Waldo Clifford Bruns (June 14, 1918–August 14, 1944)

13th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Reconnaissance Group,

8th Air Force

By Alecia Yvonne Bryant and Sarah Bousfield

Early Life

Waldo Clifford Bruns was born on June 14, 1918, in Sioux City, IA as Wayne McNaughton.¹ His parents, Jack McNaughton and Faye M. Parameter both hailed from the midwest. The Naughtons had been in Iowa for a couple generations and Faye’s family moved to Iowa from Illinois.² Jack and Faye met young and married in April 1918, with Faye’s brother Waldo E. Parmeter acting as witness, according to an announcement in the local paper.³ Jack worked in the Hankston Yard, a stockyard. A huge industry in Sioux City, farmers drove cattle to be auctioned before moving them on to meat packing plants.⁴

While we are not sure whether Jack passed away or he and Faye divorced, Faye married Monte J. Bushnell, on July 7, 1923, in Sioux City, IA. Monte worked as a salesman; he originally hailed from Pipestone, MN.⁵ By 1930, Monte, Faye, and Wayne Bushnell had moved to Jacksonville, FL; Faye’s fifty-seven year old father, Ray E. Parmeter, lived with them.⁶ Just a year later, Faye and Monte divorced and Faye married to her third husband, Dr. Van L. Bruns, a veterinarian from Live Oak, FL, on July 10, 1931.⁷ Wayne, who according to custom, changed his last name yet again to his new stepfather’s surname, decided to change his first name too. So in 1931 Wayne became Waldo Clifford Bruns, a nod to Faye’s older brother, Waldo.⁸ Given that Waldo took his maternal uncle’s name and that they lived with his grandfather, Ray, Faye and her son appear to have had a strong bond with her family. By 1935, the Bruns family lived in a rented home in Williston, FL.⁹

Waldo Bruns in the 1939 Auburn University Yearbook

Waldo Bruns attended West Riverside, Gorrie Schools, Williston High School, all in Jacksonville, FL. He graduated from the latter in 1936. By 1940, his stepfather became the assistant state veterinarian in Florida, while Waldo was in college.¹⁰ Waldo studied veterinary medicine at Auburn University and joined the Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Here we see Waldo’s 1939 sophomore yearbook photo.¹¹ We are not sure if Waldo finished college, but we do know he also studied veterinary medicine at the University of Florida before he decided to enlist in the Army.¹²

Military Service

On September 16, 1940, Waldo joined the US Army. Initially, he enlisted into service as a private within the Coast Artillery Corps or Army Mine Planter Service.¹³ It is unclear how long Waldo remained in the enlisted ranks. Likely because he had a couple years of college, the Army Air Forces (AAF) selected him to train as a pilot.¹⁴ As a cadet, Waldo embarked on several years of training to earn his wings.

Prior to learning to fly, Waldo received months of training in mathematics, navigation, and engineering. During these months-long courses, many cadets washed out. After this pre-flight training concluded, Waldo and his classmates started flight school. They trained on dated aircraft, such as the Ryan PT-22, not cutting edge military aircraft of the era. After he completed at least nine hours of supervised flight instruction, Waldo’s trainers likely cleared him to fly solo. After basic flight and ground school ended, Waldo and the remaining cadets entered advanced flight school. Upon completion of his advanced flight training, Waldo received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the AAF.¹⁵

During advanced training, Waldo likely learned the AAF assigned him to train on and fly the P-38 Lightning.¹⁶ The P-38 was a twin-engine, multi-role, fighter-bomber aircraft developed by Lcokheed and introduced in 1941.¹⁷ Waldo spent months learning how to fly the P-38. After he completed that training, Waldo received specialized training for the reconnaissance variant of the P-38, the F-5.¹⁸ Lockheed modified the P-38 to meet the AAF’s need for a reliable, high altitude, long range reconnaissance aircraft. The F-5 carried up to six cameras mounted in the gunports and fuselage of the aircraft. Because of this design, the F-5 was unarmed. Pilots relied on altitude and speed to accomplish their, often solo, missions. Upon landing, photographic technicians met the aircraft to retrieve the film from the cameras and rush it to the lab for processing. These pilots had to make it back to England for the reconnaissance photos to be useful to the Allied cause; if an F-5 did not return the photographs were lost as well.¹⁹ Waldo’s final phase of training included lessons in precision aerial navigation and high-altitude photography. Because the F-5 carried no weapons, pilots received specialized combat training that focused on speed, altitude, and evasion.²⁰

