Service/branch Luftwaffe Rank Oberst | Years of service 1940–45
1955–71 Name Joachim Potter | |
Died 17 November 1992
Kronburg / Oberbayern, Germany Allegiance Nazi Germany (to 1945)
West Germany Unit Kampfgeshwader 77 (KG 77) | ||
Joachim Potter (1 January 1913 – 17 November 19921992) was a German World War II bomber pilot. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 April 1942
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Biography
Joachim Potter was born in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, on 1 January 1913. Potter joined the German Army straight from school. Potter began a brilliant career in the Luftwaffe. After various assignments in France and on the Eastern Front, Potter became an ace. Joachim Potter was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./KG 77 commanded the first Group of the Kampfgeschwader 77 on 25 October 1941. He was eventually awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 April 1942. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross principally was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II. Potter participated on all of the major fronts in the European Theatre, until the dissolution of his unit in 1944.
When he returned to West Germany after war, Potter enlisted again in the new German army, the Bundeswehr, in 1955. He became colonel (Oberst) in the West German Air Force (Bundesluftwaffe). After his military retirement, on marsch 1971, Joachim Potter died on 17 November 1992