Percy Charles Pickard

Through most of 1943 he commanded 161 Squadron, the secretive unit that flew SOE agents in and out of occupied France. He was a very active commanding officer, and flew many of the missions himself. In late 1943 Pickard was made the commander of a new unit, 140 Wing, a ground attack formation whose three squadrons had converted to the Mosquito. On 18 February 1944 Pickard led a group of Mosquitos on the Amiens prison raid to destroy the walls of a Gestapo prison and free the prisoners inside. He was killed in this operation. Pickard was one of the RAF's most highly regarded bomber pilots of the war, ranking among the likes of Guy Gibson and Leonard Cheshire.

In January 1944 140 Wing was moved to RAF Hunsdon. It was from here that Pickard led the daylight raid on 18 February to bomb a prison at Amiens in what proved to be one of the most famous low-level attacks of all time.

In February 1944 the RAF was given a special mission to bomb a prison in Amiens, northern France. Beside some 520 regular criminals, 180 Maquis were confined there by the Gestapo. The circumstances involving the request and the true purpose of the mission remain among the secrets of the war. Reportedly the request to bomb the prison came from the French resistance whose members were scheduled to be executed. However, after the war an RAF probe revealed the French resistance leaders were first made aware of the raid when the RAF requested detailed information on the target. The French resistance acquired the information requested and transmitted it back to England, not knowing the purpose of the request.

Pickard and Broadley were initially reported missing. In September 1944 it was announced they had been 'killed in action'. The two had flown over 100 sorties together. Pickard is buried in plot 3, row B, grave 13 at St Pierre Cemetery near Amiens, France. Broadley is buried in plot 3, row A, grave 11 of the same cemetery. 140 Wing lost a second Mosquito on the raid when it was hit by flak on the way out, and two Typhoon aircraft failed to return as well.

Pickard was a very tenacious pilot. Once committed to an operation he was doggedly determined to complete it. On 13 January 1943 he flew a Lysander pick-up mission, made difficult by poor weather and visibility. After two and a half hours of fighting the weather he arrived over the target field, but he did not receive the recognition signal from the ground. Not wanting to return empty handed, he began circling. He continued to do so for the next two hours, till he was getting very near the limit of his fuel for the return flight, all while he searched in vain for the signal. Finally the operator flashed him the recognition signal. Pickard flashed back the day's Morse letter response and immediately brought his aircraft down. He was only on the ground for three minutes before he was back up in the air and headed for home. Normally he never questioned his passengers, but he had to ask why it had taken so long for them to arrive at the field. They replied they had been there the whole time, but thought the airplane was supposed to signal them first! Thinking the aircraft they heard overhead might be German, they just waited. Unfortunately the delay put them all in a tight spot as far as fuel was concerned. Pickard decided their best chance was to head to the closest airfield, at Predannack on the southern tip of England. Nearly across the Channel and with the airfield in sight, he heard the engine sputter and then cut out for lack of fuel. Pickard feathered the propeller and hoped for the best. With no chance to do a circuit, he brought the aircraft straight in and executed a perfect dead stick landing. Unfamiliar with air travel, his passengers were completely unaware of the danger, and thought a landing performed with the engine killed and propeller feathered was their normal operation!

Pick-up pilots had to have individual initiative. As Pickard was fond to say, "There's always bloody something!" On the night of 23/24 February 1943 Pickard took a Hudson to a field in the Tournais/Cuisery region of central France. Flying in very poor weather, the target field was covered in low cloud and fog. Pickard circled overhead searching, and made no less than twenty attempts to get down through the weather. After some two hours of trying he was finally successful, but landed hard and off the signal path. At the end of his landing run the aircraft became stuck in mud. In his rough French Pickard called out to the crowd: "Qui est le chef de cette bande de sauvages?!" (Fr: Who is in charge of this band of savages?!) One operator raised his hand, to whom Pickard added: "Well you've got nothing to be proud about. Not only have you landed me in the back of a brick yard, but in the center of a bog into the bargain." The plane's crew and passengers jumped out, and with the reception team they worked for a half hour before getting the aircraft free. Taxiing back toward the A lamp they had traveled no more then a quarter of the distance before becoming stuck again. This time they were in deep and could not get out. After two hours, it looked like they were going to have to burn the airplane and try to get back on foot, when about fifty Frenchmen from the village showed up with a horse. With the horse pulling and the aircraft at full throttle, they were just able to get the aircraft free. Their troubles were not over though, as the wet and muddy field made it difficult for the Hudson to get up enough speed to get airborne. Running down the field at full throttle, Pickard just barely got the aircraft airborne, when from out of the fog and darkness loomed a tree. Flying just above stall speed, there was no pulling back on the stick. They had to just keep flying and hope for the best. The left wing whacked through the outstretched branches, but the aircraft stayed aloft. The outer wing tip was damaged, a bit of garland was strewn along the leading edge, and the auto pilot was knocked out of operation. Otherwise, they were in good shape. They cleared the French coast as dawn was breaking, and arrived back at Tempsford at 8:00 in the morning, at the end of a 9 1/2 hour trip. At their debriefings pick-up pilots were asked to grade the operator and the field he had selected. Regarding the target field, Pickard wrote: "As far as I know there is nothing wrong with the field they selected, but I should like to hear from the reception committee where I actually landed."

