Earl Eugene Pickard

Military

Earl Pickard was a Pilot in the 388th Bomb Group/563rd Bomb Squadron. Shot down 30 July 1943 in B-17 #42-30202. Prisoner of War (POW). He remained in the Air Force and was posted to different bases, including in Japan in the 1950s. Ended his career with the rank of Captain.

Connections

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Units served with

388th Bomb Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

563rd Bomb Squadron

Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

People

Donald Morris Boyd

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 388th Bomb Group 563rd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 12168148
Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Robert James Hoke

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 388th Bomb Group 563rd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: O-673572
Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
Role/Job: Navigator

Billy James Hooker

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 388th Bomb Group 563rd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: T-325
Highest Rank: Flight Officer
Role/Job: Co-Pilot

Orville Winfard Lewis

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 388th Bomb Group 563rd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 38188080
Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner

Ralph Thadus May

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 388th Bomb Group 563rd Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 34312218
Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
Role/Job: waist gunner

Aircraft

42-30202

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Unit: 388th Bomb Group 563rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

A Dutch soldier surveys the wreckage of a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 381st Bomb Group that has crashed near Apeldoorn. First Handwritten caption on reverse: '381BG, 30/7/43 by Fighters.' Second Handwritten caption on reverse: '42-3100, 381 BG, 532 BS. 3 KM SE of Apeldoorn, 30-7-43 10:45 Hrs. RNAF'

VIII Bomber Command 80

Date: 30 July 1943

Places

Knettishall

Site type: Airfield

Events

Event	Date	Description
Born	31 August 1921	Somerset, Lincoln County, Nebraska, the son of Leo Garfield Pickard (1881-1935) and Myrtle I. (Sloan) Pickard (1900-1996), who had re-married with one B. M. Doyle
Enlisted	13 December 1942	Nebraska
Other Bailed out	30 July 1943	over Belgium from the B-17 Serial 42-30202 he was piloting
Other captured and made a Prisoner of War (POW)	30 July 1943	Interned at Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan/Zagan; force-marched from there at the end of January 1945. Arrived at Stalag 7A in Moosburg, Germany. Liberated there by US troops 29 April 1945. NARA WWII POW records :"Returned to Allied Military Control 12 June 1945."
Other Re-enlisted	23 April 1946	in the Air Corps, as a Master Sergeant, in Portland, Oregon (he lived in Umatilla County, Oregon at the time)
Died	8 November 1971	Athena, Umatilla County, Oregon
		North Platte City, Lincoln County, Nebraska
Buried		Athena Cemetry, Athena, Umatilla County, Oregon

Revisions

Date20 Jan 2020 15:05:03

ContributorED-BB

Changes

Sources

MACR 3125
US Census 1940 for Nebraska
NARA WWII Enlistment records (1946)
Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File
Personal research for 42-30202 and its crew for Tail Gunner Donald Boyd's page at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fboyddm.html

Date27 Sep 2014 18:07:57

ContributorAAM

Changes

Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3125 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database