Eric Knowles was one of the small group of wargamers who were active in the later 1950s and early 1960s. He was an extensive collector and painter of figures etc., and took part in the famous 1965 refight of the Battle of Waterloo ...
... where he took on the role of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton.
When he took early retirement from the newspaper industry, he bought Wall Models Ltd., in East Ham, London, and renamed it New Model Army. It then became the focal meeting point for a large number of wargamers – including me – and its basement became the venue for the battles fought as part of the famous Madasahatta Campaign.
Eventually, Eric sold his shop and moved – with his wife Ivy – to Lincolnshire. He remained very active and continued to wargame until he died in 2017.
I have added a video about Eric to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel. It is my tribute to him and everything he gave to the hobby of wargaming.
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It's always interesting to explore how wargaming was "done" many decades ago.
ReplyDeletePhil Dutré,
DeleteWhen one looks back, wargaming back in the 1960s and 1970s had a certain charming naivety ... which is probably why so-called 'old school' wargaming is so attractive to so many wargamers these days. Back then, there were only a few figure manufacturers and the hobby was a lot less commercialised than it is now. Furthermore, wargamers in the UK seemed to either personally know or know of each other, often through the pages of magazines like THE WARGAMER'S NEWS:LETTER.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteNever met Eric, but his name is familiar. I didn't become interested in wargaming until 1969, but I do remember reading about the 1965 refight of Waterloo in Wargamers Newsletter in the early 1970s,
I recall there was something of a "falling out" between the London based wargamers and Don Featherstone's Southampton based group. I assume that Eric was a member of the former.
Notice that he died in 2017, what prompted this belated tribute?
regards
Paul
Paul Leniston (Paul),
DeleteI had wanted to go to the 1965 refight but missed it as I had to work on the day in the local branch of Sainsburys.
Historically, there was a degree on antipathy between some of the London-based wargamers and those in Southampton, mainly due to a clash of personalities. As far as I know, Eric ploughed his own path and kept out of it.
It was buying the model of the Fuso that sort of triggered my decision to produce a video about Eric. The original model I had used was part of his collection and I realised that he was one of the less well-known early British wargamers and that it was about time that he got wider recognition, hence the video.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
DeleteWhat a shame you had to miss the Waterloo refight, it would have been a great experience. When I read about it some years later it was remembered as a real landmark in the hobby. Such simple times, when the monthly Wargamers Newsletter arriving in the post was a much anticipated treat. Long before the days of glossy magazines such as Wargames Illustrated.
Simple, buy happy, times
regards
Paul
Paul Leniston (Paul),
DeleteI suspect that had I seen the refight, I would have been converted to Napoleonics a lot earlier than I was!
In some ways, the glossy magazine have done much for the hobby ... but they have lost that intimacy that the earlier ones - such as THE WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER and MINIATURE WARFARE - had. Back then, the feeling of being part of a community seemed stronger whereas nowadays that seems to have dissipated.
All the best,
Bob
Interesting video and a good tribute to Eric.
ReplyDeleteI have Eric's WW2 French, French Colonial, German and Belgian 1940s armies bought through David Crooks a while back.
I still need to sort through them and work out what I actually need - you really don't need a division of German Paratroopers for Rapid Fire!
I have a complete box of "interesting" Belgian armour some of which bears no resemblance to any tank I can find...
Eric obviously made good use of Roco cold War tanks as he has 5 Roco German 1970s tanks painted up in Pamzer Grey to use as "light tanks" for his Paratrooper division.
I hope to get to some of the collection soon and get it on the table to fight with my own WW2 1940 Brits.
Mike Lewis,
DeleteI am glad that part of Eric's collection has gone to such a great new home.
I did not realise that he had a complete division of Fallschirmjagers but it doesn't surprise me. As to his use of ROCO 1097s vehicles to portray early light tanks ... well, that is very typical of Eric! (The Belgian tanks are - I think - supposed to be T-13 Tank Destroyers/Light Tanks and T-15 Light Tanks. Personally, I would have built mine on Airfix Bren Gun chassis rather than ROCO Hotchkiss SPz 11-2 chassis.)
I look forward to reading your battle reports in due course.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks Bob.
ReplyDeleteIndependentwargamesgroup,
DeleteYou're welcome! I hope that you enjoyed it.
All the best,
Bob
Always find it most interesting to read and see how the forefathers of our hobby did things back in the day, very nice post Bob.
ReplyDeleteDonnie McGibbon,
DeleteCheers! Eric was a real character and sitting down to create this video brought back so many happy memories.
All the best,
Bob
That's a great video, Bob, thanks very much! I am another who has bought some of Eric's figures ( 7YW period, and now some WW2) through David Crook's good offices, and I am very pleased indeed to have them, they have re-started my involvement in the hobby!
ReplyDeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteIts good to know that so much of Eric's collection has gone to good homes where they will be used. He would have loved that. I know that an American collector bought Donald Featherstone's collection, but I get the impression that they now sit in display cases.
All the best,
Bob
Great video Bob, thanks for sharing your memories of Eric Knowles. Speaking for myself, I'd be interested in more of the same.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteCheers! It was a very enjoyable video to create and brought back loads of very happy memories.
All the best,
Bob
A unique and personal tribute. Your fondness for Eric comes a cross clearly. Great to have such memories.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteCheers! Eric was very much a one-off and deserves to be better known in the world of wargaming than he is.
All the best,
Bob