Tiger 2 Tank
Senior Member
Hello fellow collectors and enthusiasts.
I want to present to you a neat bring back story that, if not for a certain set of events, would have eventually been lost to time. This is a story of WWII veteran Willard C Poeth, the Walther factory and his captured bring back pistol rig P.38 ac45 #9057b.
On 09-30-2020, I saw an advertisement on Legacy Collectibles (Paoli, PA) website where P.38 ac45 #9057b pistol rig was for sale. I already had two other P.38 ac45’s in my collection. This one was in really nice condition. It had the pistol, two late war mags and a tan P.38 unmarked commercial holster with it. The two mags were a late war green phosphate finished jvd U mag and an un-proof’ed P.38v U mag with a ribbed follower with almost little bluing. The holster is an unmarked tan commercial type. I usually see these types of holsters with P.38 “mod P38” commercial pistols, so it was a neat combination with this rig. The price on the rig was a little high, but the whole rig was in too nice of a condition to pass. I purchased the pistol rig and upon receiving it, I was really pleased.
Legacy Collectible advertisement (used with permission from Tom Whiteman)
Upon receiving it, I went through everything. I found the pistol was probably nicer than the photos were showing. The grip strap (where wear usually hits these pretty hard) is in really nice condition with very minimal bluing loss. A little expected wear on the normal areas of the mags and working areas of the gun. The pistol is all matching; frame, slide, locking block and barrel. The slide has two proof stamps instead of the normal three, meaning it was not final proofed. The front sight post is also not staked. Bore condition is excellent as well. The barrel is an FNH factory Czech type. A lot of small parts are gray phosphate finished. The hammer is not the cog type as found on a lot of these late b block pistols, but is the standard type. This one has a nice set of black plastic grips. One of my b block pistols has a set of Durofol grips and the other b block pistol has a set of dark brown grips.
The holster is the key to this whole thing. I began checking the holster out and found that a name and service number were written under the holster’s flap. This was a little disappointing (at first). I usually try and stay away from “written on” holsters (It’s the ridiculous “purist” in me that I have since slacked off from, but not totally). Oh well, I bought the rig for the gun and mags anyway, so I wasn’t too heart broken about it. It was still a nice holster regardless. I tagged the holster as to which gun it came with and put it up in my holster stash. My advanced collector friends have warned me about being too purist with this stuff.
After a while, I began wondering about the vet’s information on the inside flap of that holster. A few weeks later, I began to look for information on the internet for the veteran written in the holster’s inside flap. No real reason, just my research instincts took over I guess. The written information is as follows:
Willard C Poeth 33516379
The writing is a little hard to read as in some places it’s pretty light. I had to take photos and use good lighting to get it all down correctly. After getting this, I did a quick search on the internet and found that some basic information did exist.
I know a lady that loves to do research on Ancestory.com . Give her some basic information and she can find what you need. She was my neighbor and she knows a little about the military as her father was a veteran and her husband is a Vietnam War veteran. So, she knows what to look for on this stuff. I asked her for help on researching this veteran. She agreed to help me and a few weeks went by and she brought me a huge packet of information.
What she found was that Mr. Poeth had served in WWII, in the 11th Armored Division, 22nd Tank Battalion. The same unit that captured the Walther factory in Zella-Mehlis!
A little quick history here: The 11th Armored Division was also known as “The Thunderbolts”. The 22nd Tank Battalion was activated and 08-15-1942 with the 11th Armored Division. They trained in in the Mojave Desert and ended up in California. In September/1944, they moved to New Jersey where they boarded troop ships to England. December/1944, they landed and moved through France to back up units devastated by the Germans in The Battle of the Bulge. After “The Battle of the Bulge”, they went through many battles to where they finally reached Zella-Mehlis (home of the Walther factory) on 04-05-1945, leaving Zella-Mehlis shortly after where they ended up in Austria. The 90th Infantry Division was also involved, but was probably some 70 to 80 miles behind the 22nd Tank Battalion when they reached Zella-Mehlis. Source: “The 11th Armored Division Legacy Group” and Ron Clarin’s Forum thread “The Walther Factory by Ron Clarin”.
