Dominique Edgard Antoine Potier

 

Belgium (1903 - 12 November 1941)	Escape (13 November 1941 - 25 March 1942)	England (26 March 1942 - 15 July 1943)
Return (16 July 1943 - 11 January 1944)		Aftermath

Belgium (1903 - 12 Nov 1941)

Dominique Edgard Antoine Potier was born in Seraing, Belgium, on the 2^nd November 1903, to Alphonse Joseph Potier & Leopoldine Josephine Damin. He was the second child of four. The family were originally from Florenville, but Alphonse Potier’s job as gendarme meant that he was posted away from the town.

Not much is known about Edgard Potier’s (as he preferred to be known) early life. He attended Cadet School from January 1920 until October 1923, and the Royal Military Academy from December 1923 until July 1928, before joining the 8^thArtillery Regiment. One year later he took an aeronautical observers course. In September 1930, he joined the newly formed Aeronautical Corps, learning to fly a variety of aircraft: Bréguet 19, Fairey Fox, Fairey Firefly and Koolhoven at the aviation school at Wevelghem. In 1935 he gained a degree in aeronautical engineering at the Free University of Bruxelles (ULB).

At the outbreak of the second world war Edgard Potier, now promoted to Captain, the equivalent of a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF, was in charge of 1^st reconnaissance squadron, 1^st group, 3^rd aeronautical regiment, with more than 1100 flying hours to his credit. On 14^th May 1940 his squadron, severely depleted by enemy action, was withdrawn to Tours, France (~500 kms SE of Evère). On 25^thMay, Potier and W/O Albert Colpaert were charged with delivering an urgent message to the Belgian Command in Flanders which was cut off from the south due to the arrival of Germans in Abbeville. In order to avoid the vastly superior German airforce and their anti-aircraft defences, Potier took his aircraft out to sea. Near Calais, a British destroyer, HMS Greyhound, mistaking the Fairy-Fox VI-C for a German aircraft, fired on it, forcing Potier to ditch in the channel. Was this the first incident of “friendly fire”? Fortunately, they were rescued by the Greyhound and taken to Dover [Note, the official report, stated the aircraft ran out of fuel]. The next day a French motor boat returned Potier to Dunkirk (against the flow of the evacuation) and the mission was completed. He rejoined his unit in France. Colpaert remained in England. Potier returned with his unit to occupied Belgium on 20^thAugust 1940, where they were captured by the advancing German army. He was released in Bruxelles on 21^st August, 1940.

Unemployed until 1^st May 1941, he then joined the Ministry of Public Health, in Neufchâteau, and later the Ministry of Agriculture and Supply, for a period of five months. During this period, he established an underground movement initially called the Légion Belge in Florenville (Province of Luxembourg), which was later incorporated into the Armée Secrète. When his employment ended, he returned to Bruxelles. He settled at 132 Avenue des Cerisiers, Woluwé-Saint-Lambert and was enlisted in the Winter Assistance programme in the district of Schaerbeek. In early 1942 he was reported missing.

Top of page

Escape (13 November 1941 - 25 March 1942)

In fact, on 13^th November 1941, Potier had secretly left Belgium, accompanied by Anselme Vernieuwe, a courier with the ZERO organisation, an intelligence network. They crossed into Vichy/Free France at Poligny, on 15^th November. From Poligny, Potier travelled to Lyon (17^th), Montpellier (18^th) and then on to Perpignan (25^th). Between 25^th November 1941 and 14^th February 1942, there was a hiatus. A lot of time was spent travelling between Montpellier, Perpignan, Lyon and Sète. He may have been working in some capacity for ZERO, but this is hypothesis. On 14^th February 1942, Potier left Perpignan for Barcelona, crossing the Franco/Spanish frontier at Port Bou. It is assumed that false papers were obtained from Major de Saule (real name de Schrevel), a Belgian living in France, who was head of the ZERO organisation, or from Jacques Lagrange (a Belgium) at the US consulate in Lyon. From Barcelona he went to Madrid (16th), Mavao (17th) arriving in Lisbon on 19^th February 1942.

On 26^th March 1942, in company with Flight-Lieutenants Guisgand, de Callataÿ, Dankers and Flying-Officer Dechamps, he flew, via Shannon in Eire, to Poole, Dorset, in England.

