Talk:Percy Charles Pickard/Temp

Percy Charles Pickard
Nickname(s)	"Pick"
Born	(1915-05-19)19 May 1915 Handsworth, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	18 February 1944(1944-02-18) (aged 28) Amiens, France
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1937–1944
Rank	Group Captain
Commands held	No. 140 Wing RAF No. 51 Squadron No. 161 Squadron
Battles/wars	Second World War European air campaign Norwegian campaign French and Low Countries campaign Battle of France Dunkirk evacuation French bombing campaign Operation Biting Operation Jericho  †
Awards	Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars Distinguished Flying Cross Mentioned in Despatches Czechoslovak War Cross 1939

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 course of the Second World War. He flew over a hundred sorties and distinguished himself in a variety of operations requiring coolness under fire. In 1941 he participated in the making of the 1941 wartime film Target for To-night, which made him a public figure in England. He led the squadron of Whitley bombers that carried paratroopers to their drop for the Bruneval raid.

Throughout 1943 he commanded No. 161 Squadron RAF, the highly secretive RAF air squadron that flew SOE agents into occupied France and retrieved them in the dark of night, using the Westland Lysander to ferry the agents back and forth from very small improvised landing strips. He was a very active CO, and flew many missions himself. In early 1944 Pickard led a group of Mosquitos on the Amiens raid to destroy the walls of a Gestopo prison and free the prisoners inside. Pickard was killed in this operation, 18 February 1944. 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.

Early life

Pickard was born in Handsworth, Sheffield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He was the youngest of five hildren, with an older brother and three older sisters. His father was Percy Charles Pickard, a Yorkshireman who moved to London and started a catering company. Having the same name as his father and being the youngest in the family, he was affectionately referred to as 'Boy', and the family nickname persisted, even as he grew to be 6' 4". He was sent to Framlingham College. His older brother Walter joined the RAF and became an officer. His oldest sister, Helena Pickard, became an actress. She married well known actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Though bright and engaging, Pickard was a poor student, and struggled with both reading and writing. Some later came to believe later that he had struggled with dyslexia. He was enthusiastic in school sports, and excelled at shooting, but by far his favorite activity was riding horses.

The father of one of Pickard's schoolmates owned a farm in Britsh East Africa, and offered his son to bring a classmate along when he came out to work on the farm once they graduated from college. Pickard took up the offer. The schoolmate returned after a couple of years but Pickard choose to stay on. The vast grasslands provided ample opportunity for riding, and Pickard excelled as a Polo player, earning a 3 handicap. While there Pickard enlisted in the King's African Rifles as a reservist.

With the gathering dark clouds of war looming, Pickard and two of his friends chose to return to England. Lacking the funds for a full passage, they drove their car north through Italian Somaliland, British Somaliland, Egyptian Sudan and finally to Egypt. Along the way Pickard became ill with Malaria and they had to stop for some time, but the group eventually made it to Alexandria from which they obtained transport back to England. Once he arrived he 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. He was granted an RAF short service commission in 1936. After initial flying training 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 met and 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'.

Pickard trained with his bomber squadron for a short time before being appointed ADC to Air Vice Marshall John Baldwin in 1938, who was commander of the training group at Cranwell.

Early war: 99 Squadron and 1st Tour

Whitley bomber

On 30 October 1939 Pickard was posted to 7 Squadron flying Hampden bombers at RAF Upper Heyford. Pickard was returned to 214 Squadron. This squadron was disbanded to form an operational training unit, and he briefly returned 7 Squadron before a more permanent posting to 99 Squadron at Newmarket Heath was made. Here Pickard piloted the Vickers Wellington, one of the best bomber aircraft available at the time.

(needs work) In the early stages of the war prior to the German invasion of France Bomber command was reticent about escalating the war by launching major attacks on German cities. Instead they confined their command to coastal patrols and dropping leaflets upon German cities. With the German invasion of Denmark and Norway Bomber Command became more active.

