N. Arch Milani
WW II/B17 Flying Fortress 8th Air Corps
422 SQDN. - 305th Bomb Group
Please note: All of the expressions of concern regarding the bombing of civilians stated below directly reflect the feelings of N. Arch Milani.
What does a young teenager who earned $25 a month on a farm, now known as Eaton Estates, think about when powerful nations of the world begin choosing up sides leading eventually to World War II?
Arch Milani, a lifelong resident of Northfield Village, had never spent a night away from home until his induction into the service at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio in 1943. Arch had hopes of jumping off the side of a landing craft with a knife in his mouth with guns and ammunition strapped to his back. He would engage and destroy the enemy and eventually come home to marching bands and flag-waving crowds.
The Army short-circuited those plans by sending him to Fort Benjamin Harrison's Billings Hospital where Army records show he trained as a Surgical Technician and his instructions included: "care of patients in surgical wards and maintenance of operating rooms and equipment". When a new military hospital, Woodrow Wilson General Hospital in Staunton, Virginia opened, Arch was put in charge of wounded veterans returning from the Anzio beachhead invasion in Italy. Arch yearned for action but was told by his superiors that treatment and care of returning wounded soldiers was an important part of the war effort. A remark from a civilian who referred to Arch as a "Bedpan Commando" changed the young soldier's course in the military.
He applied for and received a transfer to the Army Air Corps and began training for air combat. His Air Corps training, according to official Army records included: orientation to flight, construction of bombs and ammunition, structure, repair, and maintenance of aircraft cannons, machine guns, loading of bomb-bays, and Flexible Gunnery of B-17 bombers. During transitional training in the States, preparing to fly overseas, Arch stopped at a local pub in Iowa. While waiting for a hamburger, a civilian who claimed to have served in W.W. I stopped by and said: "This is no baseball game - it's time to play for keeps...". Additional advice came from Colonel Darr H. Alkire, Commander of the 100th Bombardment Group (H), who wrote: "Don't get the notion that your job is going to be glorious or glamorous. You've got dirty work to do, and you might was well face the facts, you're going to be baby-killers and women killers....". Arch and a 10 man B-17 crew left the States from Iowa, and after stops at Gandor, Newfoundland and Iceland, arrived in Great Britain, landing in Wales.
The first mission over Germany was flown in December and the aircraft had to be diverted to a RAF base when bad weather cancelled plans for the plane's home base. The forced landing took place on Boxer Day which is akin to the exchange of presents in the USA during the Christmas season. "I tasted warm beer for the first time", Arch said. The raids over Germany resembled "Russian Roulette". Each morning, weather permitting, between 4,000 and 6,000 planes would assemble over England with bomb bays loaded with deadly explosives and high octane gasoline in the planes' tanks. The planes would rendezvous at an assigned altitude and proceed to the target. Planes colliding in the early morning hours was not uncommon and the consequence was almost always fatal.
Arch's 305 Bomb Group was based in Higham Ferrers, near Chelveston and Bedford, England. His 422nd Squadron put up 36 planes on each mission over Germany. The lead element of 12 planes at an altitude of approximately 25,000 feet was followed by a high 12 plane element at 25, 500 feet. The idea was to confuse German anti-aircraft, with 4,000 to 6,000 planes bound for Germany on a single day, it didn't take long for the enemy to figure out where the planes were headed. On clear days with no cloud cover, the Bombardier with the aid of the Norden Bomb Sight could pretty well hit the target with consistent accuracy. Quite often when the target was cloud covered, strikes were made by dropping bombs from data taken from the navigator's radar equipment and from other navigational information. When this occurred, the bomb racks were programmed to release bombs at different intervals so that the bombs would fall anywhere from 50 to 300 feet apart. This would result in considerable damage to civilians, churches, and even hospitals. Once the aircraft made their mission to the target, there was no way a pilot would risk the lives of ten men in each plane and return the bombs to England...you drop the bombs and run. World War I military targets included military personnel, military hardware, and installations producing such weaponry. The military strategy of the Bloody 20th Century included all of the above, plus intimidation and destruction of civilians of all ages and sexes.
