De Havilland
Mosquito of Group Captain Percy Pickard of 487 Squadron Royal New Zealand
Air Force in aviation art print. The De Havilland Mosquito's took part in
night bombing missions as well as the Amiens prison raid and assaults on
Gestapo Headquarters. Aviation art prints available from Cranston Fine
Arts.
Aircraft side view by M A Kinnear.
De Havilland Mosquito FBVI HX922 EG-F.
Group Captain P.C. 'Pick' Pickard,
DSO, DFC, CzMC:
Born 16th May 1915, at Handsworth
Sheffield, Percy Charles 'Pick' Pickard stands out as one of the truly
great characters of the 1939-45 Air War. His long operational career,
covering many aspects of aerial conflict, included some of the most daring
episodes in the RAF's history. In Air Force circles he was admired for his
consistent leadership, determination and courage. Outside the RAF he was
well known as Sqd Ldr Dickson, the skipper of Wellington, F for Freddie,
in the popular Crown Film Unit 1941 production 'Target for Tonight'. Back
on operations he played a key role in the successful airborne Commando
raid against the German Wurzburg Radar Installation near Bruneval, and
flying numerous 'cloak and dagger' sorties, carrying supplies and agents
for the S.O.E. into Nazi occupied Europe. He was the leader of the
legendary Amiens Prison Raid (Operation Jericho) which saved the lives of
Resistance fighters. Operation Jericho was an immediate success as a
positive direct result of the two leading squadrons (No.s 464 and 487)
accurate bombing. On seeing the outcome, Pickard told the third wave (21
Squadron) to return to base. As Pickard and Broadley flew away from the
target, at 500ft, their aircraft was attacked from astern by Fw190s and
their first burst of fire severed the Mosquito's tail section. The
aircraft flicked onto its back and dived into the ground, exploding in
flames on impact. 'Pick' Pickard and 'Bill' Broadley, aged 28 and 22
respectively had made their last flight together.
Flight Lieutenant J. A. 'Bill' Broadley, DSO, DFC, DFM:
John Alan Broadley was born in Richmond,
Yorkshire in 1921. Joining the RAF on leaving school, he trained as a
Sergeant Observer, and flew many operations over Germany during the first
two years of war. He joined No.9 Squadron May 1941, and became Pick
Pickards regular navigator. During June-August he flew with Pickard
against major German targets such as Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne and was
awarded the DFM for outstanding ability and courage. In August 1941 he was
posted to No.138 Squadron, a special duties unit, supplying the resistance
and dropping / recovering agents. November 18th 1941 he was commissioned
as Pilot Officer and moved to No.51 squadron. During the night of February
27th/28th 1942, he flew with Pickard on Operation Biting, which involved
dropping paratroops to recover parts of the German Wurzburg radar
from Bruneral, near Le Havre. July 1942 he was posted to No.296 Squadron a
glider towing unit. During November, Broadley moved to No.161 Squadron,
another special duties unit and whilst here was awarded the DFC, DSO and
also gained promotion to Flight Lieutenant. On 1st December 1943 he made
his final move to No.21 Squadron part of 140 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air
Force. Appointed Wing Navigational Officer during January 1944. Flew many
low level raids with Pickard, culminating with Operation Jericho.
487 squadron was formed at Feltwell,
Norfolk, 15th August 1942, equipped with Lockheed Ventura aircraft,
commencing operations on 6th December. 487 contributed 16 aircraft to the
famous low-level raid on the Phillips radio and valve factory at Eindhoven,
and continued in the daylight role with Venturas until June 1943. On one
operation during this period, the squadron suffered heavy losses. On May
3rd during a raid on Amsterdam, ten out of 11 aircraft were shot down.
After the war when the full account of the raid became known, the B Flight
Commander Sqd Ldr L.H. Trent, a New Zealander in the RAF, who had been a
prisoner of war since being shot down on the raid was awarded the Victoria
Cross for his outstanding leadership during the Amsterdam raid. On 1st
June 1943, 487 was transferred from Bomber Command to the newly formed 2nd
Tactical Air Force (TAF). During September 1943, 487 re-equipped with the
De Havilland Mosquito F.B VI and was mainly used on night bombing,
although the squadron took part in several daylight precision operations.
These included the Amiens prison raid 18th February 1944, Gestapo
Headquarters, Aarhus in Denmark on 31st October 1944 and Gestapo Headquarters
in Copenhagen on 21st March 1945. The squadron operated from the continent
from February until September 1945 where at Cambrai/Epinoy, France it was
renumbered 16 Squadron RAF (later amended to 268 Squadron). In addition to
Sqd Ldr Trent's Victoria Cross, the New Zealand personnel of 487 squadron
were awarded 1 DSO, 7 DFC's, one bar to DFC and 1 DFM.
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