| Army Form W.3121 Date of reccommendation 11th AUGUST 1918 For conspicous gallantry and devotion to duty during operations of 8th / 9th August 1918 during the advance on PROYART (East of Corbie). During the attack on the final objective Lieut.R.E.POTTS. MC. met with such heavy machine gun and rifle fire from a strong point in a copse in the sector allocated to his company, it was impossible for him to advance direct without getting heavy casualties. Lieut.POTTS immediately grasped the situation, and displayed great courage and skill in manoevering his company by taking advantage of depressions in the ground and working completely round the strong point thus cutting the garrison off and capturing 4 officers and 50 other ranks with 4 machine guns. Lt.POTTS after overcoming the strong point organised his company and consolidated the newly captured position. Later in the operation, observing an enemy machine gun post in front of the line, immediately organised a party and under heavy machine gun fire attacked and captured the post consisting of 6 men with 1 machine gun. During the whole operation Lieut.POTTS displayed untiring energy and utter disregard for his own personal safety. His example to his men was most inspiring. Awarded Military Cross vide A.I.F. List. E.G. Sinclair Maclagan. MAJOR GENERAL. COMMANDING 4th AUSTRALIAN DIVISION. |
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Military Cross A silver cross with straight arms ending in broad finials decorated with imperial crowns. The Royal cipher is placed at the centre, and the whole medal is suspended from a 38mm wide purple ribbon by a plain silver suspender. The reverse is plain, although since 1938 the date of the award appears on the lower reverse, and it has been said that any awards personally presented by the Monarch are officially named thereon. Private engraving of the reverse is fairly common. Instituted on 31st December 1914, the Military Cross (MC) fulfilled the need for an officer's gallantry award lesser than the VC or the DSO, and was originally awarded to captains, lieutenants and warrant officers of the Army, including the Royal Flying Corps. The eligibility was later extended to equivalent ranks of the Royal Naval Division, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force when performing acts of gallantry on land. In 1931 a warrant extended the award to those of the rank of major. |
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