Arrived 1-Dec-43 at Bassingbourn. Flew 32 missions. Last 10 - 12 as group/wing lead. Shot down 3-Mar-44 in B-17 42-37965 'My Desire'. Plane crashed into North Sea. Retired from USAF in 1975 after 33 years of active duty. 

Colonel Pickard's memoir 'The Gods that Smiled' traces his career in the Air Force during and after the Second World War and its aftermath. He piloted a B-17 with the 91st arriving in England December 1943 and writes of the bloody air battles which took place that winter. On one mission he was forced to ditch in the North Sea with the loss of half of his crew. He also writes of the lighter side of life - on leave in London - and detached duty in North Africa and Italy. 

In the Reserve after 1945 he was recalled during the Korean War and remained on in the Service during the period of the 'Cold War', on assignments in England and other NATO states. He also served on the Air Staff at the Pentagon for a period of three years. 
 

Mission List: Tours, Croisette, Brunswick, Wilhelmshaven, Avord

• Leipzig, Schweinfurt, Augsburg, Frankfurt, Berlin*, Kiel
• Cherbourg, Kerlin/Bastard, Boulogne, Cambrai, Bordeaux
• Hamburg, Hamburg, Berlin, Anizy, Crepieul, Lechfeld, St Lo, Merseburg, MullHouse, FR, Peenemunde, Bourron-Marlotte, Bretteville sur-Laize
• Le Manior, FR, Metz.
  
  Awars: DFC, AM (3OLC), LM, EAME (3BS), WWII Victory