John Nation Explained

John James Henry Nation
Birth Date:12 May 1874
Rank:Brigadier-General
Branch: British Army
Battles:First World War
Second World War
Awards:CVO, DSO
Module:
Embed:yes
Constituency Mp:Kingston upon Hull East
Term Start:27 October 1931
Term End:25 October 1935
Successor:George Muff

Brigadier-General John James Henry Nation, CVO, DSO (5 December 1874 – 5 November 1946)[1] was a British Army officer who became a Conservative Party politician.

Career

Nation was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 1 April 1895, and promoted to lieutenant on 1 April 1898. He served in the Second Boer War in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. He was first posted in the Orange Free State, including engagements at Vet River and Zand River; later in the Transvaal, where he was present at actions near Johannesburg and Pretoria, including the battles of Diamond Hill (June 1900) and Belfast (August 1900); and eventually in Cape Colony, south of the Orange River.[2] Following the end of the war in June 1902, he left Cape Town for England on the SS Moravian in August 1902.[3] He was stationed in Buncrana in 1903.

Nation served in the First World War and at the headquarter of Marshal Foch 1918–19. From 1927 to 1931 he was Military attaché Rome.He was elected at the 1931 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East, defeating the sitting Labour MP George Muff. At the 1935 general election, Nation lost the seat to Muff, and never stood for election to the House of Commons again.[4]

General Nation worked as a war correspondent with the BEF. In 1940 he became Zone Commander of the Home Guard (United Kingdom) until 1942.

Family

He was married to Olive Elizabeth, widow of Capt Walter Rubens.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: House of Commons constituencies beginning with "h" (part 4) . Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages . 2009-05-13 . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20121219110655/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons4.htm . 19 December 2012 .
  2. Hart′s Army list, 1903
  3. The Army in South Africa - Return of Troops. 12 August 1902 . 10 . 36844.
  4. Book: Craig , F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig

    . F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 . 1969 . 3rd . 1983 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-06-X . 156.

  5. http://www.hrp.org.uk/Resources/Grace%20and%20Favour%20%20-%20A%20handbook%20of%20who%20lived%20where%20in%20Hampton%20Court%20Palace%201750%20to%201950.pdf Sarah E Parker:"Grace & Favour A handbook of who lived where in Hampton Court Palace 1750 to 1950"