Nigel Marlin Balchin was an English psychologist and author, particularly known for his novels written during and immediately after World War II: Darkness Falls from the Air, The Small Back Room and Mine Own Executioner.

Potterne is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. The village is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Devizes and lies on the A360 which links Devizes to Salisbury. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick.