ON Friday Five broadcasts a programme about one of Handsworth's most famous sons. No, not Sean Bean but Group Captain Percy Charles Pickard.
And Sandra Gillott wants the Diary to tell everyone about it.
"He was one of the heroes of the Second World War but few people remember him now," says Mary, chairman of the Handsworth Historical Society.
Pickard, or 'Pick' as he was known, led Operation Jericho, the famous raid on Amiens prison in France on February 18, 1944.
The Germans were planning to execute prisoners from the French Resistance the following morning.
Instead, Pickard, leading 15 Mosquito bombers escorted by eight Typhoon fighters, precision-bombed the walls of the jail.
It led to 258 prisoners escaping, including 79 resistance and political prisoners, although some were later recaptured. Sadly, 102 were killed in the raid.
The Resistance was tipped off about the raid, saying they would rather take their chances with RAF bombs against the certainty of a German bullet.
Pickard, who had a reputation for daring and courage, never came home.
One of his planes had gone down and Pickard circled the scene to see if the pilot had baled out safely. His aircraft was hit from behind and he went down in flames.
Pickard, who was born in Handsworth on May 16, 1915 and was just 28 when he died, is buried with his navigator Bill Broadley at the St Pierre Cemetery near Amiens.
But there is no memorial to him back home in his native city.
Sandra says: "When he was born his home was in Handsworth but by the time he died the boundary was moved so his home finished up in Darnall.
"That's why his name does not appear on either memorial."
There is, though, a tribute to the airman with his story and photographs in a corner of the Handsworth Historical Society's museum behind St Mary's Church, Handsworth.
The society persuaded the council to name two new roads after him, Pickard Crescent and Pickard Drive, a few years ago.
In his wartime career he was awarded the DSO (with two bars) and DFC but well before the raid was already a household name.
He had played Squadron Leader Dickson, skipper for the Wellington bomber 'F For Freddie,' in the wartime propaganda film, Target For Tonight.
The Pickards were a well-known family. His sister Helena, an actress, married fellow actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
Sandra says: "She gave him special compass buttons to sew on to his uniform and when he was downed in the North Sea, he used them to get to land."
Daring Raids of World War Two is broadcast on Five on Friday at 7.30pm.
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