Joe Ekins tribute.

[Tony Barton]

The death of Joe Ekins was announced on February 1st.

About five years ago , I had the pleasure of talking to him on the phone on several occasions about his WW2 career, and recording his memories of the uniform and kit he wore while crewing a tank with the Northamptonshire Yeomanry.
He was a very modest , ordinary and unassuming man from Rushden, whom fate had pitched into a war he loathed .

He happened to be in the gunner’s seat of a Sherman Firefly one day in July 1944 , and became slightly famous for being the man who fired the shot that killed Michel Wittman and his crew.

There’s a short Wikipedia article about him here :~

Joe Ekins - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My contact with him had been to ask his permission to make a figure of him, which was freely granted.
There was , for a while, a serious scheme to produce him as a commercial figure, a prospect that intrigued Joe no end. Alas, the whole project fell victim to economic reality, and it never happened.
Joe was disappointed , perhaps because he was looking forward to a bit of a fuss and a small fee, but took it all in good part.





But I made this prototype, which Joe approved. He made pertinent criticisms as it progressed, and it took two attempts before he was happy with the head.
He wears BD with the 33rd Tank Brigade diabolo flash over the RAC AoS strip. The 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry also wore these collar dogs, a highly unofficial practice.





He also told me some useful things about tank crew kit at the time, which have been handy in making some other figures.
He mentioned the use of the denim tanksuit in the hot weather , and the problems of wearing hobnailed boots while on the tank : steel on steel is a lethal recipe , and crewmen got round it by wearing their “ walking-out “
black shoes, or even plimsolls.

His own account can be heard here :~

Welcome to the Tank Museum - Home of the Tank - Veteran Podcasts

After the war he went back into Northamptonshire’s famous footwear industry , and worked as a manager of a shoe factory.

[Will1/6]

Nice work on the figure.

[Mohawk03]

Tony, thank you for posting. A wonderful tribute to the man. It must have been a moving experience for you to have access to Mr. Ekins and his memories.

Great figure and great post. It is a somber reminder of the memories and men of that era we lose on a daily basis.

Jim

[viaad]

A nice figure and a nice tribute!

[Germanbilly1]

A class act to pay such a tribute.
GB

[Sixth Vanguard]

Great figure makes a great tribute

[Dougmo]

A classy tribute to one the many brave allied soldiers.. well-done, Tony