Victoria Cross Comes Home to Reading

Reading Museum announce that Trooper Fred Potts’ Victoria Cross medal will be on display as part of its forthcoming “Reading at War” exhibition on view 5 April – 14 September 2014.

The medal has been on loan to Lord Ashcroft VC’s collection at the Imperial War Museum. Its owner – a descendant of Trooper Potts – has now agreed to relocate it to Reading in time for the exhibition’s opening in April. All thanks to arrangements made between Reading Museum and Imperial War Museum to support a temporary loan.

Marking the centenary of the First World War’s outbreak, ‘Reading at War’ will be a focal point for our town to explore how war throughout history has shaped Reading’s character.

One of the items featured will be the story of Fred Potts VC and Trooper Arthur Andrews, both of whom hailed from Reading and lived in Reading for most their lives. They were both shot in Gallipoli, Turkey, when advancing on Turkish lines, Scimitar Hill – Hill 70, at 18:15hrs on August 21st 1915.

This advance was the largest single-day attack ever mounted by the Allies at Gallipoli, involving three divisions. Over a period of 48 hours a severely injured Arthur was tended to by Fred, who was also wounded. Eventually Fred found a shovel, tied Arthur to it and dragged him back to the British lines – just 600 yards – reaching the lines of the 6th Regiment Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 31st Infantry Brigade at 21:30hrs on August 23rd.

Fred was awarded the VC for his deed. It was the first VC awarded to a man from the Yeomanry in the war.

The exhibition draws extensively from the Museum’s collections of artefacts and images to explore the impact of war though the ages. Earlier conflicts represented include the 9th century Viking raids and the English Civil War siege of 1643. The more recent account of the Second World War will focus on the devastating air raid on Reading town centre in 1943, in which 41 people lost their lives.

Displays will highlight the impact of the First World War when thousands of local men and boys joined the armed forces, leaving behind their loved ones. Reading’s workforce – particularly women – were mobilised to support the war effort and to care for wounded soldiers in the town’s hastily-organised war hospitals.

By setting our First World War collections within a wider history of how conflicts in our own time have impacted on Reading people, ‘Reading at War’ will also provoke thought and ask visitors to consider questions of why we remember and how war affects our lives today.

The exhibition will be complemented with a program of events for all ages. Look out for full details on Reading Museum’s website http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk