Colonel Harold E. Potter’s 1938 Full Dress Uniform

[Simon Trew]

Signed photos of former German officers, some of them world-famous figures.  Halder, Geyr, Kreipe, von Rundstedt, Speidel, Blumentritt, von Vietinghoff, Westphal and so on.  Also a couple of more junior officers - Fritz Ziegelmann was Operations Officer for 352nd Infantry Division in Normandy,  and Guenther Pflughaupt (the young W-SS officer) was an important figure in the 'Labor Company' that helped run the camp where the senior officers resided during their post-war captivity.

[Simon Trew]

Following are a few of the original photos taken in February 1946 that show the German generals at work on the Foreign Military Studies program projects.  US members of the group overseeing them are also visible.  The initial meeting between Potter and Halder, shortly before these photos were taken, appears to have been a decisive moment in the project.  The project already existed, but enormous momentum was gained after Halder 'bought in' to the project, legitimising it in the eyes of many of the other captured German generals.  The warmth of the Halder - Potter relationship, and it's importance to the 'Green Books' project (and our general understanding of the war in Europe, North Africa and the Eastern Front) can hardly be exaggerated.

[Simon Trew]

The Images I just mentioned.

[Simon Trew]

These documents relate to the award of the Order of Oranje-Nassau.  Photos of the actual medal appear earlier in this thread.

[Simon Trew]

These are a few of the hundreds (thousands?) of copies of letters sent by Potter during his career, and which are preserved among his papers. They shed new light on the early stages of the FMS program, as you can see.

 

(By the way, apologies for typos and poor grammar that appear in some of my posts. I'm typing these on my phone, which has an infuriating habit of 'auto-correcting' what I write so that what was correct in the first place becomes incorrect. The delights of modern technology.)

[Simon Trew]

Some more material from the Potter archive.  Potter knew some of the former German officers shown here (at Oberursel in early 1946) very well, and his papers include friendly letters from many of them.

[Jamecharles]

Considering the great upgrade made on this post by Simon, I wanna shown you the set of the blue dress uniform updated and well restored in all parts and detials.
Hope you can enjoy.

G. Schiano

 

 

 

 

[Simon Trew]

I posted photos of Potter’s Dutch order of Nassau a while ago. Here are his other awards, plus rank insignia etc.  There is a substantial quantity of paperwork associated with the decorations, plus some photos and press clippings of award ceremonies.

[Simon Trew]

Some more post-war photos of Colonel Potter receiving awards, and at other official occasions.

[Simon Trew]

Not sure why, one failed to load

[Simon Trew]

Potter had his portrait painted twice post-war.  This is the better one (1950).

[Jamecharles]

Amazing he is him in blue dress!!

I love it.

Thanks for sharing

Gs

[4STARCHRIS]

Belgium - Military Cross 1st Class is the medal after the Luxembourg medal. Not the [Montenegro Order of Danilo I). Not to be a know it all, but we can correct it when we do know its wrong. love the grouping. Even jim mountain had it wrong.

 

[Dave]

Wow...this one from "interesting" to "daggone historical" Just amazing!!!

[Simon Trew]

The Potter's and Eisenhowers were friends from the start of the 1920s. After Harold died, Louise (his wife) stayed in touch with Mamie.  Here is a handwritten letter from Mamie, in which she describes Ike's fragile condition on 22 March 1969.  He died 6 days later.  Also photos of invitations and other ephemera relating to the Potters' invitation to attend Dwight Eisenhower's presidential inauguration in 1953.

[Simon Trew]

For much of the war, Colonel Potter served as assistant XO and then XO at The Infantry School, Fort Benning, playing a key role in its gigantic wartime expansion.  With this experience, he (and other staff from Benning) were obvious picks to set up and run the Ground Force Training Centre established at the start of February 1945 in Fontainebleau, France (near Paris).  The Potter archive contains interesting material about this period.  Here is a press clipping and photo describing the return of the GFTC senior staff to the USA in August 1945, plus a 'wiring diagram' showing the School organisation and some information about throughput of students.

[Simon Trew]

More evidence of the Ike - Potter friendship.  Telegram from Ike to HP while the latter was serving with the National Guard in Hawaii.  Ike is arriving in Hawaii on 19 October 1938 and hopes to catch up with Harold.

[Simon Trew]

Unfortunately I'm unsure who HP sent this letter to, but clearly the Esenhowers and Potters did manage to get together in Hawaii. Letter dated 16 Nov 1938.

[Simon Trew]

And another Ike letter with autograph signature.  Content is self-explanatory.

[Simon Trew]

The realities of garrison life in the mid-1920s.  On 2 October 1928, while serving as Adjutant of the 12th Infantry at Fort Howard, Maryland, Captain Potter took on the duties of Regimental Supply Officer.  A few weeks later he receives this rather desperate letter from one of his friends, searching for a disappeared typewriter for which he fears he may be charged.  The Potter archive contains thousands of pieces of paper from his entire career.  Many are about his relationships with some of the most famous military figures of the 20th Century.   Others are about the search for lost typewriters.  The experience of the mid-20th Century US Army officer is summed up in half a dozen banker's boxes full of files.  It's a privilege to read thus remarkable stuff, and I hope a few others are finding it interesting too.

[Simon Trew]

Wow, an Army that explains why its officers get the jobs they are given, when they ask the question.   Forgive my ignorance,  but 'DOL' = ? 

[Simon Trew]

Some of the things a young Army Captain had to know about in the 1920s.  Captain Potter was 'satisfactory' in military law, not examined (perhaps fortunately) in shoe and socks fitting, and sex morality, but got a good score (76) in another exam.  Presumably the subject was so dull that the Captain Henion (signatory) could not be bothered even to specify it?

[Simon Trew]

Potter's commission, 24 Oct 1918, and record of early service August 1917 - July 1920

[Simon Trew]

And as Captain,  27 May 1919

[Simon Trew]

And his entry into the Regular Army in October 1920