WWII B-17 co-pilot shares experiences

by Airman 1st Class Breonna Veal
17th Training Wing Public Affairs

3/17/2014 - GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas  -- William Archer, World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress co-pilot, visited here for the first time in almost 70 years to share his experiences during WWII March 7.

In 1943, Archer, a Texas native, along with his college roommate, decided at the end of their second year of college to volunteer to join the Army Air Corps Cadet Program so that they wouldn't be drafted.

"At 20, I was around the age where I could have been drafted," Archer started. "The war was getting quite serious then. I had the choice to become a pilot, so I did. I chose to fly planes because I didn't want to be on the ground getting shot at."

Flying didn't stop Archer from the firefight. After training in Alexandria, La., to become a B-17 co-pilot, the Army Air Corps transferred Archer to the 447th Bomb Group in Rattlesden, England, where he performed 26 missions.

Without being targeted in the first 24 missions dating back to June 1944, Archer's last two gave him something to talk about.

"On the 25th mission, we were shot down, and we bailed out in Belgium," he said. "Flying to Belgium on one engine was just a little difficult because we were going down. The engine was a good one and held up on full throttle for several hundred miles."

During this flight to Belgium, Archer and his pilot threw all items of weight out of the plane while two friendly P-38s flanked them until they assumed that the B-17 went into Belgian territory. Allies greeted them when they landed in friendly territory, and escorted them safely into allied territory.

"He landed in barbed wire," added Nita Archer, family member. "He didn't have a scratch on him. We kept his boots, which had a clean cut down one side of it for a long time."

Archer's missions didn't stop there. On his 26th mission, a high ranking officer replaced Archer as co-pilot and Archer sat in the tailgunner position, according to his biography.

"On the mission, I was supposed to get my own crew, but instead, I replaced another pilot because he had been wounded," said Archer.

During his 26th mission, the plane was hit by flak, and Archer was seriously wounded and almost bled to death.

"During this mission everything started off fine, but coming back, the Germans had some real good gunners and shot at the airplane," said Archer. "I thought I was hit in the foot, but I was hit in the thigh. I had two half crowns in my pocket. Those two coins wrapped around my bone about a half-inch from the inside of my leg, luckily."

After recovering from his wounds, he received an assignment to Concho Field, later known as Mathis Field, to train bombardier cadets.

"When I got back to San Angelo in 1945, the first thing I did was go on three blind dates," commented Archer. "Nita was the second date. I never did lose her."

Eventually, Germany surrendered and Archer was discharged from the military, but he stayed in the reserves obtaining the rank of captain. Since then, Archer and his wife have watched Goodfellow and the surrounding area develop.

"San Angelo has certainly grown," said Archer's family member. "We have always been very proud to live close by. We had neighbors who were military. It was a great experience to know the Goodfellow community and other Team Goodfellow members."

Although they have lived in the surrounding area, Archer and his wife hadn't been to Goodfellow in close to 70 years.

"It is amazing how much Goodfellow has changed since I've last been here," said Archer. "There were wooden barracks when I came here, and now, they are all new brick buildings."

Goodfellow welcomed Archer and his family by giving them a tour of the base. He also agreed to a Q-and-A session where he answered questions from service members. At the end of the session, he said a couple of words to Team Goodfellow.

"I admire all of you because you chose to volunteer to join the military," he said. "It was - and - is at your own will."

Col. Brendan Harris, 17th Training Group Commander, presented Archer with a commander's coin and his wife with flowers, concluding the Archers' visit to Goodfellow.

Team Goodfellow thanked Archer with a round of applause. With new service members coming in weekly to begin their training, it's not every day that history walks through the gates of Goodfellow.