Alan McKibbin Colonel Alan John McKibbin , OBE , JP , DL ( 2 February 1892 – 2 December 1958 ) was a Northern Irish company director and politician . After serving in the First World War , he later took charge of the Army Cadet Force in Northern Ireland , and also ran the family estate agency firm . He was also an Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until his death . Wartime service . McKibbin was the son of John McKibbin , who ran John McKibbin & Son Ltd . He was born in Belfast and was sent to Campbell College , a leading grammar school in the city . He went to work in the family firm , but on the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted in the Army . He served throughout the war . In 1922 he married Kathleen Laura Brennan , and they had a son together . After working in the family firm , McKibbin joined the Home Guard during the Second World War . He was commissioned into the Northern Ireland Army Cadet Force in December 1943 , becoming commandant of the Third Cadet Battalion of The Royal Ulster Rifles , and was awarded the OBE in 1949 . Member of Parliament . At the 1950 general election , McKibbin was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party member to the United Kingdom Parliament from the constituency of Belfast East . His maiden speech on 20 March 1950 highlighted the disparity in pay between Army soldiers and munitions factory workers , arguing that it explained the scarcity of army recruits . In March 1951 he initiated a debate calling for additional recruitment of soldiers from British dominions and colonies overseas , on the ground that it allowed the build - up of a voluntary force which could relieve British troops . Aircraft industry . In the early 1950s he tried to defend Short Brothers from the loss of work due to the suspension of work on the de Havilland Comet airliner , which had suffered a series of disasters . The Minister of Supply agreed to try to bring forward other contracts . Support for the local aircraft industry became a regular subject for him to raise . He also pressed for an increase in pensions payable to the disabled , saying that anything less than 90s . per week would be regarded as an instalment by the Royal British Legion in Northern Ireland . In the 1955 budget , he put down an amendment to exempt vehicles used by limbless ex - servicemen from purchase tax . McKibbin was appointed a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Belfast in 1955 . Early the next year , he began a campaign to prevent civilian airliners from colliding with military aircraft , after an incident in which disaster was only narrowly avoided . He obtained a pledge to review the rules . McKibbin caused amusement in the House of Commons in 1957 when arguing for a reduction in taxation on musical instruments , he reported that a euphonium had been described to him as " the brass band ' s revenge for the bagpipes " . Army Cadet Force . In 1957 McKibbin was made hon . Colonel of the Army Cadet Force in Belfast , Antrim and North Down , and also became Chairman of the Army Cadet Force Association . He signed a motion critical of the conduct of the press after the Munich air disaster in 1958 . McKibbin died suddenly in a London hospital in December 1958 .