Flying Whitley bombers with Squadron, Pickard participated in fighting over Norway, France and during the Dunkirk evacuation. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in July 1940 while serving as a flight lieutenant in a bomber squadron. However Bomber Commands early daylight raids against Germany revealed that the defensive armament of the bombers was inadequate to defend them against German fighter aircraft. After suffering significant losses the bombers were withdrawn from daylight attacks. Stanley Baldwin's axiom “The bombers will always get through” was proven false.

Bomber Command searched for a new role they could fill to contribute to the war effort. Both the Army and Royal Navy were desperate for aircraft to help them in their respective endeavors, and bomber command's strength was being attenuated as aircraft were shifted to the Navy to help with submarine patrols and the army needed aircraft in the Western Desert. Bomber Command looked to move its bombing campaign against Germany to night missions.  Though much safer to the aircrews, there was great difficulty in finding and attacking the target when using visual aids only. Foul weather would cloak targets, and the industrial Ruhr valley area generated enough smoke from its factories to keep the target area in a constant shroud of fog.

Slowly navigation techniques improved, as did their accuracy. It was during this period that Pickard met fellow Yorkshireman navigator Alan Broadley, who was to become his good friend and comrade to the end. When Pickard was transferred he always asked that Broadley be transferred as well. The two flew over 100 sorties together. At 99 Squadron Pick became notorious for pressing on to the target. Aircraft service crews grew accustomed to Pickard and Broadley returning in an aircraft that had been peppered with flak and night fighter damage.

Pickard had settled down to a fairly comfortable life living on base with his wife Dorothy and English Sheep dog ‘Ming.’ With horse racing suspended because of the war, Pick was able to acquire two race horses inexpensively. Whether he was flying that night or not, Pickard would ride each morning, with Ming running alongside. He also had gained adequate seniority get use of the station Tiger Moth for some aerobatics.

British High Speed Launch rescues a downed aircrew

Pickard soon developed a reputation for "pressing on," he and Broadley often returning in aircraft peppered with flak and cannon fire damage. In one of these missions to the Ruhr, Pickard’s Wellington took critical flak damage. Loosing altitude, he was able to nurse the aircraft past the coast but ended up having to ditch in the North Sea. The crew escaped alive and all entered a rubber dinghy. After a number of hours they were located by an RAF rescue launch. Unfortunately, Pickard had set down in a mine field. It took many more hours for them to drift out of the mine field so they could be picked up. In all they spent 14 hours in the bitter cold of the North Sea. Pickard was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in July 1940 while serving as a flight lieutenant in 99 Squadron.

By the end of November, Pickard and Broadley had completed 31 sorties, and were rotated to non-operational duties.  Pickard, however, soon found a means of getting more ‘Ops’ on the board.

Pilot instruction at 311 (Czech) Squadron

A training Czech crew examines a map of the continent

With the completion of his first tour Pickard was promoted to Squadron leader and transferred to a training position, working to train pilots in the No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron operating out of RAF East Wretham. 311 Squadron was not-fully operational. Most of the squadron's flights were coastal patrol missions, but as part of the training process from time to time the crews were sent along with combat squadrons on missions over Germany. Pickard proved a hard task master and persistent instructor, often joining his pupils in the cock-pit as co-pilot in their flights into Germany. As he was a "ride along" instructor, these sortie flights were off the book and did not add to Pickard’s sortie totals. Language obstacles proved a significant barrier between Pickard and his trainees. Due to the high variation in competence, Pickard decided to concentrate his efforts on those pilots with the most experience flying. An interpreter told him of one man with 2000 hours flying experience. Pickard turned his attention to him. After several trips together Pickard felt the pilot strangely inept for a man with 2000 flying hours under his belt. Upon further questioning of the interpreter Pickard discovered that the individual was actually a navigator, with no piloting experience at all. Undeterred, Pickard pressed on training the man as a pilot anyway. Ironically, the trainee ended up married Pickard’s sister Hilary.

It was during this period that he was asked to volunteer for the production of Target for To-Night. 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. The film was a box office hit and won an Academy Award in 1942.

