A WILTSHIRE historian has uncovered the fascinating history of a Dilton Marsh war hero following a chance discovery on eBay.
Jake Lovick, from Marlborough, was browsing eBay in April when he typed in the words “Wiltshire Regiment WW1”.
A footlocker among the results sparked his interest. The description simply stated that the box belonged to a Sergeant G. F. Potter of the 2/4th Wiltshire Regiment.
Jake said, “The seller wrote that they had bought the box from Sgt Potter’s descendants and that he had survived the war.
“The seller had struggled to find any further information on Sgt Potter, so I didn’t expect to discover much more myself.”
Footlockers were often used by military personnel to store their belongings. The name is derived from the fact that the boxes are typically placed at the foot of a soldier’s bunk or bed.
Jake, 32, began researching all he could about Sgt Potter once the footlocker arrived. He started with a search on the National Archives Medal Index Roll, which is free to access, then used ancestry sites to piece together more. It emerged that Sgt Potter had links to Dilton Marsh.
Next, Jake tracked down the late soldier’s service record, which painted “an incredible picture not only of his service but the man himself”.
Jake continued, “Amazingly, I discovered that Sgt Potter had seen previous military service during the 1880s, when he joined the army aged 20.
“Even though he came from Dilton Marsh, he travelled to Reading where he joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment. Why he did this instead of heading to Trowbridge or Devizes to join his local regiment isn’t clear.
“He served during the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and actually left the army, having completed his service in 1893. He married his wife Laura shortly after, in Westbury, and they had seven children.
“Incredibly, George Potter signed up for military service again when war broke out in 1914 at Trowbridge – by this time aged 53.
