potter falsely claimed to be a special operations executive agent who worked with the french resistance during the second world war under the name henri dufour, an 18 year old who he said had been killed in an air raid in northern france while working for the resistance. potter claimed to have been asked by the soe to take dufour's place in 1942 due to his language skills and because he was the right age and both had a club foot. according to potter, he worked with the resistance throughout the war, was periodically flown back to britain to brief winston churchill, who gave him a glass of brandy, had an affair with a french woman named yvette, entered dachau concentration camp with the americans, and worked as a liaison officer to defend a chemist accused of war crimes at the nuremberg trials. he also claimed to have an obe awarded after the war and a first class degree from the university of london. his memoirs were self-published in 2009 as "within the shadows" under the pen-name of ernest tarrant.