a well-proven brigade." After the rank and file had left, Blamey addressed the officers. He questioned whether they were worthy of their men, and told them they must improve. Potts was initially dismissive about Blamey's address, when informed about it by Major Albert Caro. He passed on the news in a letter to Dawn; "... apparently most of the troops take the speech as a colossal joke against the speaker..." He did however write to Allen asking him to "take the necessary action" regarding Blamey's remarks. By the New Year he had been given further details and was enraged. Again writing to his wife; "Hugh sent me a precis of his (T's) speech to the old team and to the officers. Hells Bells, it was a cowardly bit of work and untrue in every detail. I'll fry his soul in the next world for that bit of 'passing the buck'. Surely a man in his position is big enough to carry his own mistakes." Potts was not the victim of the Koitaki speech. He had already been removed, and appears to have been already marked for minor roles only in the rest of the war. Although Potts was incensed, the real damage done at Koitaki was to the careers of the next generation of young officers. Potts was aware as the war proceeded that men he had trained, cajoled, blasted, encouraged and fought alongside were damned for their association with him. Some have alleged that 21st Brigade's next combat role in the battle for Gona saw excessive casualties, due to the burning desire to erase Blamey's slur. "By the time the battle for Gona had concluded, the Blamey slur at Koitaki had manifested itself in the interference in the command structure, and the resultant slaughter of soldiers." In Darwin with 23rd Brigade Potts replaced Dougherty as commander of the 23rd Brigade in Darwin. It had originally been an AIF brigade, composed of volunteers who were able to serve abroad. As the Japanese advanced through 1941 and 1942, its original battalions had been sent to Ambon, Rabaul and Timor. They were replaced with battalions from the Militia, men who had been conscripted, and could only serve on Australian soil unless they volunteered for the AIF. Friction was inevitable, and the new officers were not all talented man-managers. With his new brigade, Potts had a new set of battalion commanders, who he