Bruce W. Carr

Bruce Ward Carr (January 28, 1924 – April 25, 1998) was a highly decorated United States Air Force colonel. One myth attributed to him is that during World War II, he was shot down over Germany and, after evading capture for several days, sneaked into a Luftwaffe airfield and stole an enemy plane which he flew back to Allied lines. He also became a flying ace credited with 14 or 15 aerial victories, including five in a single day, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Early life and World War II Bruce W. Carr was born on January 28, 1924, in Union Springs, New York. He began flying at the age of 15 in 1939, and enlisted into the United States Army Air Forces on September 3, 1942. Carr entered the Aviation Cadet Training Program, where his military flight instructor happened to be the very same person who taught him to fly in 1939.

Upon returning to the airfield, Carr was criticized by his leaders for being "overaggressive." In May, he was transferred to the 353rd Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, at RAF Lashenden in Kent. Claiming a probable kill over Normandy, France, on June 14, Carr scored his first official credit on June 17, when he assisted another pilot in downing an Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The next day, the squadron transferred to an airfield in France. On August 18, Carr was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Focke Wulf incident This is a garbled retelling of a planned flight in a captured aircraft, that occurred on May 8th from Linz, Austria, where Carr and others pilots from his unit knew there were abandoned aircraft that could be "liberated". Fw 190 flown by Carr, after belly landing at an airfield in France (May 8, 1945) According to the myth, "On November 2, 1944, Carr took off on a mission and was shot down by flak while strafing ground targets over Czechoslovakia. He bailed out and landed near a Luftwaffe field with the intent of surrendering to the Luftwaffe troops, but it was becoming dark just as he got there. From the trees he watched as two mechanics fueled up an FW 190, and hatched a daring plan to escape by stealing that plane.

Further war service On April 2, 1945, First Lieutenant Carr was leading three other aircraft on a reconnaissance mission near Schweinfurt, Germany, when he spotted 60 German fighters flying above them. Despite the enemy having an altitude advantage and outnumbering them, Carr led his flight in an attack and the pilots downed a total of 15 aircraft. Carr personally shot down two Fw 190s, three Bf 109s and damaged a sixth fighter. This feat made Carr the last ace in a day in the European Theater during the war and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.

Carr was promoted to captain on April 9, and claimed several more aerial victories that month, claiming two final victories on April 25. Carr flew a total of 172 combat missions during the war, accumulating 14 or 15

Awards and decorations Carr's awards include the following:

Command PilotDistinguished Service CrossSilver StarLegion of MeritDistinguished Flying Crossw/ 'V' device and three bronze oak leaf clustersAir Medalw/ four silver oak leaf clustersAir Medalw/ one silver and three bronze oak leaf clusters(second ribbon required for accoutrement spacing)Air Medal(third ribbon required for accoutrement spacing)Air Force Presidential Unit Citationw/ bronze oak leaf clusterAmerican Campaign MedalEuropean-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medalw/ four bronze campaign starsWorld War II Victory MedalNational Defense Service Medalw/ bronze service starKorean Service Medalw/ three bronze campaign starsVietnam Service Medalw/ 2 bronze campaign starsAir Force Longevity Service Awardw/ silver and bronze oak leaf clustersVietnam Air Service MedalHonor ClassUnited Nations Service Medal for KoreaVietnam Campaign MedalKorean War Service Medal

Distinguished Service Cross

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