From: Knives Illustrated. Sept. 2009 Vol. 23 No. 9
_____________________________________
A Remembrance of Working with Col. Rex Applegate
By Pat Cascio
___________
Ever since I could remember, I was a huge fan of Col. Rex Applegate. When
my family moved to the Reedsport, Oregon area in June 1990, I recall hearing
that Applegate lived in the area. I looked up his address and phone number
in the phone book and dropped him a quick note. I told the Colonel
(everyone called him colonel) that I'd like to meet him. A few days went by
and I received a phone call from Applegate, inviting me to come for a visit.
He lived about 18 miles from where I lived.
Upon my arrival for the scheduled visit (you didn't just drop-in on
Applegate), I rang the bell on the 6-foot-high barbed-wire fence surrounding
his home. I also had my youngest daughter with me for the visit, as she was
also into guns and knives at the age of 10 years old.
I spent more than three hours visiting with Applegate before he decided I
was OK to see his knife and gun collection. He told me we were going over to
the "annex", and I had no idea what he was talking about at the time. Come
to find out, the annex was a building next to his spacious home, where he
kept all his guns and knives.
To say I was shocked at the contents of the annex would be putting it
mildly. There were well over 850 guns in the collection and several-hundred
knives of various sorts; I was like a kid in a candy shop. And, we're
talking about some pretty rare guns in this collection, some with "x" serial
numbers, meaning they were prototypes.
Applegate had the first two S&W .357 Magnum revolvers in this collection.
I understand that S&W had tried to buy these guns back from Applegate a
number of times--all to no avail!
One section of the annex was devoted to the guns of famous shooters, such
as Bill Jordan, Ad and "Plinkie" Topperwien, Ed McGivern and other greats.
During the tour of the annex, Applegate picked-out some books and videos and
loaned them to me. He told me to call when I was done with the materials.
Two weeks passed and I called to make an appointment to return the books and
videos. On this trip we spent several more hours visiting, and then I was
shocked--Applegate asked me if I wanted to come to work for him; he was
impressed with my knowledge of guns and knives during our conversations and
during the tour of the annex. Of course, the first question out of my mouth
was, "How much do I have to pay you?" I was willing to pay Applegate for the
chance to study and work with him.
I worked almost full-time for Applegate for close to three years. During
that time, I worked on a number of projects with him and Chuck Karwan. One
of the first projects assigned to me was to take inventory on the entire
knife and gun collection and put a value on it. I spent the better part of a
month at the annex going through everything. It had been 10 years since the
collection had been inventoried. When I had put prices on the collection, I
was very conservative in the pricing. However, I put a value of 1 million
dollars on the guns alone--they were probably worth at least 50 percent more
than that. I had a chance to handle every firearm and knife in the
collection. I had to wipe-off all the drool before Applegate knew I was
salivating all over his guns and knives. One of my regular tasks was to wipe
down all the guns each month with oil to keep them from rusting.
I found it very difficult to work for Applegate (he was a perfectionist)
as he wanted things done in a certain way--his way or not at all. I
sincerely admired Applegate, and learned a lot over the years working for
him. Applegate was a man to be respected--no doubt about that. He didn't ask
for respect, he commanded it, and deserved it.
Over the years, I found it difficult to get Applegate to open-up about
his life and exploits; he didn't brag, and he didn't need to. While going
through some of Applegate's records, I ran across a letter from the Mexican
Army. My Spanish was a bit rusty, but near as I could tell, Applegate was a
General in the Mexican Army. When I approached him with this document, he
just shrugged it off and said, "I forgot I had been made a General in the
Mexican Army." However, I was not about to let it go at that. I came to
learn that Applegate lived in Mexico after WWII, where he was the sales
representative for Remington Arms. He was also working for the CIA while in
Mexico. (another story for another time).
Applegate had taught the Mexican Army and the Federales all about
riot-control techniques. He was rewarded for his efforts by being made a
General in the Mexican Army. I don't know of any other "gringo" to have
earned that respect and rank.