For his service with 311 Squadron he received his first Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in March 1941. He was also awarded the Czech Cross.

As an officer, Pickard was mild mannered, approachable and humourous but determined in the face of action. He was often seen about the airbase with his sheepdog Ming. He was popular with his men.

Note: Pickard pulled a number of Czechs from a burning wrecked aircraft, braving the explosions of the planes bomb load. It was this action for which he received his second DSO.

2nd tour with 9 Squadron

His ‘rest period’ completed, on 14 May 1941 he was assigned to 9 Squadron and was joined there by Broadley, who by now had become a commissioned officer. In the night skies over Germany in the summer of 1941, Pickard flew another 33 sorties with Broadley, bringing his total to 64 by the end of August. His mission total did not include those missions he flew with the Czechs. At the time, only about 30% of RAF aircrews survived to the end of a 30 sortie tour of combat. Crews who had completed two such tours were considered to have “done their part”, and were rotated away to non-combat roles. With the end of his second tour he was rotated off and was assigned 3 Group headquarters as a shuttle pilot flying senior command officers between airbases. However, he but took no pleasure in such service, and found it tedious.

He soon talked his way back onto an operational squadron. Two months later in November 1941 he was transferred to 51 Squadron flying Whitley’s. The squadron’s bombers had been modified to perform photographic reconnaissance, assessing targets and evaluating bomb damage. He flew several of these missions before he was tasked with commanding a special mission. German air defenses had been improving, and they had a new radar, the ‘Wurzberg’ air defence radar, (Freya?) which was very accurate. It could detect aircraft altitude and direction. British defence scientists wanted to learn how it worked. One such station had been positioned on a bluff overlooking the French coast. Another rest had him posted to 3 Group headquarters to ferry senior officers between airfields. Having completed two operational tours, Pickard and Broadley had fulfilled their operational requirements, and need not have done any more operations. But again, he talked his way back into an operational unit.

• Pickard and Broadley could have done so, but had no interest in being in a non-operational posting.

51 Squadron

The German Wurzburg radar station near Bruneval

In November 1941 Pickard was made commanding officer of No. 51 Squadron stationed at Dishforth, flying Whitleys. The older bombers were being used for high level photographic reconnaissance. In January 1942 he and his squadron began training for a low level operation over occupied France. Their Whitely bombers were modified, with holes cut in the fuselage to allow paratroopers to jump from the aircraft. In late February the mission was postponed three times for poor weather. Finally on a snowy evening on 27 February the squadron took off with their paratroopers on board for what became known as the Bruneval raid. Their flight was made in conjunction with bombing missions being conducted by Bomber Command, and Pickard's Whitelys units destined to bomb targets in Germany.

Pickard was waiting dockside for the paratroopers' return. Here he examines for the cameras a German helmut taken in the raid against the radar station at Bruneval

In May 1942 he was awarded a bar to his DSO for this action.

Special operations

In May 1942, as wing commander in charge of No. 51 Squadron based at RAF Dishforth, he was awarded a bar to the DSO in recognition of his leadership in Operation Biting (also known as the Bruneval raid) on 27 February 1942. Pickard's role was to fly in and allow members of the British 1st Airborne Division to parachute behind enemy lines from a Whitley bomber to capture and retrieve a Wurzburg radar installation. The raid was a complete success. After the raid, the King and Queen visited Dishforth. Upon asking why there were two footprints on the ceiling of the mess, Pickard with total honesty explained that the post raid party had led to hi-jinks and the footprints were his.

Pickard pictured in 1942.

No. 161 Squadron missions

October 1942 saw Pickard posted to No. 161 Squadron. In March 1943, while commanding 161 – which carried out operations in support of the SOE in occupied Europe – at RAF Tempsford he was awarded a second bar to the DSO for outstanding leadership ability and fine fighting qualities. Flying Westland Lysanders, he was involved in flying British agents and supplies both in and out of occupied Europe on behalf of the SOE alongside Hugh Verity.

