SX10258 Captain James Downing Potter, B Company 2/48 Battalion. Born in 1909 at Riverton, South ...

SX10258 Captain James Downing Potter, B Company 2/48 Battalion. Born in 1909 at Riverton, South Australia (SA), Potter was a member of the Citizens' Military Force from 1929 before transferring to the Second AIF in September 1940, as a Warrant Officer Class 2. He was commissioned lieutenant the following month and promoted to Captain in August 1942. After initial training in SA the 2/48th sailed for the Middle East in November 1940. In April 1941 the battalion entered Tobruk's defences, and remained in the town, helping to hold it for the next eight months, until withdrawn and sent to Palestine and Syria for rest and garrison duties. Potter was mentioned in despatches for 'gallant and distinguished service in the Middle East' between July and October 1941. In July 1942 the battalion returned to North Africa to capture and hold Tel el Eisa, where they participated in two major attacks, on 10 July and in late October, before fighting at El Alamein. The battalion returned to Australia in January 1943, where they trained and reorganised for jungle warfare. On 4 September 1943 the 2/48th and other units of the 9th Division, made an amphibious landing at Red Beach near Lae in New Guinea, and subsequently fought in battles around Lae, Finschhafen and Sattelberg. They returned to Australia in February 1944 and reformed on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland for further training. Potter, who had acted as the battalion's quartermaster between June 1942 and October 1944, was mentioned in despatches again for his exceptional services in the field in New Guinea for maintaining battalion supply lines. He was hospitalised in May 1944 suffering from malaria and general debility and did not accompany the battalion to Borneo in 1945. Potter returned to South Australia where he worked in recruiting, and later at the Adelaide Discharge Depot. He transferred to the regular army after the war, serving in South Australia and the Northern Territory and retired as a major in 1956. Major Potter died in 1998. A suitcase collected by Potter as a souvenir in North Africa is held in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.