Following the completion of his tour with 161 Squadron, Pickard was made station commander at RAF Lissett, taking the post in July 1943. The base was home to 158 Squadron, equipped with the Halifax. While there Pickard did his first familiarization flight in a de Havilland Mosquito on 1 August. Administrative duties were not to his liking, and he was soon searching for a post with operations.

By late 1943 the RAF was making preparations for a return of Allied forces to the continent. Basil Embry, the commanding officer of the Second Tactical Air Force, commanded the light daylight bombing force. He wanted his force to perform precision attacks on the continent, and was pushing hard to get Mosquitos to replace the Ventura and Mitchell bombers a number of his squadrons were equipped with. The Ventura, in particular, was not liked by crews. Said Pickard "It had the flying characteristics of a suitcase, and the elegance of a turnip." 487 Squadron had flown the Ventura on the disastrous Operation Ramrod 16, which resulted in 10 of the 12 aircraft sent being lost, while another was written off afterwards due to damage. The losses reduced the squadron pilots to half strength, and there were no aircraft left for them to fly. Said Flight Lieutenant Charles Patterson "The Ventura must have been quite the worst aircraft ever sent into operation. Not only was it extremely limited from an operational standpoint, but it was also an absolute devil to fly, being heavy, cumbersome and unmanoeuverable."

On the afternoon of 19 November 1943, Pickard returned to Framlingham, arriving on the Parham airfield. The Framlingham graduate had become a hero at the school. Each time Pickard was invested with another decoration from the King, the headmaster of the school had let all the boys off for a celebratory holiday. Now, the boy who had been a near washout returned to the College to address the boys there. He spoke for two hours, remarking on his experiences flying, but mostly commenting on the Mosquito and its utility as a marking aircraft and a precision daylight bomber. He was reported to have delivered this talk with "a most interesting and unvarnished account of his experiences, delivered in a notably human and intimate style and of absorbing interest".

On 1 December 1943 Pickard was joined at 140 Wing by his navigator, Flight Lieutenant Alan Broadley. Broadley was posted to 21 Squadron, but Pickard made him Wing Navigational Officer in January, and the two flew together for the duration.

About this time Leonard Cheshire was looking for a smaller aircraft to use for low level marking, and came over to ask Pickard about the feasibility of using the de Havilland Mosquito. Cheshire had just taken command of 617 Squadron. Known as the Dambusters, the squadron was struggling after the departure of Gibson and a number of losses suffered following their success on the Ruhr dams raid. On 19 December 1943 Cheshire visited Pickard, who took him up for a short test flight in the Mosquito. Impressed, Cheshire was eventually able to obtain four Mosquitos for his squadron, where they were used to good effect.

In May 1942 Pickard was awarded a second DSO for his part in the Bruneval raid, represented by a bar to the first DSO.

On 1 October 1942 Pickard was posted as CO of the No. 161 Squadron, a clandestine special duties squadron involved in supporting the resistance movement in occupied Europe. Pickard took over from Edward 'Mouse' Fielden. Fielden was moved to station commander of the field they were operating out of, RAF Tempsford. In taking over 161 Squadron Pickard had a significant load of administrative duties. These he directed his aide to handle, giving his aide responsibility for all his official correspondence and reports.

In 1941 he was asked to participate in the making of the Crown film Target for To-night. Attention from the film made him a public figure in England. Later that year he led the squadron of Whitley bombers that carried paratroopers to their drop for the Bruneval raid.