My former neighbor’s information packet on Mr. Poeth contained the following:
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certificate of birth #98985.
Registration Card D.S.S. Form 1, serial #422, order #1870 (Draft Card), dated 11-26-1940, Mifflinburg, (Union Co.) Pennsylvania.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania World War II Veterans Compensation Bureau, Application for World War II Compensation, batch #11468, dated 04-03-1950. Shows dates of foreign service for Mr. Poeth on 09-28-1944 to 11-10-1945.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certificate of death, #092515-65. Back showing for Mr. Poeth:
Branch of Service: Army
Name of War: WWII
Service #33516379
Organization and rank at discharge: Technician 4th grade-Service Co. 22nd Tank Battalion
Date Enlisted: 10-16-1943
Date Discharged: 11-15-1945
Character of Discharge: Honorable
Union County, State of Pennsylvania, Record of burial place of veteran
Lewisburg Cemetery
Dates of Service: 10-16-1943 to 11-15-1945
Organization(s) Service Co. - 22nd Tank Battalion
Rank: T/4
My former neighbor also had an Ancestory.com informal page that showed an admission date of Dec 1944, Mr. Poeth was injured in the line of duty:
Type of injury: casualty, battle
Diagnosis: First location: humerus: shaft (code possibly also means Humerus, upper extremity); Causative Agent: bullet, rifle.
Medical treatment: Fracture, compound, closed, treatment of, with splints or casts.
Type of discharge: Discharged, Sec. II, AR 615-360 (line of duty, Yes)
Mr. Poeth was born in Lewisburg, PA on 06-05-1908. Mr. Poeth was a little older than a lot of the soldiers that went into WWII. Mr. Poeth died in Lewisburg, PA on 09-15-1965 from pancreatic cancer. He married Helen just before WWII began on 04-17-1937 in Gettysburg, PA. They did not have any children. Mr. Poeth showed to be a “laborer” or a truck driver, self employed.
I contacted Tom Whiteman at Legacy Collectibles to see if he had any information on this P.38 ac45 rig that he sold me. Tom explained that the rig came from “a local collector” who got it a few years prior at an Allentown (Pennsylvania) gun show. The collector did not know anything else as to whom he got it from.
I contacted the Lewisburg Cemetery where Mr. and Mrs Poeth are buried. The cemetery caretaker found the grave site, cleaned the headstone, photographed it and emailed it to me. The headstone reads: “T/4 SV. CO. 22, Tank BN. W.W.II”.
Also included in the packet was Mr. Poeth’s family information. I was able to use that to contact Mr. Poeth’s niece on 03-04-2021 by Facebook Messenger. She related that she was very young when her Uncle Willard was alive. She remembered him as “a great Uncle” who did not talk about the War. Her Uncle Willard was called “Pochy” and her Aunt was called “Henny”. She provided me with Mr. Poeth’s obituary and a photo of him sitting on the back of a motorcycle with his brothers. This was the first glimpse of what Mr. Poeth looked like. It’s neat to put a face to someone you have read and studied about.
The obituary provided a lot of information. It states the following:
Member of the Christ Lutheran Church
Member of the American Legion in Lewisburg
Member of the Mifflinburg VFW
Life member of the William Cameron Engine Co. and the Glen Iron Fire Company
He received the Good Conduct Medal,
Distinguished Unit Badge and E.A.M.E. Service Medal with three bronze stars.
Mr. Poeth’s niece had explained to her elderly mother of my contact with her and about the pistol rig that was brought back from the War with Mr. Poeth’s information on it, linking him to the pistol rig. I sent Mr. Poeth’s niece photos of the pistol rig and her Uncle’s written information on the holster. Sadly, on 03-20-2021, I was informed that Mr. Poeth’s niece’s mother had passed away but not before she was told of Mr. Poeth’s historical artifacts that he brought back and history that was coming back to light.
