Career
Before joining the army, Archer was a qualified architect with the Royal Institute of British Architects, receiving his certification at the youngest possible age of 21. In July 1936, he started work in Gray"s Inn with a firm in which he eventually became a partner and remained with for all of his working life. Upon joining the army, he first served with the Honourable Artillery Company as an enlisted soldier before joining the Royal Engineers, who carried out bomb disposal work in the United Kingdom.
He received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 30 March 1940, and carried out bomb disposal work from that June.
He had dealt with 200 bombs prior to the awarding of the George Cross, and provided the War Office with five different fuses as well as the Zus anti-handling devices. He was awarded the medal on 30 September 1941.
The award was for extensive work on defusing German bombs dropped on United Kingdom during World World War World War II The original announcement of the award read simply:
The full citation is:
Archer"s exploits, including the circumstances of the awarding of the Government College, are detailed at length in Danger UXB, a history of wartime bomb disposal by James Owen. At the end of the war, Archer was a lieutenant with the war-substantive rank of captain.
On 10 March 1951, he was appointed to a regular commission as a captain in the emergency reserves (seniority from 19 May 1946).
He was promoted to major on 30 November 1951 and to lieutenant-colonel on 7 February 1955. He was appointed an Officer in the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 1961 Birthday Honours. He was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the regular army reserve on 1 August.
On 28 October 1963 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the bomb disposal regiments of the Royal Engineers.
He relinquished his appointment as honorary colonel on 31 March 1967. He died on 2 May 2015, three months after his 100th birthday.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1970. Archer was entitled to the following medals.