2008 AMPS International Convention Special Announcement
The 2008 AMPS International Convention Show Committee is honored to announce special guest speakers for the April 10-12, 2008 show at the WW2 Victory Museum in Auburn, IN.
We have received confirmation from three WW2 tank combat veterans of different nations who will speak at the show. Not only did these three experience combat and can relate their wartime experiences, but each is thoroughly conversant with their particular vehicles and the tactics involved.
Mr. John “Jack” Irvin (USA). US 3rd Armored Division, ETO, 1945. Mr. Irvin wrote about his experiences as a 20-year old gunner aboard M4A3 Shermans and the T26E4 “Super Pershing” during the final months of the European landwar in his memoir “Another River Another Town”. He has spoken to current US Army tankers in training and has graciously agreed to speak to our show attendees.
Mr. Gerry Chester (UK). North Irish Horse tank regiment, Tunisia and Italy 1943-1945. Mr. Chester has compiled a stirring narrative of his combat experiences – serving as a wireless operator in several marks of the Churchill tank in the Mediterraean. His unit killed German Panthers and Tigers using the oft-misunderstood Churchill Infantry tank. Mr. Chester has frequented the various AFV modelling forums, adding his first-hand knowledge of the Churchill tank and British operations in general in the MTO. Previously residing in Arizona, Mr. Chester now travels between various friends and family – spanning several countries. He’ll make a “stopover” to Indiana next April.
Mr. Wolfgang Kloth (Ger). 2nd Panzer Division (Heer). Eastern Front 1943-1945. Mr. Kloth joined the German Wehrmacht in 1943 and was posted as an officer candidate, commanding Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs in the East. Wounded several times, he eventually was returned to train crews in Stug IIIs. He finished the war as part of the armor contingent in the surrounded Kurland pocket having spent his entire career fighting the Russians. After Soviet captivity, he escaped E Germany to the West, eventually emigrating to the USA in 1951. Mr. Kloth is an active advisor and friend to re-enactment and modelling groups in the Midwest.
Please join us for this extremely unique opportunity to hear three surviving WW2 tankers share their experiences and speak about the action and stories behind the models to which we’re so devoted. We’ve not heard of any other forum where a this once-in-a-lifetime collection of WW2 vets has gathered to speak and have Q & A. Mark your calenders!
Stay tuned as more announcements about guest speakers are quickly forthcoming.
WOW! Those Kurland battles were BRUTAL, or so I’ve read…I’d love to hear what that guy has to say…I’ll bet he’s a gold mine of info on late-war camo schemes! Anyone going to be there? Can we Panzer nuts get you to pose some questions and take some notes?![:-^][(-D]
Hi Doog: Actually I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Kloth at a model show before. He addressed many questions from the audience – including some that really made no sense to him: LOL.
What was fascinating about his talk was his recollection of tactics and the limitations of function with his equipment (he complained how his 5cm Kwk armed Pz III had no internal gun lock – after any cross country movement, his gunner needed to fire off a couple of rounds just to boresight the out-of-sync optics). When asked about camo schemes, he said the vehicles were painted earth tones and often the crews added mud and dirt to further camo the tanks. When pressed a second time from an audience member, he wryly joked: “I was a tanker, not a painter!” The audience burst out in laughter at the modeller who just “needed to know” about paint schemes. You gotta remember that appearance matters MUCH more to modellers than to actual soldiers. To Mr. Kloth, what was important was where to store food; what could be done to lessen leaks in his StuG III (which leaked like crazy); were the three most essential tools always in place (the two crow bars and sledge – to change tracks in an emergency); could they store more MG ammo; etc. Unimportant was whether camo colors of unit X hard-edged or sprayed. That mattered zero to Kloth and his fellow panzermann. He’s a gold mine for telling you where to scrounge food on a Polish or Russian battlefield. For camo schemes? Nada.
Regarding the Kurland battles – a very intersting tidbit. He said the armor unit inside the pocket had a very strange conglomeration of captured tanks including an M3 Lee, 2 Shermans and 2 T-34s which the field workshop upgunned with 8.8cm KwKs. How about that for an interesting bit of information? And no, he didn’t have any photos of them. LOL
If you have any questions, email me. What I did before was have a set of about 20 questions that I asked Mr. Kloth. They were general in nature and designed to elicit the kind of info that modellers would want to know. We plan on doing the same for each of the three vets since their wartime experiences have some differences.
FYI: there are plans to produce DVDs of the veterans’ talks as well as to put the video online at the AMPS club website, making it accessible to members only. Maybe consider joining the organization, Doog?
Thanks for your questions. However, please again read my reply to doog. I’ve found that many, many veterans’ accounts of their time in combat to be very similar – focused on the complexities of day-to-day living and dying.
May I suggest you pick up Mr. Irwin’s book or read Mr. Chester’s narrative here. For details of infantry fighting in the East, a famous book is Guy Sajer’s “Soldat Oublie” or “The Forgotten Soldier”. There are many other good memoirs as well.
Mr. Kloth spoke about having a lg. caliber Soviet howizter shell plummet through the roof of his Pz III killing his driver and MG operator. The 2nd Panzer was mostly destroyed in Normandy but he had been transferred out. He spoke about how he was severely wounded in the hand by shrapnel when closing his hatch during the onset of the Kursk battle. He spoke about how amazing it was to find American lend-lease foodstuffs in possession by the Russians. He spoke about firing on retreating German troops mistakenly mixed with advancing Russians. He spoke about how fate spared him when others perished. Then there were things he expressly did not want to elaborate on (russian captivity, Russian treatment of POWs).
I’d be simply too embarrased to ask Mr. Kloth about his feelings about uniform colors to be frank. I hope you understand. If you read many memoirs or have opportunity to talk to combat veterans, you’ll understand what is proper to talk about and what isn’t.
As for supply, his unit was always fairly near the main body of German units. He did remark how the greatest fear of the panzermann would be that his vehicle had to be abandonded and they’d have to be on foot behind enemy lines.
He remarked that one of the greatest advantages over the Soviet tanks was radio communication btn German tanks. I’m sure as an officer, he had responsibility over other vehicles.
WOW Roy! That was some fantastic info! A T-34 with an 88mm?! I feel a conversion coming on!!! I would assume a T-34/85 turret? I can’t imagine an '88 fitting in the standard 76mm turret!
I’m gonna check into AMPS, Roy; thanks for the info and the suggestion! [:)]
Thanks for the info, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make the show. If I’m living in Ohio in April, I’ll be sure to try. I read “Another River, Another Town” and I’d certainly like to hear Mr Irwin, Mr. Kloth and Mr Chester talk about their experiences.