The crew of the Archer would operate the gun actions from the superstructure position while exposed to the elements and battlefield dangers such as artillery and mortar fire. The driver remained in a covered position in the forward hull. The gun emplacement was seated at the front of the vehicle to help maintain balance. The main gun, when fired, would actually recoil backwards quite close to the driver's position in the hull and, as such, this required him to exist the vehicle whenever the firing action commenced. While fitted to the fixed superstructure, the main gun was traversable to a limited extent. The vehicle would be crewed by four personnel made up of the driver, commander, loader and gunner. A single 7.7mm Bren machine gun fitting was set up for self-defense against enemy infantry and low-flying enemy aircraft.
Once in service, British crews took some time to get accustomed to the strange arrangement that was the rear-facing gun. Conventional wisdom held that all armored vehicle armament faced forward toward the action with the driver set equally forward in the design - watching said action unfold along with the gunnery crew. However, once in practice, crews soon learned to play up on the strengths of their new Archers and the system went on to have a healthy battlefield existence. Members of the Royal Artillery companies were given the Archer and most ended up generally preferring them to its towed 17-pdr counterpart for obvious reasons.
With production numbers steadily growing, the Archer was officially fielded across the European Theater in October of 1944 where it ultimately saw actions across Northwest Europe and into the Allied landings of Italy. British artillery crews generally favored their Archers when compared to the American-made M10 Achilles tank destroyers they received via Lend-Lease. The standard operating tactic of the Archer was to sit in wait as an ambush weapon of sorts. The low profile generally made for a harder target to spot, allowing her to be hidden against earthen hills, in heavy woods and against structures. As the unsuspecting enemy approached within range of the 76.2mm main gun, the Archer crew would "light up" and fire off as many rounds as possible in a short window of opportunity, they maintaining the initiative of the moment. Before the enemy could respond with return fire, the Archer crew would displace or retreat to a position of improved advantage and perhaps repeat the process. The 17-pdr gun became a proven tank-killing system that could pierce the armor of just about every German vehicle then available, save for the heavier, thicker armored systems. Such an advantage in having the first-shot and, possible, the first-kill, provided the Archer system with a unique strategy that few other tank-killing systems of the war could match.
However, the Archer was not without her drawbacks - the fact that the driver had to stand outside of his vehicle so the gunnery crew could fire might add costly minutes to a quick getaway from enemy return fire. Also, her gun was limited in its traversal, essentially requiring the entire machine to be pointed in the direction of the enemy. With its open-topped superstructure, this also left the gunnery crew with little in the way of topside protection while the surrounding walls of light armor were quite thin and designed to deflect small arms fire and perhaps artillery spray.
These drawbacks eventually proved less than critical to Allied warplanners for the war in Europe had concluded by June of 1945 - Hitler committed suicide in late-April while the Germans officially capitulated in May. With production of the Archer still ongoing at war's end, the original contract for 800 examples was cancelled, leaving just 655 of the vehicles in current circulation. Such actions proved common practice worldwide where much of the costly wartime production was slashed or cancelled outright, leaving many projects in limbo if existing in any physical form at all. Regardless, the Archer had completed her storied tour in the most famous World War of them all. She went on to serve in her role with the British Army up until the middle of the 1950s before being retired in full.
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