Walter Merritt Pickard
MilitaryFold3.com
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
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19092969
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist gunner
Aircraft
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
4 April 1920 | Born in Andalusia, Alabama in 1919 or Covington, Alabama in 1920 (has two draft registration record cards) | |
Enlisted |
2 April 1942 | EnlistedFort Benning, Georgia | |
Other Ditched |
3 March 1944 - 3 March 1944 | Ditched in English ChannelRescued by ASR | |
Other Discharged |
15 October 1945 | ||
Died |
20 January 2002 | DiedAlexandria, Virginia | |
Buried |
23 January 2002 | InterredLuverne, Alabama |
Revisions
Biography completed by historian Helen Millgate. Information sourced from newsletters of the 91st Bomb Group related to the service of Walter Pickard.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3222 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / http://www.91stbombgroup.com/crewphotos/ramblinrebel.html# / self, MACR 3222, Wrote 'The Gods Sailed' an autobio we have in library