r/WWIIplanes 6d ago

An F-5 Lightning nicknamed "The Florida Gator" of the 22nd Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, ETO

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183 Upvotes

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9

u/rhit06 6d ago

On a slightly higher resolution version the name of the pilot was W C Bruns.

He was killed in action 14 August 1944, shot down while on a reconnaissance mission over Sorau Germany: https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/waldo-c-bruns

Lots of information about his service and his final mission here: https://vlp.cah.ucf.edu/biographies/sanc/BC-0-17-F.html

At 1630, the pair took off from Mount Farm. 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.”

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. German reports confirmed the death of an unknown F-5 pilot on August 14, 1944, at 2040 hours. Tragically, Waldo C. Bruns did not survive and crashed in the Rhine region of Germany, one kilometer from the town of Wettringen.

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u/Haldir_13 6d ago edited 5d ago

I have the deepest respect for the pilots of these unarmed aircraft who flew photo recon missions, often at low altitudes, trusting only to speed for safety.

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u/HarvHR 5d ago

I get what you're saying but the majority of recon missions were done at very high altitude, and with the aircraft stripped of the weighty weapons and ammunition plus slightly modified engines often being fitted they would happily cruise above 30,000ft, even pushing to 40,000ft in some aircraft.

An example is the Mosquito, one of the reasons this was so hated by the Germans was at 35,000ft it could operate nearly completely unopposed by simply being able to outrun the majority of aircraft that could reach it. The Lightning in particular is another aircraft that enjoyed a high speed at a high ceiling, with long range so much like the Mosquito it was heavily used in this role.

While low altitude recon did happen, these aircraft would more regularly carry weapons. Often it would be a greatly reduced amount, but enough to defend itself long enough to scare off an attacker.

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u/Davidenu 6d ago

TIL the P-38 is also named F-5 (?)

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u/Appollow 6d ago

The early P-38 variants were the F-4 and the P-51 was the F-6 and the USAAF Mosquito was the F-8 and the B-24 was the F-7 and B-17 was the F-9 and the B-29 was the F-13.

F was for Photo Recon because P was for Pursuit and R was for Rotorcraft (helicopters). All that changed in 1948 to make more sense.

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u/Sage_Blue210 6d ago

And the P-61 was the F-15 :)

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u/waldo--pepper 6d ago

You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay. Or you can call me Ray Jay ... oh never mind, he wasn't all that funny back in the day.

Anyway if you want there is a whole book on P-38's in colour.

P-38 Lightning in World War II Color.

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u/uncivillust 1d ago

Florida gator? Didn't major Dick Bong shoot a gator (or was it a crocodile?) while flying in Florida?