SUPERIOR HARDCOVER COPY xvii, 318 p. ; ill., maps, ports. ; 22 cm. #131221
Brigadier Arnold Potts was in command of the Australian brigade which fought the Japanese on the Kokoda Trail. This was the high point of his career and is the main focus of this biography of Brigadier Potts.
Potts, Arnold. | Australia. Army — Officers — Biography. | World War, 1939-1945 — Campaigns — New Guinea. | World War, 1939-1945 — Participation, Australian. | Kokoda Trail (Papua New Guinea)
Army Military History
Army military history series: Biographies
Australian Army history collection
Brigadier Arnold William Potts, DSO, OBE, MC (16 September 1896 – 1 January 1968) was an Australian grazier and army officer who served in the First World War and led the 21st Brigade of the Second Australian Imperial Force during its defence of the Kokoda Trail during the Second World War. He had a distinguished career, however, his place in history has largely been unacknowledged due to his dismissal by General Sir Thomas Blamey, at the very point when Potts had fought the Japanese to exhaustion. His fighting withdrawal over the Kokoda Trail has been called “one of the most critical triumphs in Australian military history and one that an apathetic nation has still to honour”.[2] Many contemporaries as well as Potts’ official biographer regard this sacking as one of the most disgraceful actions of Blamey’s military career. Following his dismissal, Potts went on to command the 23rd Brigade during the Bougainville campaign where he earned a reputation for setting high standards. He retired from the military following the end of the war and unsuccessfully pursued a career in politics. He died in 1968, aged 71.
Army military history series. Biographies.