military officer who took a prominent part in the development of machine gun tactics in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He later entered politics, initially in two minor

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

parties before becoming a

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British North Borneo Company

He was the eldest son of Captain Vincent Jesson Applin, Military Train, of "Exeview", Alphington, near

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. Following education at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

, he initially sought employment as a stage actor. However, in December 1889 he became a cadet with the

British North Borneo Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia) ...

. He continued to serve in the company's administration of the protectorate, becoming successively a police magistrate and

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

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and a District Officer. He was involved in the suppression of the

Mat Salleh Rebellion The Mat Salleh Rebellion was a series of major armed disturbances against the British North Borneo Chartered Company administration in North Borneo, now the Malaysian state of Sabah. It was instigated by Datu Muhammad Salleh (also known as Mat ...

from 1895 to 1897 and was awarded The British North Borneo Company's Medal and clasp. 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. He wrote an account of his years in North Borneo entitled ''Across the Seven Seas''.

Military service

Second Boer War

In November 1898 Applin obtained a commission as a captain in the 6th (

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

) Battalion,

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, and had many different titles throughout its 28 ...

. With the outbreak of the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

in 1899 the battalion was mobilised and sailed to

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. He was appointed District Commissioner at

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in June 1900 and acting Provost-Marshal for the Orange River in October of the same year. He subsequently saw active service in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

and the

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, and was twice mentioned in despatches. In April 1902 he was granted the local rank of captain in the Army whilst serving with a provisional battalion, and the following August he transferred to the

Royal Garrison Regiment The Royal Garrison Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that formed in 1901 and disbanded in 1908. The regiment was originally formed from personnel of the Royal Reserve Regiments, a reserve force composed of veteran soldiers for ...

. For his service in the war, he was made a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) in the October 1902 South African Honours list. The following year he was appointed Brigade Major of Royal Artillery at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Development of machine gun tactics

In July 1905 he transferred to a regular line regiment, the 14th (King's) Hussars. In August of the same year he was seconded to the General Staff and was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for Musketry in

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. In December 1906 Applin returned to his regiment, and in June 1911 promoted to major. 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''.

First World War

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Applin became an instructor in the use of the machine gun, and was attached to the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

Training Centre in July 1916. In November 1916 he was appointed temporary lieutenant-colonel, and commanded the machine guns of the

II ANZAC Corps The II ANZAC Corps (Second Anzac Corps) was an Australian and New Zealand First World War army corps. Formed in early 1916 in Egypt in the wake of the failed Gallipoli campaign, it initially consisted of two Australian divisions, and was sent t ...

at the battles of Messines and Passchendaele. With the entry of the

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into the war, Applin was part of a British mission to the country, and gave lectures on machine gun tactics. He remained with the MGC until July 1919. In January 1919 Applin was given the

brevet rank In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

of lieutenant-colonel and in February was made commanding officer of the 14th Hussars. He retired from the army in January 1921.

Politics

With the ending of his military career, Applin entered politics. After making two unsuccessful attempts to enter parliament with minor parties, he became the Conservative MP for Enfield.

Dartford by-election 1920

Applin was originally a member of the National Party, a xenophobic party that broke away from the Conservatives in 1917. He stood at the parliamentary by-election at

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

in April 1920. The party came in a poor fourth place, with Applin losing his deposit. The intervention of the National Party and an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate split the Conservative vote and allowed

John Edmund Mills John Edmund Mills (2 September 1882 – 11 November 1951) was Labour MP for Dartford for three separate periods during the 1920s. Born in Perth in Australia, Mills grew up in Plymouth, being educated at the city's Higher Grade School. He became ...

of the Labour Party to secure an unexpected victory. The National Party was disbanded a year later.

Abbey by-election 1921

In August 1921 a parliamentary byelection was held for the constituency of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. Applin stood as the candidate of

Anti-Waste League The Anti-Waste League was a political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1921 by the newspaper proprietor Lord Rothermere. Formation The formation of the League was announced in a January 1921 edition of the '' Sunday Pictorial'' with Rotherme ...

, a right-wing party formed by

Lord Rothermere Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in th ...

in opposition to the spending plans of the Lloyd George Coalition government. Such was the unpopularity of the government that all three candidates, including the winner Brigadier-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.

Member of Parliament for Enfield

In September 1924 Applin was chosen as the

's candidate to contest the north London seat of

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

. The seat had been won by William Henderson of the Labour Party at the general election of 1923. When a further election was held in October of that year, he was elected with a majority of 2,079 votes in a straight fight with Henderson. At the next general election in 1929, Applin again faced Henderson as well as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate. Henderson regained the seat for Labour by the narrow margin of 258 votes. Following the collapse of the minority Labour Government, a

National Government A national government is the government of a nation. National government or National Government may also refer to: * Central government in a unitary state, or a country that does not give significant power to regional divisions * Federal governme ...

was formed in August 1931 and an election was held in October of the same year. Applin was the Conservative and National Government candidate, and was returned to the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

when he defeated his Labour opponent by the large majority of 10,886 votes. He retired from parliament at the 1935 general election.

Later life

In 1935 he emigrated to South Africa. He died at his home in

Howick Howick may refer to: Places *Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa **Howick Falls * Howick, Lancashire, a small hamlet (Howick Cross) and former civil parish in England *Howick, New Zealand **Howick Historical Village **Howick (New Zealand electo ...

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in April 1957 aged 87. His medals were auctioned in 2009.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Applin, Reginald 1869 births 1957 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1931–1935 Lancashire Fusiliers officers 14th King's Hussars officers Machine Gun Corps officers People educated at Sherborne School Politicians from Exeter North Borneo Chartered Company administrators Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Officers of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Exeter