Reading council gives go-ahead for VC memorial

The council has given the go-ahead to create a £60,000 memorial of the only Reading resident to get the Victoria Cross.

Mayor Fred Pugh said that the notion received all-party support, with the BBC saying that a statue of Trooper Fred Potts on a plinth may be erected in Forbury Gardens.

The mayor added: "We are looking at something like a brass representation of Trooper Fred Potts dragging his wounded comrade on the shovel."

Reading Council also agreed to a £5,000 pot to start the fundraising for the memorial.

Trooper Potts fought in the Gallipoli peninsula, getting a Yeomanry VC for rescuing a comrade while under heavy fire. During this, Trooper Potts was shot in the leg.

The soldier went on to live and returned to Reading to work as a tailor, but suffered throughout his life from his injuries, dying in 1943.

Earlier this month, prime minister Gordon Brown gave his support to the memorial plans, saying that it would help to mark Trooper Potts’ work but also the duties that soldiers continue to do for country, Get Reading reported.