Top of page

England (26 March 1942 - 15 July 1943)

On 27^th March, the five of them arrived at the Royal Patriotic School (RPVS), in Camberwell, which was the MI19 interrogation centre for foreign nationals arriving from abroad. They were still there on 29^th, when Paul Henry de la Lindi wrote:

…. I had hardly been there an hour, when I saw arriving ….. fellow aviators: Captains Potier, Guisgand, de Callataÿ, Danckers and Lieutenant Dechamps. They had arrived by plane from Lisbon. They all left Belgium before me. Potier told me that he had received a letter from his wife saying that she had met mine. That reassured me….

On the 3^rd April 1942, after his release from the RPVS, Potier volunteered for the Belgian Section of the RAF and on 5^th August joined the 5^th Pilot Advanced Flying Unit. He was posted to RAF College Cranwell for Service Flying Training on 28^th October. He was promoted to Commandant (ie a rank just just below Squadron Leader) on 26^th December, passing out on 14^th April 1943, but:

… in view of his age he cannot be considered for operational flying …

He was just 39 years old. Rather than accept a non-combative role, Potier enlisted in the Belgian Intelligence Service (Sûreté de l'Etat Belge). Captain Airey Neave (MI9) in a letter to Captain Delloye of 7^th May 1943, wrote:

…. I have seen Captain Potier, and thought him very suitable for the kind of work suggested, i.e. Night Landing Operations…. I should be obliged, therefore, if you would ask for his services officially, and I will arrange here for him to be attached to the Air Ministry. I think the best thing is for him to change his name, and be actually incorporated in the R.A.F. for purposes of his employment by us…..

Potier assumed the operational name “Martin”. Little is known of his actual training. Between 3^rd & 5^th June 1943, Potier was instructed by F/O J.A.McCairns (161 Sqn), in landing strip and flair path techniques, probably at RAF Tempsford (~80kms West of Cambridge):

…. this officer proved to be remarkably keen and enthusiastic, and readily grasped the essentials required for a successful operation. Although the period of training was restricted, it was nevertheless highly concentrated. Thus, I have every confidence in the ability of the officer to conduct an operation….

He travelled to Manchester, on 27^th June 1943, for parachute training at R.A.F. Ringway.

Georges d'Oultremont, who followed in Potier's footsteps, wrote about this training in his memoir [note: this is my translation]:

1. Parachuting - this training consisting of two jumps from a tethered barrage balloon and five jumps from an aircraft. Also, recognition of different terrains from an aircraft.
2. Knowledge of codes and cyphers. I learnt two codes, one based on letters, using the poetry of Lamartine's "Le lac" and the other based on numbers. I also learnt how to accurately describe the terrain on which a friendly aircraft could land. To help us we were provided with small copies of all the codes, terrain names and key phrases on flash paper, which could be instantly destroyed on contact with a lighted cigarette.
3. Learning how to rendezvous with a submarine or MTB at night. For several days, we had to row alone in a small boat in the open sea. On the last night, we had to get from an MTB, anchored a few hundred metres at sea, to the shore and back again.
4. Learning the life of a secret agent. We were given a lot of advice. But the funniest was the time when I was dropped off in London one morning, with orders to note the characters following me and to lose them as quickly as possible while walking around the town for 14 hours, before getting to a designated meeting point in the city.
5. Guiding in an airplane to land at night, especially the Lysander, a very small plane, highly mobile, unarmed, in which there could be up to three people. It could land and take off in about 300 metres.

In another letter to Captain Delloye, dated 20^th June 1943, Captain Airey Neave (MI9) wrote:

…. The Air Force Captain has now completed most of his training, and he will also go to Belgium next moon to friends that he has there. He will be accompanied by a French wireless operator …. I shall be shortly calling on you to discuss the question of cover stories….

His wireless operator was, in fact, a French-Canadian named Conrad Lafleur. Lafleur, a private with the Fusiliers Mont-Royal, had been captured during the abortive Dieppe raid of 19^th August 1942. He and two other Canadians escaped and made their way to Spain and arrived in Gibraltar on 30^th September 1942.

Potier’s cover story was to be very similar to his actual life, up to the point of his demobilisation in 1940. Thereafter he was to become an insurance agent. He was introduced to the London representative of an insurance company with two agents in Belgium [it is not clear if this was originally a British or Belgium company]. He was provided with enough information to win the trust of these agents.

