Grouse foot lucky charm : Flight Lieutenant George Alfred Archer RAAF, 158 Squadron, RAF

Bird's foot mounted as a brooch with a silver cap on the end. The pin underneath is attached to the central toe by a small ring. A small leather oblong folded into the claw reads 'Good luck George' on one side. Additional writing on the other side is now illegible.

This grouse's foot was carried as a good luck charm by 402215 Flight Lieutenant George Alfred Archer inside his RAAF battledress blouse (see REL/04307). Archer, a shipping clerk with the Cunard Line, enlisted in the RAAF in Sydney on 22 July 1940 and sailed for flight crew training in Canada on 28 December. After qualifying as an Observer the following May he embarked for the United Kingdom. He was attached to 104 Squadron RAF based at Driffield, and then 158 Squadron at Eastmoor, near York.

Archer, flying as the Observer in Halifax II bomber W1040 (coded NP-G) was shot down near the farming village of Schoonrevoerd, near Utrecht in the Netherlands during a raid on Duisberg on the night of 21/22 July 1942. His aircraft had been attacked by a German Bf-110 night fighter which had already killed the mid-upper and rear gunners. Archer later reported that the Halifax was diving rapidly but under control, although the fuselage and a port and starboard engine were on fire. The captain ordered the surviving crew to bail out and remained in the aircraft to try to hold it steady as they jumped clear. Although the co-pilot did not survive the crash, Archer was later amazed to find that the captain, Flight Lieutenant F Hardy, had done so, although his injuries were so severe that he was repatriated by the Germans to England in 1943.

Although Archer hid after his successful bail-out he was discovered by two Dutch men and handed over to the German authorities. Archer was imprisoned in a number of prisoner of war camps at Dulag Luft Oberursal near Frankfurt, Stalag Luft 3, Luckenwalde, and Oflag XXIB at Schubin, Poland. This camp was liberated by the Russians in February 1945, and Archer finally left the camp in April that year. He was discharged in Australia on 5 June 1946.