Shortly after Mr. Poeth’s niece’s mother passed, she informed me that they had found a photo album at her mother’s home that has her Uncle’s photos during the War. The photos show him with his unit. One photo shows a truck with the unit markings stenciled on the front bumper. Another photo titled “my iron casket” shows Mr. Poeth standing in front of what looks like a brand new Pershing tank. This unit received a very small, limited number of these Pershing tanks at the very end of the war in Germany. Also, he had some other paper money souvenirs and an SS soldier’s photo.
So, what is here? A set of circumstances that I am convinced show enough probable cause to believe that Mr. Poeth either captured this pistol rig himself or somehow got it from the Walther factory on or about 04-05-1945, bringing it back to the United States after the War. Even though no capture papers exist (that I am aware of) and no first hand account of how the pistol rig came to the United States, I have a pistol rig with a vet’s information who happened to serve with the same unit that captured the Walther factory. The pistol is a known type, by serial number, that was more than likely still in the factory at the time of capture. The mags are also late war and of a type that would have been put with this pistol.
Who would have known that the few seconds Mr. Poeth took to write his information in a holster would revive his history some 76 years later? I’m convinced that if my curiosity hadn’t gotten ahold of me to check the history on the vet who wrote his information in the holster, his history would have simply disappeared before too much longer. They had no children to pass it along to. Another collector could have done the same thing I guess, but would they have? I hope you enjoy the photos and story. The photos will be uploaded shortly. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Special thanks to the following people who helped me with this:
Bobbie Poeth Shreckengast (Mr. Poeth’s niece)
Sharon Krieger (my former neighbor)
Legacy Collectibles’ Tom Whiteman
Jeremy Beaver (Lewisburg Cemetery caretaker)
Ron Clarin (For his P.38 ac45 threads on the p38forum and historical homework on this subject)
I want to present to you a neat bring back story that, if not for a certain set of events, would have eventually been lost to time. This is a story of WWII veteran Willard C Poeth, the Walther factory and his captured bring back pistol rig P.38 ac45 #9057b.
On 09-30-2020, I saw an advertisement on Legacy Collectibles (Paoli, PA) website where P.38 ac45 #9057b pistol rig was for sale. I already had two other P.38 ac45’s in my collection. This one was in really nice condition. It had the pistol, two late war mags and a tan P.38 unmarked commercial holster with it. The two mags were a late war green phosphate finished jvd U mag and an un-proof’ed P.38v U mag with a ribbed follower with almost little bluing. The holster is an unmarked tan commercial type. I usually see these types of holsters with P.38 “mod P38” commercial pistols, so it was a neat combination with this rig. The price on the rig was a little high, but the whole rig was in too nice of a condition to pass. I purchased the pistol rig and upon receiving it, I was really pleased.
Legacy Collectible advertisement (used with permission from Tom Whiteman)
Upon receiving it, I went through everything. I found the pistol was probably nicer than the photos were showing. The grip strap (where wear usually hits these pretty hard) is in really nice condition with very minimal bluing loss. A little expected wear on the normal areas of the mags and working areas of the gun. The pistol is all matching; frame, slide, locking block and barrel. The slide has two proof stamps instead of the normal three, meaning it was not final proofed. The front sight post is also not staked. Bore condition is excellent as well. The barrel is an FNH factory Czech type. A lot of small parts are gray phosphate finished. The hammer is not the cog type as found on a lot of these late b block pistols, but is the standard type. This one has a nice set of black plastic grips. One of my b block pistols has a set of Durofol grips and the other b block pistol has a set of dark brown grips.
