Colonel Harold E. Potter’s 1938 Full Dress Uniform

[Simon Trew]

I posted photos of the better portrait of Colonel Potter yesterday. What I think is the poorer one (and in poorer condition) is this one. It was done in 1947, three years before the other one. Also shown is a portrait of Louise (Harris), Harold's wife, painted at the same time.

[Simon Trew]

One of the most interesting and important items in the Potter archive is this original typewritten copy of Franz Halder's 'Hitler and the German Soldier', with frequent (if generally minor) handwritten amendments (by an unidentified hand).  At around 200 pages, it is a substantial work, covering both the pre-war period and events up to 1945.  There are many hand-drawn maps.  Two English-language versions (one typewritten, the other a carbon copy) were donated to Johns Hopkins University library a year or two after the Colonel's death by Louise.  If there are other German-language typewritten versions, I am yet to track them down.  The fact that Halder sent the manuscript to Potter (while he was on vacation in Puerto Rico - the envelope chased him back home to Aldie, Virginia) is further evidence of the closeness of the personal relationship between Halder and Potter.  The latter played some role in getting Halder's work published and Halder was grateful.  The manuscript shown in these photos, written by one of the 20th Century's most important and controversial figures, is of considerable historical significance, I think.

[Simon Trew]

I have mostly finished the research necessary to produce a draft catalogue of Colonel Potter's papers and other material relating to his military career, 1917-1951.  Here are some more photos of him from throughout that period.  Apologies if I inadvertently repeat a few photos already included in this thread.

[Simon Trew]

NB. I no longer think the envelope and the German-language copy of Halder's 'Hitler und der Deutsche Soldat' (see images above) are directly connected.  The manuscript seems to have been placed in this envelope on some unknown date, but according to a covet letter dated 8 January 1951 (provided to me by Johns Hopkins University Library, to which two English-language translations of the manuscript were donated in 1969), the German-language original was given to Potter (or, more accurately, his wife, as Potter himself was in hospital) on the evening of 8 January 1951.  I believe it was in the Potter Collection ever since then.  The envelope, which contains a deleted address in Puerto Rico (where the Potter's vacationed), as well as the Potter's home address in Aldie, Virginia, and a postmark from February 1966, probably was used to send an entirely different item.  So really, the photos above should not include the envelope alongside the manuscript.