While Waldo was still a cadet, he met Cathryn McMaster.²¹ Cathryn was born in Utah in 1916 to Joseph and Mary McMaster. Sometime before 1920, her family moved to Ely, NV, where she grew up and attended White Pines High School.²² While at White Pines, she worked on the school news staff, played several sports, and performed in plays.²³ By 1940, Cathryn completed three years of college and worked as a nurse at the Steptoe Valley Hospital.²⁴ Prior to the US entry into World War II, Cathryn joined the Army Nurse Corps. Lieutenant Cathryn McMaster worked in the Tripler Hospital, near Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.²⁵ Cathryn’s brother, Joe McMaster, was also in the Army and stationed in Hawaii near his sister. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor. In the days after the bombing, Cathyrn wrote her mother a detailed letter in which she recounted what happened on that fateful Sunday morning. The Reno Gazette covered her harrowing experience and stated that Cathryn, at Hickam Air Field to visit a friend from Ely that morning, “was right in the thickest of the bomb hail” just steps from where the US fleet sat in the harbor.²⁶ Cathryn and her brother survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. Just over a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Cathryn and Waldo married in Honolulu, HI on January 12, 1942. After their wedding, Waldo returned to training and Cathryn changed duty stations to San Francisco.²⁷

Once Waldo completed his training as a F-5 pilot, likely around the end of 1943, he deployed to Europe as a replacement pilot for the 7th Reconnaissance Group (RG) and joined the unit by January 1944.²⁸ The AAF activated the 7th RG at Peterson Field, CO on May 1, 1943. The unit left for Europe that summer. After it arrived on July 7, it operated out of Mount Farm, Oxford, England. The group’s pilots flew F-5s and British Spitfires to obtain photographic intelligence on the enemy targets assigned to the 8th Air Force. The 7th RG snapped over three million photos of bombing missions, helped to create mapping services for air and ground units, reported on German transportation, military installations, and other strategic positions, and flew weather reconnaissance missions. Over the course of the war, the 7th RG lost sixty nine aircraft and fifty four of its pilots were either killed in action (KIA) or taken as prisoners of war (POW).²⁹

When Waldo arrived at Mount Farm, the 7th RG initially assigned him to the 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS). Before he flew a sortie with it, however, he transferred to the 22nd PRS. Shifting pilots between squadrons within a group was a common practice during the war. The 7th RG did this to account for pilot losses, promotions, and transfers out of the group.³⁰ Waldo flew his first mission with the 22nd PRS on January 20, 1944. He took photographs over Cherbourg. France.³¹

Waldo Bruns' F-5 "The Florida Gator"

Waldo flew with the 22nd PRS for several months in the winter and spring of 1944. Typically, pilots flew the same aircraft and often gave them nicknames. As a former student of the University of Florida, Waldo nicknamed his F-5 “The Florida Gator,” after the school’s mascot. As seen here, Waldo incorporated the school’s colors of blue and orange into the paint scheme of his aircraft.³² During this period, Waldo earned his first Air Medal³³ In addition, Waldo was wounded in action while he flew with the 22nd PRS. On April 13, 1944, The Atlanta Journal reported his injury.³⁴

On May 25, Waldo transferred to the 13th PRS and flew a mission for it that same day.³⁵ While with the 13th PRS, the 8th Air Force awarded Waldo a pair of Oak Leaf Clusters in lieu of a second Air Medal. By this time, Waldo earned a promotion to 1st Lieutenant.³⁶ On June 10, Waldo flew a mission over Belgium to take photographs of rail yards and lines in Antwerp, Malines, and Ghent. Due to the required detail of the photography, Waldo flew at a relatively low altitude, which exposed him to enemy ground fire. He successfully evaded fire and snapped the much needed photographs. For his heroic efforts, Waldo earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.³⁷ His citation read in part:

Bruns was given the difficult assignment of photographing from low altitude a number of high priority targets. Demonstrating exceptional skill in handling his aircraft he expertly avoided heavy fire from ground installations and secured complete coverage of the thagets returning to the base with pictures of inestimable value to the Allied forces. The courage, determination, and skillful airmanship displayed by Lt. Bruns reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.³⁸

The German military regularly defended vital areas with anti-aircraft fire and, when possible, launched the Luftwaffe to attack Allied aircraft. As an example, on one occasion, four German aircraft pursued Waldo all the way across the English Channel after he photographed vital enemy targets.³⁹