Pickard had a talented team of pilots under his command, including Frank Rymills, Peter Vaughan-Fowler and Jim McCairns. Pickard specialised in 'moonlight operations,' flying spies and materiel on a night of the full moon. On one flight in November 1942 he did not receive the expected signal from the ground so that he could land, and had to flee when attacked by two Luftwaffe fighters. Using the Lysander's superior handling and slower speed, Pickard managed to escape back to England despite being repeatedly fired upon and chased across the English Channel. On another occasion, he rescued seven agents and managed to take off despite the agents being closely hunted by the Gestapo.

One of the agents Pickard worked with was Henri Déricourt, who was suspected in some quarters of being a double agent, although he was later acquitted.

Jim McCairns, Hugh Verity, Pickard, Peter Vaughan-Fowler and Bunny Rymills with Verity's Lysander in 1943.

Hudson flights

Working with Verity, the two pushed for the Lockheed Hudson to be introduced for SOE work to give greater flexibility and be able to transport more passengers then the Lysander could offer. The two men then worked out the logistics of operating the Hudson from the French fields which were still Nazi occupied. The Hudson went into operational service with 161 on 13 February 1943. The first mission, flown by Pickard delivered five agents into France. In all, the Hudson flew 36 successful sorties without loss, delivering 139 agents and extracting 221, although several early fights in early 1943 saw Pickard operating with his wrist in a plaster cast, the result of more riotous parties in the mess hall.

A sortie to pick up two operatives led to Pickard's aircraft to become stuck in mud on landing. It took the three men with help from several people in a local village to free the aircraft for take off, but the mission led to Pickard being awarded a second bar to his DSO, making him the first RAF officer in the Second World War to be awarded as such.

Pickard recommended one of his pilots, Flt Lt Geoffrey Osborn be recommended for the George Medal after Osborn's aircraft crashed and he single handedly rescued several members of his crew from the burning plane. Osborn was given the award.

During the early planning for Operation Chastise, Guy Gibson sought Pickard's help to plan the route for the mission. 617 Squadron's commander valued Pickard's knowledge and experience, and he was able to provide Gibson with details of the position of the German flak batteries. This proved invaluable and allowed Gibson to plot a course that avoided the majority of the flak posts.

No. 140 Wing

For a while Pickard was station commander at RAF Sculthorpe. In October 1943 he was given command of No. 140 Wing of the Second Tactical Air Force by Basil Embry. This put him in charge of three squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito fast bombers. They became specialised in low level precision attacks.

On 3 October, Pickard led 12 Mosquitos on an attack against the Pont Chateau power station. The power station was badly damaged and all 12 aircraft returned to base safely.

When Leonard Cheshire was trying to convince his superiors to use the de Havilland Mosquito as a low level marking aircraft to assist 617 Squadron, he approached Pickard for help. Cheshire had just taken command of the Dambusters, who were in a slump after their success with the Ruhr dams raid and the departure of Gibson. On 19 December 1943, Cheshire visited Pickard and the two men went over the merits of the aircraft. Pickard took Cheshire up for a short test flight to demonstrate how good the Mosquito was. Impressed, he was eventually able to obtain the Mosquito for his squadron's use and it was used to good effect, initially with Cheshire flying as the marking pilot.

Amiens Raid

No. 140 Wing was tasked with Operation Jericho. Embry was initially earmarked in to lead the raid, but he stepped aside. This allowed Pickard to take command of the 18 February 1944 low-level attack on the Amiens Prison, despite having limited experience with low level operations Each Mosquito squadron was to have an escort of one Hawker Typhoon squadron, 174 Squadron and 245 Squadron from RAF Westhampnett and a squadron provided by Air Defence of Great Britain (the part of Fighter command not transferred to the 2nd Tactical Air Force) from RAF Manston.. The attack was carried out at the request of the French resistance in order to allow a considerable number of their imprisoned members, who were soon to be executed by the occupying Nazis, the chance to escape. The Resistance stated that the prisoners had said they would rather take the chance of being killed by RAF bombs than be shot by the Nazis.