Monsieur “A” from Bruxelles:

... if Martin makes contact, he must offer him the best wishes of the company, tell him that we are winning the war, but it foresees the end of business in Belgium. Martin must also send best wishes from the director of a business in London and ask if it’s possible to get a good meal at a particular restaurant in Bruxelles. He must also remind “A” that ‘la perte du Canal Albert est toujours à finir‘ ...

Monsieur “B” from Anvers/Antwerp:

... 100% pro-British. Spent the 1914/18 war in England. If Martin sees him, he must tell him on behalf of the company, that we are winning the war and it is planning its business for afterwards. When Martin meets him, “B” must open one of his famous stone bottles, if the Germans haven’t already drunk the contents ...

Once he had decided which would give him the best cover, he would apply for a job so that his name would be registered in that agent's books and thus be compliant with employment law.

The principal objectives for his operation were:

And one secondary objective:

The operation was allocated a total of 250,000 Belgian francs (~£2000).

On 15^th July, the start of his mission, Potier was made acting Major ARA (Agent de Renseignement et Action de Premiere Catégorie).

In case of emergency, he was told to contact Dr Houssa, Hôpital St Pierre, Bruxelles, who was part of an organisation, that provided shelter and escort to Paris. It is not known if he ever used these services.

Top of page

Belgium & France (15 July 1943 - 11 January 1944)

At 23:00 on 15^th July 1943, Potier and Lafleur, with two other agents, took off from RAF Tempsford in a Halifax aircraft. The aircraft passed over Beachy Head at 23:47 at a height of 5000' (~1700m) and reached the French coast at Pt. Haut Banc ~20 minutes later. The night was clear. Flying in an easterly direction, they passed over Guise and Revin, near Charleville-Mézières, before turning NNE into Belgium aiming for Ciney, where the other two agents were dropped (operation GAGS). The next operation (PROPS) was ~40 kms to the SE in the vicinity of St. Hubert, where a number of packages and containers were released. The last operation (MANNINGTREE) was 35 kms south of St. Hubert. The target was Suxy, to be precise the fields to the north of the road running East of Suxy (49° 46' 30" N / 05° 24' 50" E). The aircraft arrived over the area at 1:36 (16th), flying at a height of 600’ (~200m) and 4 minutes later Potier and Lafleur jumped blind, ie there was no reception party.

Potier landed badly and sprained his ankle. However he knew the area well and they managed to walk the ~6 kms to Chiny to the home of Émile Belva, whom he had known before the war. Belva had been recruited by Potier in early 1941 into what was the Belgian Légion and later the Armée Secrète. They arrived there during the morning and the first question that Potier supposedly asked was "Alors, tu es toujours du bon côté?" (So, are you still on the right side?).

Belva called Dr Dupont of Florenville to treat Potier's injury. They then moved on to Jules Mergen's house, also in Chiny, where Potier was introduced as Monsieur Labranche. Belva and Mergen helped them recover their parachutes and packages, which had been hidden on landing (the parachutes were cleaned and were still hanging in the attic of the Belva's house when the Gestapo started house to house searches. Mrs Belva quickly hid them in a chimney. They were later made into shirts). Potier stayed for about five days but Lafleur remained longer; from there he made his first radio contact with London, confirming their successful arrival. Mergen learnt, sometime later, that a Gestapo agent by the name of Beaumont, claimed knowledge of their arrival the day before it occured.

Potier took advantage of this period of enforced rest to recruit various colleagues, several of them recommended by Joseph Godfrin. They included:

• Louis Quinot, a solicitor from Florenville, became the banker for the organisation; he was entrusted with the organisation's funds (250,000 BFs)
• Jean Lorgé (aka René Lebon) was to act as Lafleur's lookout during radio transmissions. He was also to take charge of airmen picked up in the Ardennes and escort them to safehouses in France
• Pierre Geelen (aka Grand Pierre), a Belgian, who had been working for SOE's Physician/Prosper circuit and was on the run from the Gestapo. London was wary of any association with this compromised SOE circuit, but Potier, aware of Geelen's expertise in landing strip operations, decided to use him

At the start of August 1943, Potier, Lafleur and Geelen moved into the home of Joseph Godfrin, the mayor of Muno and used it as a base for their operations. During this period, Potier spent a few days in Charleroi, possibly to establish a cover story. Note, the address on his death certificate was given as Rue Dourlet 105, B-6000 Charleroi and he was described as a labourer, information probably taken from his ID card. Arthur Dacremont, a member of Godfrin's group, obtained the necessary identity papers, travel papers, ration cards and change of residence permits for their stay in France. Potier also travelled to Paris to visit Suzanne Bastin, whom he had known from Florenville. She was to become his "right-hand" (wo)man in Paris, organising safehouses and escorting and housing evaders herself.

