Percy Pickard

Percy 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	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 war.^[1] He flew over a hundred sorties and distinguished himself in a variety of operations requiring coolness under fire.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]