Potts, Thomas Christopher Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Thomas Christopher
Surname Potts
Gender M
Age 27
Date of Death 25-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of William Ralph Potts and of Margaret Potts (Nee Caldwell), of Lorneville, Southland, New Zealand.
POTTS TC

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number HK575
Markings AA-O

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Château Voue Communal Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 1-3.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 227
POTTS TC

Location

Row -
Panel 227
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 2
Panel Number 227

Enlistment Information

Service Number 421143
Service Royal New Zealand Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 75 (NZ)
Squadron Motto Ake ake kia kaha (For ever and ever be strong)
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin New Zealand

Other Memorials

Location A142 Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Piller and Marble Tablet
Memorial Text Former site of RAF Mepal. Home to No 75 (New Zealand) Sqn, No 3 Gp, Bomber Command, 1943-1945
Location Village Centre, Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Memorial & Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text A stone memorial, donated by former members of 75 (NZ) Sqn RAF stationed at Mepal between 1943 and 1945
Location St. Andrews Church, Sutton, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour in Wooden Case with brass plaque
Memorial Text Roll of Honour. Plaque, Presented by 75(NZ) Sqn Association - UK Branch in memory of Comrades named in the Roll of Honour
Location St. Marys Church, Feltwell, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Piller and Marble Tablet
Memorial Text A memorial to 75 (NZ) Sqn, RAF. Formed at RAF Feltwell in April 1940 and flew from there until June 1942. The Sqn number was presented to New Zealand becoming 75 Sqn RNZAF in October 1946 until its disbanding in December 2001.
Location Newmarket Racecourse, Newmarket, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Marble Tablet
Memorial Text Remembering No 75 (New Zealand) Sqn, No 3 Gp Bomber Command. RAF Newmarket Heath, November 1942 - June 1943

Miscellaneous Information

Born 11 October 1916.
He attended Southland Boys' High School, Invercargill between 1930 and 1934, where he was Senior Boxing Champion in 1934.
On leaving school he continued his studies at the Training Colleges and Universities in Christchurch and then in Dunedin, partly completing his Bachelor of Arts Degree. He was working as a school teacher prior to enslisting on 14 July 1940.
He enlisted at the Initial Training Wing, Levin on 8 February 1942 and proceeded to Rotorua on the 22nd of the month to complete his Ground Training Course prior to commencing his flying training at No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School, Taieri on 3 March. On 11 June he was remustered to Air Observer and reposted to Rotorua prior to embarking on 20 July for Canada to continue his training under the Empire Air Training Scheme. He arrived at No. 5 M Depot, Lachine, Quebec on 19 August and on the 31st of the month proceeded to No. 10 Air Observer School, Chatham, New Brunswick, then on 23 January 1943 to No. 31 Bombing & Gunnery School, Picton, Ontario. His next posting was to No. 33 Air Navigators School, Mount Hope, Ontario, and while at this Unit, on 25 June he was remustered as Air Bomber, awarded the Air Bomber badge and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He was further promoted to Flight Sergeant on 25 December while serving in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile he had proceeded on 7 July to No. 1 Y Depot, Halifax, Nova Scotia, for embarkation to the United Kingdom. On arrivel on 23 July, Flight Sergeant Potts remained attached to No. 12 Personnel Despatch and Reception Centre, Brighton until his posting on the 31 August to No. 4 (O) Advanced Flying Unit, West Freugh, Wigtownshire, then on 12 October to No. 84 Operational Training Unit, Desborough, Northamptonshire, for crewing up and training on Wellington aircraft. On 12 March 1944 he converted to Stirling aircraft at No. 1651 Conversion Unit, Wratting Common, Cambridge, prior to being posted on 30 April to No. 75 (N.Z.) Squadron, Mepal, Cambridgeshire, where as Air Bomber of Lancaster aircraft he commenced operational flying. From this base he carried out 26 operational flights, the targets including Duisberg, Kiel, Stuttgart, and Aachen in Germany, Courtrai, Louvain, Le Mans, Boulogne, Quistreham, Lisieux, Faureges, Dreux, Nantes, Le Havre, Valenciennes, St. Omar, Argenbiller, Rimeux, Villers Bocage, Beauvoir, Pas de Calais, Paris (2), Linzeaux, and Chalons Sur Marne in France.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/647/14
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/647/14

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Name Outcome
Booth C (Sgt) Died
Cunningham G (Sgt) Died
Lowe W (F/O) Died
McRae J K (F/O) Died
Patten F H (Sgt) Died
Roffey D A T (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-07-1944
End Date 25-07-1944
Takeoff Station Mepal
Day/Night Raid Night (20% moon)
Operation Stuttgart. 461 Lancasters and 153 Halifaxes. 17 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lost (4.6% in all). The first of three large raids on the city in a five-night window. The central districts were devastated despite being in valleys. Most of the municipal and cultural buildings were destroyed.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed, probably between Burlioncourt and Château Voue, France
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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.