It was while Pickard was training the Czech pilots that he was approached to participate in a film project to promote the service. Pickard was reluctant to appear, but left 311 Squadron in mid-March, returning in April. The film, Target for To-Night, was released that summer, in July 1941. The plot concerned a Wellington bomber, F 'Freddie', taking part in a raid over Germany. Pickard appeared as Squadron Leader Dickson, the pilot, whose aircraft delivers its bombs but is damaged by flak over the target and struggles to make it back to England. The film was produced by the Crown Film Unit and directed by Harry Watt. The movie was created to boost the morale of the people of England and encourage young men to join the service. The film was a box office hit and won an Academy Award in 1942. With the release of the film Pickard became a public figure. Widely known as the pilot of the bomber “F-Freddie”, he was the living symbol of Bomber Command's night war against Germany.

During his time with 311 Squadron Pickard received his first Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in March 1941. He was also awarded the Czech Cross.

His 'rest period' completed, on 14 May 1941 Pickard was assigned to 9 Squadron based at Honington. Here he was flying the Vickers Wellington again. He was soon joined by Broadley, who by now had become a commissioned officer. In the summer of 1941 over the night skies of Germany, Pickard flew another 33 sorties with Broadley, bringing his total to 64 by the end of August. This mission total did not include those he flew with the Czechs. At the time, only about 25% of RAF aircrews survived to the end of a 30 sortie tour of combat. Crews who had completed a second tour of twenty were considered to have “done their part”, and were rotated away to non-combat roles.

In November 1941 Pickard was made commanding officer of 51 Squadron stationed at RAF Dishforth. The squadron was flying Whitleys. The older bombers were being used for photographic reconnaissance to evaluate targets and access bomb damage.

Pickard was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in July 1940 for services rendered over Norway. By the end of November 1940, after a year with 99 Squadron, Pickard and Broadley had completed 31 sorties and were rotated to non-operational duties.

On 30 October 1939 Pickard was posted to 7 Squadron flying Hampden bombers at RAF Upper Heyford. He was then returned to 214 Squadron until this squadron was disbanded to form an operational training unit. Pickard briefly returned to 7 Squadron before being posted to 99 Squadron at Newmarket Heath, where he flew the Vickers Wellington, one of the best bomber aircraft available at the time. He completed his first tour with 99 Squadron.

Pickard's skill as a pilot was soon noticed, and in 1938 he was appointed ADC to Air Vice Marshall John Baldwin, the air officer, commanding the training program at Cranwell.

In January planning had begun by the Combined Operations Headquarters under Lord Mountbatten in response to a request by R.V. Jones and the TRE to capture a German radar, an example of which was located on the bluffs overlooking the French coast near Bruneval. German air defenses had been improving, and they had developed a new radar, the Würzburg air defence radar, which could read both an aircraft's direction of flight and its altitude. Transmitting this information to circling night fighters made the job of locating a bomber in the dark of night much easier. Jones and his group were keen to examine one, so they might devise methods to disrupt it. A raid making use of elements of the newly formed British 1st Airborne Division was planned. Air transport for the mission was to be provided by 38 Wing, a unit just brought together, but problems with this unit due to insufficient transport aircraft and a lack of veteran crews caused the mission to be reassigned to the more experienced 51 Squadron under Pickard.

Upon returning to England Pickard volunteered to serve as an officer with the Army, but was declined on account of his poor school results. He then applied to the Royal Air Force, who were in the midst of a massive expansion, and was accepted. He was granted an RAF short service commission in January 1937, completing his pilot training program with an "above average" rating. He was posted to 214 Squadron, equipped with the Handley Page Harrow bomber. He received a commission as Acting Pilot Officer 25 January 1937. The posting of Pilot Officer was confirmed and made permanent 16 November 1937. During this period he began seeing Dorothy Hodgkin. Her family did not approve of the couple, but they wed anyway. He gave his bride the present of a large Old English Sheepdog to keep her company while he was away. They named the dog 'Ming'.

Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard, DSO & Two Bars, DFC (16 May 1915 – 18 February 1944) was an officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He served as a pilot and commander, and was the first officer of the RAF to be awarded the DSO three times during the war. He flew over a hundred sorties and distinguished himself in a variety of operations requiring coolness under fire.