Percy Charles Pickard

Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard, (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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pickard was born in Handsworth, Sheffield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

He was the youngest of five children, 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 of five in the family, he was affectionately referred to as 'Boy', and the family nickname persisted, even as he grew to be 6' 4". 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. Pickard was sent to Framlingham College. Though bright and engaging, Pickard struggled with both reading and writing. There is some evidence to suggest he struggled with dyslexia. Nevertheless, he was an enthusiastic classmate, and was active in school sports. He developed into an excellent shot, and captained his house rifle team. His favorite activity was riding horses. A farm in British East Africa was owned by the family of another student. To encourage their son in coming to Africa they offered to board one of his classmates when he graduated, to bring along when he came down to the farm.

Pickard took the offer.

After a couple of years the classmate returned to England, but Pickard stayed 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 war looming in Europe, Pickard and three 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 deathly ill with Malaria.

The group of travelers had to stop for some time.

Eventually they made it to Alexandria, from which they obtained transport back to England.

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.