Edgard Potier

Dominique Edgard Antoine Potier ( 1903 - 1944) was a Belgian airforce officer during World War II who participated in a combat rescue program known as "Mission Martin" in Belgium & the "Possum Line" in France. Captured and tortured by the Germans, Potier committed suicide on 11th January 1944.

Born 2 November 1903 in Seraing-sur-Meuse, Liege, Potier initially served in the military as an Artillery Second Lieutenant. He married Ida Clementine Martin at Florenville in Luxembourg, and in 1929 the couple had a daughter, Josiane. In 1935 he obtained a degree as an Engineer in Aeronautical Construction at the Free University of Brussels.

World War II service

In May 1940, Potier was Capitaine-Commandant in the Belgian airforce. With the outbreak of World War II, Potier travelled across France, Spain and Portugal and arrived in England in March 1942. At age 39, he was rejected by the RAF as too old for active flying duties. He then joined MI9 and in July 1943 was parachuted into southeast Belgium (Province of Luxembourg) near Suxy, accompanied by a Canadian radio operator Conrad Lafleur. At this time, many allied aircrew, on bombing raids to Germany, were being shot down over the Belgian Ardennes. Potier's mission, known as "Mission Martin" in Belgium and the "Possum Line" in France, was to organise the recovery of these airmen and shelter, feed and provide them with false identity documents, before moving them to safe houses in and around Reims in Northern France. Unlike the Ardennes, this area was suitable for evacuation by air, using Lysander aircraft.

Between August and December 1943, three successful operations took place repatriating eleven airmen and one SOE agent. The organisation also provided for and escorted airmen to the Brittany coast, in November 1943, for rescue by sea; an operation organised by the Jade-Fitzroy network. Possum operated safehouses in Paris, allowing evaders to be passed on to the Comète organisation. The two organisations in many ways supplemented each other's activities. There are no records, but it is estimated some 60-70 airmen had passed through or were being sheltered by Possum.

After returning to England for a period, Potier was parachuted back into France on the 20th December. On the 28th December, Lafleur was transmitting messages to London, when he was surprised by the Germans. He escaped, but it was the start of a sequence of events that eventually lead to the arrest of Potier. Initially he was taken to Fresnes prison in Paris, then returned to Reims, where after being subjected to considerable torture, he committed suicide on the 11th January 1944. As more arrests followed, the organisation around Reims effectively collapsed. Of the 70 network members arrested in the French sector of Possum, some 60 were deported. Less than half returned.

Reburial

Potier's remains were exhumed from Reims and, on 18 September 1950, he was reburied with full military honours in the Brussels-Evère Cemetery.

External links

* [http://www.crdp-reims.fr/memoire/enseigner/memoire_reseaux/menu_reseaux.htm Le réseau d'évasion Possum]
* [http://www.conscript-heroes.com/Art%20Ed%20Potier.html Conscript-heroes.com]