On the 14/15^th August the three left for France. Lafleur and Lorgé went to Paris, possibly to Suzanne Bastin's. Potier went to Fismes, near Reims, to meet Raymond Gallet. This meeting had been arranged by Raymond's brother, Maurice, who was bureau chief in the Ardennes Préfecture at Charleville-Mézières. He was also a member of the Ardennes Resistance Movement and it was probably through this agency that Potier first met him. Maurice gave Raymond one half of a 5 FF note; the other half being held by Potier. Using the name Nollet, Potier introduced himself as a commercial salesman from the Blagny factories at Carignan. The two halves of the 5 FF note matched! Over lunch, Potier outlined his mission, ie to set up an "accommodation centre" for evading airmen, in the Lâon-Soissons-Reims triangle, and their eventual repatriation to Britain by plane. This involved finding safehouses in the area and providing the necessary support to house, feed and clothe the evaders, while finding trustworthy doctors to treat the sick and wounded. Food for the evaders was to be purchased on the black market.

Camille Beuré, a reliable friend of Gallet's from Fismes, was recruited and an R/T set was installed in his place. Beuré was an electrician well able to install and maintain an R/T set. Conrad Lafleur, the R/T operator, transmitted from here and from a house in Reims.

Potier, Gallet and Geelen then toured the region, looking for suitable terrains. Maps were drawn of these sites which were forwarded to England for RAF approval. Each site was given a unique name, e.g. Horloger, Avocat, Pompadour, Theérèse. On 28^th August, London was asked to okay a Lysander operation and two RAF evaders were brought to Fismes (a third had not yet arrived) in anticipation. Lysanders had only basic navigation equipment and relied on moonlight to navigate by. They only flew on clear nights, one week either side of a full moon, in this case 7-21^st September. After waiting two days for the BBC message, it arrived on 13^th September, and the two evaders along with Potier, Gallet, Beuré and Geelen walked to the landing site at Mont de Dhuizel. About 3 kms from their destination, a low flying aircraft was heard. It flew close enough to be recognised as a Lysander, but arriving far too early (London had omitted to specify GMT or Central European Time in their message). Potier signalled (by S-phone?) to the pilot to leave the area for a while. On reaching the site it was found that most of the field had been ploughed, leaving only a strip of grass with haystacks at the end. Notwithstanding these problems, everyone went to their positions and the beacons were lit. As the third evader had not yet arrived and with Geelen's position becoming increasingly dangerous, it was decided to include him in the pickup. The Lysander was on the ground for just 3 minutes. Operation Brasenose was a success, but London did not recommend the site for further Lysander operations (it was used for parachute operations). Later it was found out that signals to the pilot had been picked up by a German direction finding unit and a patrol sent out to intercept them. The next morning, road blocks were set up around the area.

Potier was slowly expanding the range of the Possum network. Through various contacts other centres were set up in Paris (Suzanne Bastin), Reims, Chauny, Vitry-le-François, Charleville, Sedan and Carignan. Cross border routes (Belgium into France) manned by sympathetic border guards were established at Pussemange, Sedan and Carignan, with shelter for six evaders, at each of these crossings. There was also connections between Possum and other groups, e.g. in Paris and Bar-le-Duc.

Another operation was planned for 16-17^th October (operation MAGDALEN) at a different landing strip, Le Champ Sainte Marie (~50 kms NW of Fismes). It failed because the pilot had been given a wrong back-bearing. Another attempt on the 18^th also failed as there was no reception party; it is not known why. The operation was then postponed until the next moon period. As more evaders arrived, the lack of accommodation (ie safe houses) became a problem. Five USAAF evaders, escorted by Potier & Lafleur, were taken to Paris by train. After spending the night at Suzanne Bastin's safehouse, they were handed on to another network (Jade/Fitzroy). On 7-8^th November, operation MAGDALEN was successful; four USAAF evaders were picked up and there was one arrival, Georges d'Oultremont (aka Ormonde), another MI9 agent. However, the pilot, J.A.McCairns, was not satisfied with the landing site procedure and submitted a strongly worded report with the result that Potier was summoned to return to the UK for further training. This happened on 16-17^th November (operation MAGDALEN II), a double Lysander pickup, which also took five evaders. Two more MI9 agents (Lucien Dumais and Ray Labrosse) were landed; they went on to form the very successful Shelburn Line. During Potier's absence, Georges d'Oultremont looked after the Possum network.