The holster is the key to this whole thing. I began checking the holster out and found that a name and service number were written under the holster’s flap. This was a little disappointing (at first). I usually try and stay away from “written on” holsters (It’s the ridiculous “purist” in me that I have since slacked off from, but not totally). Oh well, I bought the rig for the gun and mags anyway, so I wasn’t too heart broken about it. It was still a nice holster regardless. I tagged the holster as to which gun it came with and put it up in my holster stash. My advanced collector friends have warned me about being too purist with this stuff.
After a while, I began wondering about the vet’s information on the inside flap of that holster. A few weeks later, I began to look for information on the internet for the veteran written in the holster’s inside flap. No real reason, just my research instincts took over I guess. The written information is as follows:
Willard C Poeth 33516379
The writing is a little hard to read as in some places it’s pretty light. I had to take photos and use good lighting to get it all down correctly. After getting this, I did a quick search on the internet and found that some basic information did exist.
I know a lady that loves to do research on Ancestory.com . Give her some basic information and she can find what you need. She was my neighbor and she knows a little about the military as her father was a veteran and her husband is a Vietnam War veteran. So, she knows what to look for on this stuff. I asked her for help on researching this veteran. She agreed to help me and a few weeks went by and she brought me a huge packet of information.
What she found was that Mr. Poeth had served in WWII, in the 11th Armored Division, 22nd Tank Battalion. The same unit that captured the Walther factory in Zella-Mehlis!
A little quick history here: The 11th Armored Division was also known as “The Thunderbolts”. The 22nd Tank Battalion was activated and 08-15-1942 with the 11th Armored Division. They trained in in the Mojave Desert and ended up in California. In September/1944, they moved to New Jersey where they boarded troop ships to England. December/1944, they landed and moved through France to back up units devastated by the Germans in The Battle of the Bulge. After “The Battle of the Bulge”, they went through many battles to where they finally reached Zella-Mehlis (home of the Walther factory) on 04-05-1945, leaving Zella-Mehlis shortly after where they ended up in Austria. The 90th Infantry Division was also involved, but was probably some 70 to 80 miles behind the 22nd Tank Battalion when they reached Zella-Mehlis. Source: “The 11th Armored Division Legacy Group” and Ron Clarin’s Forum thread “The Walther Factory by Ron Clarin”.
My former neighbor’s information packet on Mr. Poeth contained the following:
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certificate of birth #98985.
Registration Card D.S.S. Form 1, serial #422, order #1870 (Draft Card), dated 11-26-1940, Mifflinburg, (Union Co.) Pennsylvania.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania World War II Veterans Compensation Bureau, Application for World War II Compensation, batch #11468, dated 04-03-1950. Shows dates of foreign service for Mr. Poeth on 09-28-1944 to 11-10-1945.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certificate of death, #092515-65. Back showing for Mr. Poeth:
Branch of Service: Army
Name of War: WWII
Service #33516379
Organization and rank at discharge: Technician 4th grade-Service Co. 22nd Tank Battalion
Date Enlisted: 10-16-1943
Date Discharged: 11-15-1945
Character of Discharge: Honorable
Union County, State of Pennsylvania, Record of burial place of veteran
Lewisburg Cemetery
Dates of Service: 10-16-1943 to 11-15-1945
Organization(s) Service Co. - 22nd Tank Battalion
Rank: T/4
My former neighbor also had an Ancestory.com informal page that showed an admission date of Dec 1944, Mr. Poeth was injured in the line of duty:
Type of injury: casualty, battle
Diagnosis: First location: humerus: shaft (code possibly also means Humerus, upper extremity); Causative Agent: bullet, rifle.
Medical treatment: Fracture, compound, closed, treatment of, with splints or casts.
Type of discharge: Discharged, Sec. II, AR 615-360 (line of duty, Yes)
Mr. Poeth was born in Lewisburg, PA on 06-05-1908. Mr. Poeth was a little older than a lot of the soldiers that went into WWII. Mr. Poeth died in Lewisburg, PA on 09-15-1965 from pancreatic cancer. He married Helen just before WWII began on 04-17-1937 in Gettysburg, PA. They did not have any children. Mr. Poeth showed to be a “laborer” or a truck driver, self employed.
