A very scarce World War II medal, a pilot wings badge presented RAF Group Captain Walter J. Pickard who served as a station commander at Lyneham and was often responsible for several V.I.P. flights. Most notably in 1945 while stationed at Saki in Crimea, he was responsible for the safe travel of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt onto Soviet soil for the Yalta Conference. The roughly 1.75 x 2.5 in. badge features gilded pilot wings at the top of a silver laurel wreath with a sword bearing the coat of arms of Czechoslovakia. The reverse is marked as silver and bears the stamp of 'Spink and Son, London.' Slight tarnishing, else fine condition. Accompanied an original red leather presentation case. Rather surprisingly, these badges were most often awarded to British pilots.