Short Range Day Fighter Silver Clasp, for 60 Operational Flights : Luftwaffe

Short Range Day Fighter Silver Clasp, for 60 Operational Flights. Dull silver finished circular wreath with a Swastika at the bottom. Extending from either side of the wreath are sprigs of oak leaves. Voided within the wreath is a silver winged-arrow pointing upwards. Reverse has manufacturer's details in raised lettering 'R.K.'.

The Short Range Day-Fighter Silver Clasp was one of a series of flying clasps (frontflugspange) originally instituted at the beginning of 1941 to reward aircrew who had flown a large number of operational sorties. All varieties consisted of a circular laurel wreath, with a spray of oak-leaves on either side, the symbol in the centre of the wreath and the colour of the badge indicating the arm of the service and the number of operations flown. A bronze clasp was awarded for 20 missions, silver for 60 and gold for 110. The following year, a pendant device of a gold star with sprays of laurel leaves on either side, was instituted to recognise larger numbers of operational flights completed - 250, 300, 400 or 500 depending upon the branch of service. By mid 1944, this pendant had been replaced by a new variety containing a boxed numeral marked in increments of 100 from 200 to 2000, indicative of the greater pressure now being placed upon Luftwaffe aircrew. The central symbols of the clasps were: a winged arrow pointing upwards for day- or short range fighters, and downwards for long-range and ground attack fighters (ground attack units later received a distinct badge with a pair of crossed swords). A winged bomb pointing downwards indicated heavy-, medium-, or dive-bombers, an eagle's head facing left showed reconnaissance, air/sea rescue and meteorological crews, and an eagle holding a swastika, and flying to the right, was the symbol of transport and glider crews. Long-range night fighters and night intruders featured a winged arrow pointing downwards with the surrounding wreath oxidised black, and short-range night fighters a winged arrow pointing upwards within the black oxidised wreath.

Collected by 402215 Flight Lieutenant George Alfred Archer, a shipping clerk with the Cunard Line, who 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 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 July1942. His aircraft had been attacked by a German Me 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 surving crew to bale 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 bale-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. The Russian Army liberated the camp on 21 April 1945. On a routine scavenging detail for food at the end of April Archer souvenired a number of German badges from an abandoned shop in the local town. He returned to Australia and after medical rehabilitation was discharged on 5 June 1946.