POTTER, Francis James
| Service Number: | WX10094 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ardath, Western Australia, 27 August 1914 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 27 February 1977, aged 62 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 13 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10094 | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Aug 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10094 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Francis James Potter's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Francis (Frank) was born in 1914 in Ardath WA (reg. 1891). His parents - James George Henry POTTER and Mary Ann DELAKON[N]Y, nee CHELLIN, formerly RAINFORTH - did not marry until 1916 (Perth, reg. 100659). Mary died in 1939, aged 61, and James in 1950, aged 65.
Frank had a younger brother, Alfred George, who also served in WWII. They had six half-siblings from their mother Mary's previous relationships and four half-siblings from their father James's subsequent marriage to Evelyn May LAWRENCE, nee PRYOR (known as May), in 1942 (Perth, reg. 103094).
Frank married Jane Forsyth PARKER, known as Jean, in 1937 in Perth (reg. 1761). He enlisted in Dec 1940.
Frank's battalion was captured at El Alamein in Jul 1942. He was a POW on board the Italian transport ship Nino Bixio when it was torpedoed by a British submarine in the Mediterranean on 17 Aug 1942. The Nino Bixio was transporting Allied POWs from Libya to Italy. Frank was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
He died in Perth in 1977 aged 62.