Charlie and "The Monster"

[John Hodgin]

Exactly one year ago, on August 27, 2019 the collecting community lost one of the great members of our hobby. Charlie Hinz was one of the earliest of WWII collectors, beginning collecting in the early 1950s. Many reading this knew Charlie, but far more will not have known him. This is regrettable because Charlie exhibited everything positive about collecting. Charlie was an extremely wise, intelligent, and dedicated collector with a deep appreciation of military history. More than this, he was a great person; kind, generous, and modest. He was a wonderful husband to Felisa and father to Heidi and Karl. It was a great privilege to call Charlie a friend and a greater blessing to have him as a mentor.

A WAF member and mutual friend christened the collection closet the monster, the name stuck with all of us. Another WAF member and friend took this photo, please study it and see why it is appropriate here. You are deeply missed Charlie!

[Lenny W]

Exactly one year ago, on August 27, 2019 the collecting community lost one of the great members of our hobby. Charlie Hinz was one of the earliest of WWII collectors, beginning collecting in the early 1950s. Many reading this knew Charlie, but far more will not have known him. This is regrettable because Charlie exhibited everything positive about collecting. Charlie was an extremely wise, intelligent, and dedicated collector with a deep appreciation of military history. More than this, he was a great person; kind, generous, and modest. He was a wonderful husband to Felisa and father to Heidi and Karl. It was a great privilege to call Charlie a friend and a greater blessing to have him as a mentor.

A WAF member and mutual friend christened the collection closet the monster, the name stuck with all of us. Another WAF member and friend took this photo, please study it and see why it is appropriate here. You are deeply missed Charlie!

Great story John

[John Hodgin]

Thanks Lenny, there are quite a few hats and caps in the "Monster" (and the photo only shows a small portion of it) which you would be interested in. A bit more about Charlie:

Charlie was born in Panama on January 17, 1931. A life long citizen of Panama, many may not have known or heard of Charlie. As a young boy, Charlie followed the news of WWII with great interest, including U-Boat activity off Panama’s Atlantic coast and especially the war in the desert. It was during the war when Charlie’s life long interest in the German Afrika Korps began. Charlie began collecting soon after the war ended. Being a young collector while living in Panama was no easy feat. Charlie often described himself as, “out of the loop.” The internet has been around long enough that we now take it for granted. The internet has made collecting instant and easy. However Charlie built an incredible collection using “snail mail” and personal contacts.
Charlie and I became friends in the early 1990s, although his reputation preceded our introduction by several years. Collector/dealer “Buffalo Bob” Sevier mentioned Charlie while visiting my home, “There is a collector in Panama you need to meet! His Fallschirmjäger collection is incredible and Fj isn’t even his main interest.” It was difficult to imagine what kind of collector had step in smocks, side lace jump boots, and splinter helmet covers, yet his collecting focus was the Afrika Korps! Having a newborn son, and being self employed, kept me so busy that I neglected to follow up on Bob’s suggestion at that time.

[eubank]

Fascinating stuff John. Thanks for sharing this. I note there are a couple of very nice camo helmets that belonged to Charlie in your book.

[SMP]

Nice tribute, John.

I suspect your "Monster" is every bit as big !

[John Hodgin]

Fascinating stuff John. Thanks for sharing this. I note there are a couple of very nice camo helmets that belonged to Charlie in your book.

You can just see one of them in the "Monster" photo. Steve, my meager collection is not even close.

Please take a look at the monster photo and tell me what you can see.

[John Hodgin]

More about Charlie: A few years after my discussion with "Buffalo Bob" I was visiting Ed Hicks (Warpath Militaria) and General Ken Bowra (now retired). Ken was then Commander of Special Forces Southern Command in Panama; Ken was back at Ft. Bragg for a few days “on business.“ We were hanging out, talking militaria, when Ken said, “There is a collector in Panama you need to meet! I’ll send you his contact info.” This had to be the same collector that Bob mentioned, and having been told this twice, it was time to follow up. Ken’s introduction initiated an exchange of letters, photos, and audio tapes between Charlie and myself. Months later Charlie was waiting for me as I arrived at Tocumen International Airport with a small suitcase, a bag of cameras and lenses, and two cases filled with lights, lights stands and a tripod. When the customs official asked if I was there for commercial business, my reply was, “no sir, just visiting friends.” Many times I wished I had a photo of the look on his face! During the ride from the airport to Charlie’s office at the Panama Canal Charlie and I talked of life in Panama, Charlie’s long career at the Canal, and Panama’s rich history.