This strategy started with the Battle of Britain when German bombers dropped thousands of bombs on heavily populated cities in England. The plan was to demoralize the civilian population who might, through rally and protest, send a message to the government that only through surrender would the killing and demolition of civilians cease. Following the heavy bombing, England was attacked by a new German weapon, called the V-1 rocket, which was a jet propelled device dubbed the "buzz bomb". Again, thousands of civilians perished. The same battle technique was used when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The sneak attack left 50% of our battleships in ruin, destroyed 200 aircraft, and killed 2,300 soldiers, sailors, and civilians. When the Army Air Corps achieved air supremacy over Germany, most larger cities including Berlin, Cologne, Koblentz, Hamburg, and Munich were targets of incessant pounding. After two consecutive raids on Berlin, it was reported that thousands of men, women, and children had to evacuate the city. They were put in box cars and headed for the railroad yards of Munich to be dispersed in the countryside. It was reported when intelligence learned of the movement, a mass raid was planned for the city. It was also reported that between 100,000 and 250,000 people were killed or injured. German moral suffered a most serious blow, and Germany surrendered thereafter. The Allied forces learned their lessons of war very well. August 5, 1945 found a B-29 flying over Hiroshima and release an atomic bomb that killed 80,000. Three days later another atomic bomb dropped over Nagasaki and killed thousands more. Japan surrendered a short time later.
Archie's plane suffered engine damage on a raid on Cologne. On the return to the base in England, the plane had to be abandoned while still in the air because it was "windmillling" out of control. Arch was the person who moved through the plane, relaying the order to bail out. All crew members who bailed out became automatic members of the "Caterpillar Club" because they qualified as having their lives saved because of an emergency parachute jump from a disabled aircraft. When he hit the ground, Resistance Fighters thought he might be a spy for the Germans. The American Officer who interrogated him was also from the Cleveland area, and asked Arch if he knew the best way to get from Shaker Heights to downtown Cleveland. Arch answered "the Shaker Rapid", and the officer knew Arch was an American!
Arch flew a total of 28 missions as a Toggelier (the crew member who pushes the toggle switch to release the bombs) before being seriously wounded on a raid over the Rhine River at Remagen during the Battle of the Buldge. His left foot had been mostly blown off by flak, and he relied on his Air Corps medical training to apply a tourniquet. He returned to the U.S. from a field hospital in the European Theatre of Operation on a hospital ship to New York. V.E. Day (Victory in Europe) was celebrated in a hospital bed at Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was there by the strangest coincidence that Arch found out that his neighbor, Bill Hardesty, who lived on the same street, was also a patient at the hospital. Bill had suffered the horrors of combat. He lost a leg and an arm was severely damaged.
"After more than 45 years, I still have ambivalent feelings trying to identify the real winners of each of the last 4 conflicts", Arch stated. "One thing for certain is that all nations of the world should understand that the civilian population has and will be in the future, a prime target for annihilation, either by bombs, gas, starvation, or severe damage to our ecology". Among his decorations are the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with 4 Clusters, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Theatre of Operations Medal. Arch and his wife Alice are the parents of Pamela Milani, the late Kim Masscria (the originator of the News Leader), Victor Milani (the present Mayor of Northfield Village), and Monica Nichschinski. Alice and Arch are grandparents five times over. He served as a Councilman and Mayor of Northfield Village).
Arch is a charter member of Northfield V.F.W. Post 6768. His uncle Fred Miralia, who was gassed in W.W. I, helped organize the Post after W.W. II. Arch was a star athelete at Northfield High School, and when he left behind a contract with the Cleveland Indians organization, to be signed when he returned home.
N. Arch Milani lost a foot in World War II and never got to play baseball.
He feels the true heroes were those who fell in the service of their country.
Archie, ready for battle with his crew: Wayne Burton, Arlo Landrith,Leon Rook and Harold Rickman; back row: Donald Fennell and Arch Milani, the only surviving member of this group.
Archie participates in the Memorial Day ceremonies, honoring our war dead.
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