On 8 November 1918, Pickthorn took command of No. 84 Squadron. Two days later, flying a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a, serial number "F904", he destroyed a Fokker D.VII east of Mutagne. The following day, 11 November, the armistice came into effect, ending the fighting. Pickthorn's S.E.5a eventually became part of the Shuttleworth Collection based at Old Warden Aerodrome, Bedfordshire, where it remains in flyable condition.