As the Allies pushed deeper into Europe in the second half of 1944, the commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe, General Carl Spaatz, ordered Germany’s oil industry as the top priority for Allied air power. He believed that concentrated attacks on oil related targets would cripple Germany’s ability to prosecute the war. Effective bombing runs on these targets required quality photo reconnaissance prior to bombardment and battle damage assessments afterward. In each case, the squadrons on the 7th RG found themselves gainfully employed. On August 14, 1944, Waldo, who by this time served as the 13th PRS’s operations officer, and Major Robert Smith, the squadron’s commanding officer, decided to photograph the high priority targets at Cottbus and Sorau in Silesia, east of Berlin. Because of bad weather over those sites, no one had been able to take serviceable photographs. According to Smith, Waldo said “Bobby, the weather is good over Cottbus and Sorau. Let’s go get ‘em.”⁴⁰

At 1630, the pair took off from Mount Farm.⁴¹ Waldo headed for Sorau and Smith for Cottbus. Since the two locations were only sixty miles apart, the pair flew together as wingmen. With clear skies, each pilot captured the required photographs of their respective targets and rendezvoused for their return home. Shortly after they joined back up, four German Focke-Wulf 190s engaged them. Waldo and Smith accelerated and climbed as they evaded the interceptors. As they flew at maximum speed toward the Channel, ground fire erupted underneath them, which forced them to perform further evasive maneuvers. An anti-aircraft round exploded near Smith’s F-5 and damaged its right engine. After a few minutes, the enemy aircraft returned and Waldo radioed to Smith, “Here they come again.” The pair dove for cover into the only cloud they saw all day. While in the cloud cover, Smith had to slow down his speed to control the smoke from his right engine. This placed Waldo in the lead for the flight. After they passed through the cloud, the pair continued on unharried for a few minutes. Suddenly, they found themselves pursued by eight enemy aircraft. At that point, Smith lost his right engine entirely. He told Waldo, “Take off. I’m leaving you.” Waldo radioed in reply, “Good luck and goodbye.”⁴²

Because of Waldo’s speed and skill, Smith assumed he could make it back to Mount Farm safely. Smith had to bail out of his cockpit before the enemy aircraft shot him down. He parachuted down and broke his ankle when he landed. The Germans took Smith as a POW. While held as a prisoner, Smith learned that Waldo was unable to outrun the enemy.⁴³ German reports confirmed the death of an unknown F-5 pilot on August 14, 1944, at 2040 hours.⁴⁴ Tragically, Waldo C. Bruns did not survive and crashed in the Rhine region of Germany, one kilometer from the town of Wettringen.⁴⁵

Legacy

Initially, the AAF listed both Waldo and Smith as Missing in Action (MIA).⁴⁶ For their actions over Sorau and Cottbus, Waldo and Smith received the Distinguished Flying Cross; Waldo’s second such award.⁴⁷ German authorities recovered Waldo’s remains and buried him in the Wettringen Cemetery.⁴⁸ Sometime after the Allies moved into western Germany, Waldo was reinterred in what became the Ardennes American Cemetery near Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.⁴⁹

In October 1945, the AAF presented Waldo’s widow, 1st Lt. Cathyn Bruns, with his numerous awards and citations, to include the Distinguished Flying Cross he earned on his final mission. She received them on his behalf at the General Hospital Center at Fort Sam Houston, TX where she served as an Army nurse.⁵⁰ The 7th RG received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its service in France between May 31 and June 30, 1944. In appreciation for the group's service to their country, the leadership of France awarded it a Croix de Guerre with Palm.⁵¹

There are several memorials dedicated to Waldo Bruns’ 7th RG. One is at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Another memorial is at Mount Farm in Berinsfield, UK. The memorial states that the group flew 5693 missions. Waldo C. Bruns is mentioned in several memoriam pages. He is listed in the 1945 UF Yearbook, The War Department’s Honor List of Army Dead, and 1947 University of Florida Yearbook.⁵²

Waldo’s airplane, “The Florida Gator,” has its own legacy. Seventy nine years after Waldo’s death, in 2023, the University of Florida’s paper, The Alligator, published a story about Lt. Edward Durst, who borrowed “The Florida Gator” from University of Florida student Waldo Bruns to fly a four plane mission to collect reconnaissance photographs in Normandy as part of the larger battle following D-day. Durst’s air supply got cut when anti-aircraft shrapnel hit the plane; he and the plane went down not far from St. Lô, France more than a month before Bruns died.⁵³

Waldo’s widow, Cathryn, mourned his loss. Like so many young widows of the time, she remarried to Robert Lewis Morrow, a Navy Veteran, in Los Angeles, CA in June 1949. Cathyrn Marie Bruns Morrow died on May 26, 1955.⁵⁴ Waldo’s family had his remains transferred as part of the World War II Return of the Dead program to St. Augustine National Cemetery on June 27, 1949. He rests among his fellow Veterans in Section C, Grave 17.⁵⁵

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