487 Squadron Mosquitos over Amiens Prison as their bombs explode, showing the snow-covered buildings and landscape.

At the end of the mission briefing, Pickard was quoted as saying 'It's a death or glory job, boys.' The whole mission was flown at tree top height, with precision bombing required. Operation Jericho was a success; the prison walls were breached and prison buildings and guards' barracks were destroyed. Of the 832 prisoners, 102 were killed by the bombing, 74 were wounded and 258 escaped, however two-thirds of the escapees were later recaptured.

Aftermath

Pickard, together with his Navigator, Flight Lieutenant J. A. "Bill" Broadley, were killed when their Mosquito, HX922/"EG-F", was shot down by a Fw 190 flown by Feldwebel Wilhelm Mayer of 7. Staffel Jagdgeschwader 26 in the closing stages of the operation. Pickard and Broadley were initially reported missing and then in September 1944 it was announced that they had been 'killed in action'.

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. Pickard's death left Dorothy to bring up their young son on her own.

The French government called for him to receive a posthumous Victoria Cross. Lord Londonderry advocated for Pickard to receive the award, however Basil Embry declined to support this, stating that the Amiens raid was a standard operation and did not warrant it. He felt that Pickard's other awards justified the decision for him to not receive the VC. The French also sought to award Pickard the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre, but this was not permitted as British policy did not allow acceptance of posthumous awards from foreign countries. Pickard's family have continued to petition to allow the awards.

No. 140 Wing went on to perform a similar low level raid, Operation Carthage, destroying Gestapo Headquarters in Copenhagen on 21 March, 1945.

The 1969 motion picture Mosquito Squadron is partially based on the Operation Jericho raid.

Honours

• United Kingdom: Distinguished Flying Cross 30 July 1940
• United Kingdom: Distinguished Service Order 7 March 1941
• Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak War Cross 1939  15 July 1941
• United Kingdom: Distinguished Service Order  26 May 1942
• United Kingdom: Distinguished Service Order, 26 March 1943

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Bateman, Alex No 617 'Dambuster' Sqn Oxford : Osprey, (2009).
• Bowyer, Chaz Bomber Barons Barnsley : Cooper, (2001).
• Gibson, Guy Enemy coast ahead : the illustrated memoir of Dambuster Guy Gibson Barnsley, S. Yorkshire : Greenhill Books, (2019).
• Orchard, Adrian Group Captain Percy Charles “Pick” Pickard DSO**, DFC 1915 - 1944 February 2006
• Otter, Patrick 1 Group: Swift to Attack: Bomber Command's Unsung Heroes Barnsley, South Yorkshire : Pen & Sword Aviation, (2013).
• Shores, Christopher F and Chris Thomas 2nd Tactical Air Force Hersham, Surrey (2004).
• Verity, Hugh We Landed by Moonlight Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Limited (1978).

Further reading

• Bourne, Merfyn The Second World War in the air : the story of air combat in every theatre of World War Two Leicester: Matador, (2013).
• Bowyer, Chaz Mosquito at war London: Allan (1979). ISBN 978-0-7110-0474-0
• Hamilton, Alexander Wings of Night : Secret Missions of Group Captain Pickard, DSO and Two Bars, DFC Crecy Bks., (1977). ISBN 978-0-7183-0415-7
• Harclerode, Peter Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918-1945 Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2005). ISBN 0-304-36730-3
• McCairns, James Lysander Pilot (2015).
• O'Connor, Bernard RAF Tempsford : Churchill's most secret airfield Stroud: Amberley (2010).
• Oliver, David Airborne Espionage Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited (2005).
• Otway, T.B.H The Second World War 1939-1945 Army — Airborne Forces Imperial War Museum, (1990). ISBN 0-901627-57-7
• Ward, Chris and Steve Smith 3 Group Bomber Command: an operational record Barnsley : Pen & Sword Aviation (2008).
• Williams, Ray Armstrong Whitworth's Night Bomber Aeroplane Monthly, October 1982.