Talk:Percy Charles Pickard/Temp
Royal Air Force officer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1] 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.
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Percy Charles Pickard | |
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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/ | Royal Air Force |
Years of service | 1937–1944 |
Rank | Group Captain |
Commands | No. 140 Wing RAF No. 51 Squadron No. 161 Squadron |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Awards | Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars Distinguished Flying Cross Mentioned in Despatches Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 |
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.[2][3]