AT A Wargrave Local History Society meeting three members of the Trooper Potts VC Memorial Trust explained why Fred Potts VC from Reading, became known as The Hero with the Shovel for his deeds on the battlefield of Gallipoli in August 1915.
Speakers Richard Bennett, Brig Tony Verey, and Capt Andrew French began by tracing the history of the Berkshire Yeomanry.
Formed in 1794 as a home defence cavalry regiment, to qualify men had to turn up with their own horse.
A century later the regiment had its first overseas posting, fighting against the Boer commandos in South Africa.
In 1914, the Berkshires were mobilised in Reading for service in the First World War, and in April 1915 embarked at Avonmouth for duty in Egypt.
There, soldiers described conditions of 100 degrees fahrenheit in the shade in letters home.
In August 1915 they crossed the Mediterranean, planning to open the Dardanelles to Allied shipping, and force the Turks to surrender.
But forced to back off by mines and other hazards, they missed the intended landing place, and faced fire from the Turks.
They landed at Sulva Beach in Gallipoli, on the northern side of the Dardanelles on August 18th, intending to capture Chocolate Hill, named by troops for its dark brown earth.
In a steady uphill attack The Berkshire Yeomanry took the lead for the Battle of Scimitar Hill, moving forward with bayonets ready.
But unable to maintain position, they moved back to a trench behind the front line.
A high price was paid in the battle with half of the force killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
‘Many brave fellows fell all around. Worst, nearly all my pals are gone,’ one soldier wrote.
Among the wounded was Reading born (1892) Frederick Potts, whose family lived in the Katesgrove area of the town.
He had a damaged thigh, while his friend Arthur Andrews suffered a serious hip injury.
Despite his own injuries, Fred attempted to drag Arthur back to safety, exposing himself as he did to Turkish gunfire.
The friends had run out of water, too, but Fred found water bottles and a shovel, which he used as a sort of sledge, to pull Arther to relative safety.
Fred Potts was awarded the Victoria Cross for ‘most conspicuous bravery and devotion to a wounded colleague in the Gallipoli Peninsula’.
Severely wounded himself, he had remained with his friend, when he could have returned to safety, and became known as ‘the hero with a shovel’.
His story was largely forgotten until a radio documentary in 2009 led to the formation of a trust to create a memorial for him, and other members of the Berkshire Yeomanry.
The Trooper Potts VC Charitable Trust unveiled its centenary memorial bronze outside Reading’s Forbury Gardens 100 years to the day the Victoria Cross had been awarded, supported by the Mayor of Reading, the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, television presenter Chris Tarrant, Michael Naxton (curator of Lord Ashcroft’s Victoria Cross collection) and Haslam’s Reading estate agents.
The Trust’s programme to schools and young people’s organisations, has also inspired creative writing and drawings, and enabled youngsters to enact a ‘shovel race’ in Fred’s memory.
For information visit: pottsvctrust.org and: wargravehistory.org.uk