For days Charlie, Ken, and I studied Charlie’s collection. The vastness of Charlie’s collection is too great to discuss in detail, but the size, rareness, and quality was simply overwhelming. Charlie’s first collecting purchase does merit mentioning. As a beginning collector Charlie purchased a DAK Panzer tropical billed field cap (M40 cap) from a US dealer’s ad in Shotgun News. The purchase was sight unseen of course and Charlie eagerly awaited the cap’s arrival. When the package finally arrived in Panama Charlie found inside an extremely faded, almost white, M40 cap with a Panzer soutache. The cap cost less than $20. This cap remained Charlie’s favorite piece from his collection throughout all his years of collecting.

Here is a photo of Charlie at his office at the Canal.

[eubank]

You can just see one of them in the "Monster" photo. Steve, my meager collection is not even close.

Please take a look at the monster photo and tell me what you can see.

So it is , may even be both on that top shelf. Looks to be a few in green smocks in there too , ss pea dot smock maybe. A real Aladdin’s cave !

[pauke]

To add a little to what's been said about Charlie, his father was in the Coastal Artillery (US Army) during WW 1 and ended up assigned to Panama. His mother Hilda was from Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles and she was an absolute hoot of a comedian. Charlie served in the US Army and afterwards spent his very long career as an engineer on the Panama Canal. After the US turned over control of the canal he was asked by the Panamanian government to stay on as an experienced engineer which he did. In the 1950's he made a big trip to Germany and by putting "wanted" ads for militaria managed to visit people and obtain quite a bit of stuff, including a general's parade tunic from the general's family. One day years later he received a small package in the mail and upon opening it there was a Ritterkreuz. He had been corresponding with a LW pilot RKT and he surprised him with the gift and a note saying it was his extra RK. When he left Africa he somehow lost his awarded piece (found it later in his luggage) and got the second one as a replacement. Nice gift!

[John Hodgin]

To add a little to what's been said about Charlie, his father was in the Coastal Artillery (US Army) during WW 1 and ended up assigned to Panama. His mother Hilda was from Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles and she was an absolute hoot of a comedian. Charlie served in the US Army and afterwards spent his very long career as an engineer on the Panama Canal. After the US turned over control of the canal he was asked by the Panamanian government to stay on as an experienced engineer which he did. In the 1950's he made a big trip to Germany and by putting "wanted" ads for militaria managed to visit people and obtain quite a bit of stuff, including a general's parade tunic from the general's family. One day years later he received a small package in the mail and upon opening it there was a Ritterkreuz. He had been corresponding with a LW pilot RKT and he surprised him with the gift and a note saying it was his extra RK. When he left Africa he somehow lost his awarded piece (found it later in his luggage) and got the second one as a replacement. Nice gift!

Thanks for good personal information! Hilda was a wonderful lady! And Charlie's father won the Silver Star in the First World War. Actually, the RK came from Luftwaffe Flak Hauptmann Walter Fromm who was a life long friend of Charlie's, they exchanged letters until Fromm's passing.

Hauptmann Fromm in Africa, Flak Rgt. 33, wearing the RK he sent to Charlie.

[John Hodgin]

Shortly after my first visit to see Charlie and Felisa I received a letter from Charlie offering me one of his many Sumpf jump smocks. This really surprised me for Charlie was actively adding to his collection back then, not selling anything. Naturally I jumped at the chance and I still have the smock. Everything Charlie passed on to me has taken on a significance greater than it's WWII history, a deeper meaning because it once resided in Charlie's care for so long.

[John Hodgin]

There are at least seven Splinter jump smocks behind Charlie and one green M38 with original period special rank. The many Sumpf smocks are not even visible as far as I can tell, probably hidden behind the door on the right. Also missing is the Sumpf he sold to me a decade earlier and incredibly important smock that Charlie sent my way a few years after the Sumpf.

[John Hodgin]

A photo of Charlie taken out on the Canal, actually working, checking on the construction being done. This was a special day as Charlie took me all over the locks on the Pacific side of the Canal.

[TONY GANZ]

First met Charlie when assigned to the Marine Barracks there. George Petersen gave me his name. We would meet every few weeks to have something to eat with our families in town.I have a photo of Charlie, Bob Sevier and I in the bottom of one of the locks being overhauled. A great time and fantastic gentleman.

[HAF]

There are at least seven Splinter jump smocks behind Charlie and one green M38 with original period special rank. The many Sumpf smocks are not even visible as far as I can tell, probably hidden behind the door on the right. Also missing is the Sumpf he sold to me a decade earlier and incredibly important smock that Charlie sent my way a few years after the Sumpf.

I have a question ,was hes collection only like that,all stuff in plastic bags ? or he has some realistic display too ?