During Applegate's stay in Mexico, which was a lot of years, he was
involved in a few gun-fights. One in particular was of interest. A Mexican
had climbed over the wall surrounding Applegate's home and attempted to rob
him. Bad move! Applegate simply shot the bandit, threw the body over the
wall and called the police to come remove it--end of story.
Another time, Applegate was in public with a high-ranking officer from
the Mexican Army. A machete-wielding bad guy attacked them, but before the
Mexican officer could even draw his pistol, Applegate had emptied his S&W
.38 revolver into him--again, end of story. Who says point shooting doesn't
work?
One of the projects with which I worked with Applegate was a video I
produced that I called, "Armed Response," all about gun and knife-fighting
techniques, as taught by Applegate. In this video, Applegate explains his
techniques for gun and knife-fighting. He doesn't do any of the fighting
himself, but he is seen instructing two of his young trainees in these
techniques. I trained both of these young men in the Applegate/Fairbairn
technique of point shooting over a lunch break. You just won't believe how
well these two fellows shot with only an hour's instruction.
Applegate was one of the 12 founding training staff members of the OSS in
WWII. The OSS was the forerunner of our current CIA. Prior to Applegate's
death, he was the last surviving member of the original OSS training staff.
On the training staff with him were two other outstanding gun-fighters, W.E.
Fairbairn and O.F. Sykes, both formerly of the Shanghai National Police in
the 1930's. During the '30's, Shanghai was pretty wild--about like our own
Wild West in the late 1800's. This is the team that also lent their name to
the Sykes-Fairbairn knives made famous by the British Commandos during WWII.
W.E.Fairbairn was the showman of the duo, always seeking (and getting)
publicity. On the other hand, Applegate told me that it was Sykes who knew
more about gun and knife-fighting. To say that the OSS had some great
instructors in the early days of WWII is an understatement. You need to
pick-up a copy of Applegate's book, "Kill or get Killed," which is still the
best-selling book on close-quarters-combat fighting techniques in history.
To this date, the methods and techniques taught in this book are
relevant. Shortly before Applegate's death, the United States Marine Corps
asked permission to have 5,000 copies of this book reproduced for use in
training their Marines. I have one of two copies that made it into public
circulation, which was an autographed gift from Applegate.
Most Knives Illustrated readers will probably best remember Applegate for
his Applegate/Fairbairn fighting knives design, still in production. This
knife was designed during WWII by Applegate and Fairbairn based on feedback
from British Commando troops who used the Fairbairn/Sykes Fighting Knife.
Many flaws were found in this design, thus Applegate and Fairbairn set out
to improve upon it--and they did! A number of double-edge fighting knives
produced today owe their heritage to the A/F Fighting Knife. I still haven't
run across a better design for pure knife-fighting purposes - and I've
designed a number of fighting knives myself. Gerber Knives also produces a
folding version of the A/F Fighting Knife as well.
Applegate never bragged about his experiences in life. And, it was like
pulling teeth to get him to open-up about his exploits. It took me forever
for me to learn why he walked with a cane. He'd parachuted into France
behind enemy lines during WWII and injured his knee. He kept telling me he
was going to have it operated on "when I have the time..." he would tell me.
I sat in Applegate's office on a number of occasions when he received
phone calls from the likes of the Israeli Mossad, GSG-9 in Germany and any
number of U.S. Secret Service and F.B.I. agents--all wanting Applegate's
advice. And, needless to say, law enforcement agencies from all over the
U.S. would call on Applegate for advice, or to have him come and lecture on
the finer points of point shooting techniques, which he pioneered.
It was during one of Applegate's lectures, in California, that he was hit
with a stroke while doing what he loved best--talking about point shooting.
Applegate was recovering from that stroke, when he caught pneumonia and
passed away.
I was in total shock when I got the phone call from Jon Ford at Paladin
Press. I was honored to co-write the obituary on Applegate for another
publication. He was truly one of a kind.
An honest-to-God-warrior if ever there was one.
Subject: Col Rex Applegatel 
Sun 12 Jul 2009, 11:49