I contacted Tom Whiteman at Legacy Collectibles to see if he had any information on this P.38 ac45 rig that he sold me. Tom explained that the rig came from “a local collector” who got it a few years prior at an Allentown (Pennsylvania) gun show. The collector did not know anything else as to whom he got it from.
I contacted the Lewisburg Cemetery where Mr. and Mrs Poeth are buried. The cemetery caretaker found the grave site, cleaned the headstone, photographed it and emailed it to me. The headstone reads: “T/4 SV. CO. 22, Tank BN. W.W.II”.
Also included in the packet was Mr. Poeth’s family information. I was able to use that to contact Mr. Poeth’s niece on 03-04-2021 by Facebook Messenger. She related that she was very young when her Uncle Willard was alive. She remembered him as “a great Uncle” who did not talk about the War. Her Uncle Willard was called “Pochy” and her Aunt was called “Henny”. She provided me with Mr. Poeth’s obituary and a photo of him sitting on the back of a motorcycle with his brothers. This was the first glimpse of what Mr. Poeth looked like. It’s neat to put a face to someone you have read and studied about.
The obituary provided a lot of information. It states the following:
Member of the Christ Lutheran Church
Member of the American Legion in Lewisburg
Member of the Mifflinburg VFW
Life member of the William Cameron Engine Co. and the Glen Iron Fire Company
He received the Good Conduct Medal,
Distinguished Unit Badge and E.A.M.E. Service Medal with three bronze stars.
Mr. Poeth’s niece had explained to her elderly mother of my contact with her and about the pistol rig that was brought back from the War with Mr. Poeth’s information on it, linking him to the pistol rig. I sent Mr. Poeth’s niece photos of the pistol rig and her Uncle’s written information on the holster. Sadly, on 03-20-2021, I was informed that Mr. Poeth’s niece’s mother had passed away but not before she was told of Mr. Poeth’s historical artifacts that he brought back and history that was coming back to light.
Shortly after Mr. Poeth’s niece’s mother passed, she informed me that they had found a photo album at her mother’s home that has her Uncle’s photos during the War. The photos show him with his unit. One photo shows a truck with the unit markings stenciled on the front bumper. Another photo titled “my iron casket” shows Mr. Poeth standing in front of what looks like a brand new Pershing tank. This unit received a very small, limited number of these Pershing tanks at the very end of the war in Germany. Also, he had some other paper money souvenirs and an SS soldier’s photo.
So, what is here? A set of circumstances that I am convinced show enough probable cause to believe that Mr. Poeth either captured this pistol rig himself or somehow got it from the Walther factory on or about 04-05-1945, bringing it back to the United States after the War. Even though no capture papers exist (that I am aware of) and no first hand account of how the pistol rig came to the United States, I have a pistol rig with a vet’s information who happened to serve with the same unit that captured the Walther factory. The pistol is a known type, by serial number, that was more than likely still in the factory at the time of capture. The mags are also late war and of a type that would have been put with this pistol.
Who would have known that the few seconds Mr. Poeth took to write his information in a holster would revive his history some 76 years later? I’m convinced that if my curiosity hadn’t gotten ahold of me to check the history on the vet who wrote his information in the holster, his history would have simply disappeared before too much longer. They had no children to pass it along to. Another collector could have done the same thing I guess, but would they have? I hope you enjoy the photos and story. The photos will be uploaded shortly. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Special thanks to the following people who helped me with this:
Bobbie Poeth Shreckengast (Mr. Poeth’s niece)
Sharon Krieger (my former neighbor)
Legacy Collectibles’ Tom Whiteman
Jeremy Beaver (Lewisburg Cemetery caretaker)
Ron Clarin (For his P.38 ac45 threads on the p38forum and historical homework on this subject)
