Dominique Edgard Antoine Potier (2 November 1903 – 11 January 1944) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

airforce officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

who organised an

MI9 MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a highly secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: (1) assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (P ...

escape and evasion network, known as ''Mission Martin'' in Belgium and the ''Possum Line'' in France. Captured and tortured by the Germans, Potier committed suicide.

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

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and

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and arrived in

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in March 1942. At age 39, he was rejected by the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

as too old for active flying duties. He then joined

and in July 1943 was parachuted into southeast Belgium (

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) 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 20 December. On 28 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 led 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 11 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 Pelouse d'Honneur Aérienne, Cimetière Communal de B-1140 Bruxelles-Evère.

External links

Le réseau d'évasion PossumThe Possum Escape Line
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potier, Edgard 1903 births 1944 deaths 1944 suicides Belgian Air Component officers Belgian military personnel killed in World War II Belgian people who died in prison custody People from Seraing People who died by suicide in prison custody Prisoners who died in German detention