Albert Francis St Bruno (1910—12 July 1967)[1] was a New Zealand soldier, boxer, cartoonist, and writer.
Bruno was born in Sydney, Australia and moved to New Zealand as a child.[1] He had an early career as a boxer, winning the Auckland amateur flyweight championship in 1930, and the bantamweight and flyweight championships in 1932.[2] During the Great depression he travelled around Australia, working as a freelance writer and as a professional boxer. He enlisted in the New Zealand army at the outbreak of the second world war, serving as a machine-gunner in the first echelon of the 2nd New Zealand Division[1] in both the Greece and Crete campaigns.[3] He was wounded in action in December 1941.[2] [3]
On his return to New Zealand he wrote articles for the Auckland Star and published several books of cartoons and stories about his war experiences.[4] [5] In 1959 he published his first novel, The Hellbuster, a historical action novel set in the Bay of Islands.[6] This was followed in 1960 by Black Noon at Ngutu, set in the Taranaki Wars, described as "a sadistic blood-and-guts yarn of the tough he-man type",[7] and several other adventure novels. He also worked as a cartoonist, illustrating works by Hori.[8] He died in 1967 after a long illness.[9]