Fred Potts

For the English footballer, see Fred Potts (footballer).

Frederick William Owen Potts
File:Frederick William Owen Potts.jpg
Born	18 December 1892 Reading, Berkshire, England
Died	2 November 1943 (aged 50) Reading, Berkshire, England
Buried	Reading Crematorium
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lance-Corporal
Unit	1/1st Berkshire Yeomanry
Battles/wars	World War I - Battle of Gallipoli
Awards	Victoria Cross

File:VCFrederickWilliamOwenPottsMedals.jpg

Potts' medal collection at Imperial War Museum.

Frederick William Owen Potts, VC, (18 December 1892 – 2 November 1943), more commonly known as Trooper Fred Potts, was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British]] and Commonwealth forces.

Life and career

Potts was born on 18 December 1892, and first came to public notice in 1913, when he saved a five-year-old boy named Charles Rex from drowning in the River Thames. By 1915, he was 22 years old, and a private in the 1/1st Berkshire Yeomanry of the British Army. During the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 21 August 1915 in the attack on Hill 70, Potts (although wounded in the thigh) remained for over 48 hours under the Turkish trenches with another private from his regiment who was severely wounded, and unable to move. He finally fixed a shovel to the equipment of his wounded comrade and using this as a sledge, dragged the man back over 600 yards to safety, being under fire all the way. He became known as The Hero with the Shovel. He was feted his return from Gallipoli, the press articles of the time can be seen here. In 1967 The Victor children's magazine told the story very graphically on the front and back covers, this has been used by the Memorial Trust to explain the story at local schools it can be seen here. The Berkshire Yeomanry Museum explains the story here.

Potts was born and raised on Edgehill Street in the Katesgrove area of Reading. After the war, during which he eventually achieved the rank of lance-corporal, he kept a tailor's shop on the parallel Alpine Street. He was a Mason and in 1934 was Master of the Aldermaston Lodge. More about his later life can be found here. Potts died on 2 November 1943 at the age of 50. His grave is at Reading Crematorium, whilst his medals are held by the Imperial War Museum.

The man he saved at Gallipoli was a fellow Trooper of the Berkshire Yeomanry called Arthur Andrews who also came from Reading. Andrews lived until 1980, when he died at the age of 89. Charles Rex also survived until he was 87. In 2009, as the result of the production of a BBC radio documentary on Potts, a reunion occurred between the relatives of the two men at the Imperial War Museum. More about Arthur Andrews can be found here.

Memorial in Reading

During Prime Minister's Questions on 20 January 2010, Martin Salter, Member of Parliament for Reading West, indicated that there were plans to provide a permanent memorial to Trooper Potts. It was announced in May 2014 that the memorial would be sited just outside Forbury Gardens, on the open paved area opposite the Crown Court / The Forbury Hotel.

The Trooper Potts VC Memorial Trust was established to raise the necessary funds to build the memorial in 2010 gaining charitable status in 2012. Its Patrons are The Hon Mrs Bayliss CVO JP (former Lord-Lieutenant of Berkshire), Chris Tarrant, the TV presenter who lives in the Reading area, and Michael Naxton, Curator of Lord Ashcroft's VC Collection. Haslams Estate Agents, a company which had been established in Reading in the late 1800's, became the Major Sponsor of the Trust in 2013.

Liverpool Sculptor Tom Murphy was selected in 2012 to develop the design for the memorial, his proposal which depicted the rescue on the battlefield in Gallipoli, was approved in 2012. It was also decided to include a Roll of Honour to the men of The Berkshire Yeomanry who gave their lives in the wars of the 20th Century, research by the Yeomanry Museum at Windsor over a two year period established some 426 names should be included. Information Boards explain about; The Berkshire Yeomanry, Gallipoli, The Victoria Cross, the attack on Scimitar Hill (Hill 70) and this VC.

The Trust raised the £150,000 to cover the cost of the memorial at two fundraising Charity Balls (November 2013+2014), through a range of public fundraising events and from three major commercial donors. Many businesses from the Reading area donated as did descendants of both men. Grant bodies included; The Earley Charity, The Englefield Trust, The Greenham Common Trust & The Berkshire Masonic Charity.

Trooper Potts was commemorated in September 2013 in the name of a new road, Trooper Potts Way, created during construction of the Reading Station North Entrance. It was unveiled on 5 April 2014.

The Government's Commemorative VC Paving Stone was set in the eastern corner of the 1920s War Memorial. It was unveiled in a small ceremony by Trooper Potts' Granddaughter - Anne Ames - at 5pm on 21 August 2015, the exact centenary of the Berkshire Yeomanry's attack on Scimitar Hill.

Tom Murphy was commissioned to produce the life size clay maquette in November 2014 and his final design was approved in March 2015. The Morris Singer Foundry , whose other recent work also includes the sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi, Joan Littlewood, the Mind's Eye Tree for Shakespears New Place and the Help for Heroes sculpture, produced the sculpture in Bronze and it was installed on 2 October 2015. The Roll of Honour panels were designed and cast in bronze by Photocast Products of Liverpool and installed in September 2015. It lists the names of the 426 men of the Berkshire Yeomanry, by War and then by Rank and then alphabetically.

The plinths for the memorials have a core of brick / blockwork and are clad in Portland Stone A F Jones Stonemasons. The carvings of The Victoria Cross and the Berkshire Yeomanry Cap badge were completed by Jonathan Rayfield, design & implementation by Angus Jones and Roy Champion.

The memorials were unveiled on 4 October 2015 by Chris Tarrant and the Lord-Lieutenant of Berkshire, Mr J Puxley.

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal (Berkshire)