Thomas Potter. Died 12th October 1917
Thomas was born in 1892 in Wokingham to father, Charles and mother Fanny. He was the sixth born and had nine siblings, six brothers and three sisters. By the age of 19, Thomas had become a gardener like his father. His parents lived at Toutley Cottages in King Street, Winnersh, before and during the war.
Thomas married Dora Turner in the summer of 1917.
Click to view
Thomas joined the 6th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment sometime after September 1914 in response to Lord Kitchener’s call to arms in that year. By 1915, the 6th had moved on to France and were heavily involved in the Battle of the Somme. The huge mine which was set off by the British at Casino Point had shattered the Germans and even injured some of the Sixth. The German soldiers surrendered to the Sixth in heavy numbers. By 1917, they had moved onto Ypres for its third encounter and in October, it was the action at Poelcapelle, which was to prove to be Thomas’s last. Local historian, John Chapman describes the day during which Thomas died: ‘At 0610 there was no news of the troops in front and it was decided to push on. It was becoming clear that the first phase had failed and the line at which the Battalion was leapfrog those in front, had not 
been taken. 200 yards from the first forming up position, the leading companies came under heavy machine gun and sniper fire from the Brewery, Meunier House and Beek House. Every movement over the sodden, shell holed, ground was tortuous and slow’. The battle was better known as Passchendaele.
It was unquestionably the worst period of parents’ Charles and Fanny’s lives, from the start of the war to the end, they must have been in a constant state of waiting for news. It is probable that all seven of their sons saw service in the Great War and they lost not only Thomas, but also George and the youngest, Frank, who was only 17.
| Name: | POTTER, THOMAS HENRY |
|---|---|
| Initials: | T H |
| Nationality: | United Kingdom |
| Rank: | Corporal |
| Regiment/Service: | Royal Berkshire Regiment |
| Unit Text: | 6th Bn. |
| Date of Death: | 12/10/1917 |
| Service No: | 15829 |
| Casualty Type: | Commonwealth War Dead |
| Grave/Memorial Reference: | Panel 105 to 106 and 162. |
| Memorial: | TYNE COT MEMORIAL |
Toutley Cottages, King Street, Winnersh, Berkshire