Nothing much is known of Potier's time in the UK. He did interview one person who had MI9 potential. It's possible he was instructed in landing site procedures for the Hudson, a bigger aircraft able to hold more personnel. Remember there was a shortage of safehouses to shelter the evaders. It was intended to fly him back to France with two other MI9 agents, Jean de Blommaert (aka Rutland) and Willy Lemaître (aka London) on 15-16^th December, but the operation (UNIVERSITY) was cancelled due to bad weather. They were eventually parachuted in on 20^th (operation BRASENOSE III) at Mont de Dhuizel, Georges d'Oultremont organising the reception committee. The next day, the four of them went to Paris. D'Oultremont and de Blommaert were to be setting up similar networks to Possum and they needed to keep in contact (by boîte postale?). Potier was aware that as his network had expanded, so had the indiscretions increased. He was thinking of moving his base to Amiens as too many people in Fismes and Reims were aware of the organisation. Jean Lorgé, Lafleur's assistant, had become a problem. He was a gossip, drank excessively, owed money and was associating with Germans (he spoke the language). It had been decided to remove him from the organisation.

On 28^th December, Potier met up with Lafleur in Reims. They had a meeting with M. Chauvet, superintendent of police, but nothing is known. At the Bar des Gourmets, they met with Jean Lorgé, who had been summoned from Paris. He was told that he was going to be sent to the UK within a week. Potier gave him 1000 French francs and arranged to meet him again in Paris, on Saturday, 1^st January 1944, or, failing that, Monday. Raymonde Beuré arrived and they had lunch. Lafleur was to be transmitting between 16:00 and 18:00 from his Reims house and Beuré was to be his "vigie" (i.e. his lookout). Before leaving, Potier asked Beuré to rent two rooms at the Hotel Jeanne d'Arc, in the name of M. Duchesne. They all arranged to meet that evening at 18:30 in the Café de la Paix, Place d'Erlon. On arrival at the café, the waitress, Gilberte Rochette, told Potier that the others had gone to the home of Alida Vandendriessche. Here he found out that while Lafleur had been transmitting they were surprised by the Germans. Lafleur shot his way out; Beuré, in the confusion, managed to get away, but had left her handbag behind. Potier ordered the two of them to go into hiding immediately, away from Reims, but assumed it was safe enough for him to spend the night at the hotel. The next morning, the Gestapo arrested him in his hotel room. It appears that he Gestapo on finding Beuré's ID card in her handbag, knew she was not local, so assumed she might be staying at a hotel. They toured the hotels of Reims with Beuré's photo. At the Hotel Jeanne d'Arc, the concierge recognised her and volunteered the information that she was not there but her colleague was. The Gestapo arrested Potier, assuming he was the R/T operator Lafleur. He was taken to Gestapo headquarters in the same road as the hotel (rue Jeanne d'Arc), where he was brought before Gilberte Rochette. She had earlier been arrested and tortured, but did not identify him. Transferred to Fresnes prison in Paris, the Gestapo interrogation centre, Potier was brought face to face with Lorgé, who had been arrested on 31^st December. He had been tortured in an endeavour to extract information, but gave nothing away. Potier was returned to the Robespierre prison in Reims. On ~4^th January, while returning to his cell after more interrogation and torture, Potier threw himself from the internal walkway of the prison. The Gestapo rushed him to the American Memorial Hospital in a vain attempt to keep him alive, but on 11^th January, he died of his injuries. He was buried in the "cimetière du Sud".

On 24^th August 1950, Potier's body was exhumed from the "cimetière du Sud" and transferred to Belgium. On 18^th September 1950, he was finally laid to rest in the "Pelouse d'Honneur des Aviateurs" at the cemetery of Bruxelles-Evère.