On a snow shrouded winter morning in February
1944 18 De Havilland Mosquitoes raced wingtip to wingtip at wave top height across
the English Channel. Their objective was a pinpoint strike to breach the
walls of Amiens prison in occupied France and free resistance Fighters
held there under sentence of death. What followed was one of the most incredible
aerial missions of the entire Second World War, all caught on camera in real time. In this
video we'll combine the latest technology, vetera
n accounts and that unique wartime footage
to share the story of the Amiens prison raid. By February 1944, the Second World War was in a
key period of change. In the East the Germans were on the defensive, though still in some strength,
and in the West the Allies were engaged in bitter fighting around Monte Cassino. But for the bulk
of the population of Western Europe, occupation was still the order of the day. That didn’t
mean that those occupiers were out of reach, or that the Western All
ies still couldn’t strike
meaningful blows deep into the third reich. Foremost amongst those forces employed by
the allies in early 1944 were the aircraft and aircrews of the Royal Air Force. Highly
experienced by now, they had led bombing raids against key targets for years – and occasionally,
when required, had led far more intricate, high speed, low level strikes against specific
targets, and often for a very specific purpose. In February of that year the medieval
city of Amiens, some 7
5 miles from Paris, would play host to one of the most daring
raids of the entire Second World War. The whole region of northern France
was of particular interest to allied planners at this stage of the war. Not
only was it a potential invasion site, but was also connected to a new and very
real threat in the form of V1 and V2 rockets, which would before long be hammering allied
cities on an hourly basis. These combined factors meant that the eyes and ears of the French
resistance on the g
round were absolutely vital. The resistance setup in France at the time was
rather confusing, a number of organisations existed, each with different names, goals and
structures, and often opposing political aims. They engaged in activities such as intelligence
gathering, sabotage and assisting escaped prisoners, with varying success. But, with
invasion planning proceeding apace, it was at least agreed on that the resistance would be
needed soon to sew as much disruption as possible. Combati
ng the ever-emboldened French resistance
were a number of specialist German units, including the Gestapo and the secretive
Abwehr. Tasked with capturing resisters and dismantling networks, they had been fighting
their own war within occupied France since 1940. Over the previous year, hundreds of suspected
resistance members had been captured, including, whether known to the Germans or not, some serious
players in the French resistance networks. With vital knowledge of local setups, the long
er they
were imprisoned, the higher the chance of them giving away vital information under interrogation.
Many were held here, in Amiens Prison. So let’s take a look at the prison. Still in use
to this day, it is obscured on modern satellite imagery, but by superimposing aerial imagery of
the time, we can explore the site in detail. Built in 1904 on the outskirts of the city, originally
to hold criminals guilty of crimes ranging from burglary and theft, right up to capital offences
such as
murder, it was a highly secure complex. Reconnaissance photographs of the jail showed that
the main prison building was in a cruciform shape, with the north south wing parallel to
the road being some 400 feet long and the east-west wings covering 650 feet. The
building was 62 feet tall at the roof ridge and the entire complex was enclosed by a
wall 11 ft high- believed (erroneously as it happens) to be 3 feet thick. Inside were
fenced courtyards to segregate prisoners while exercising. Res
istance reports put
the German guards’ quarters on the short sides of the cruciform. The guards' mess
at one end and the guard room at the other. We should make the point here, that whilst
the popular image of Amiens prison is one swarming with SS guards, it was in fact
mostly staffed by local French officials, though of course there was also a
sizeable German presence on the site. The internal prisoner count on 18 February
was 832 male and female criminals, political prisoners and members
of the Résistance held in
different wings, including 180 held in the German administered section. Further intelligence
reported that the guards had lunch at noon, and many of the prisoners had their midday meal at
the same time in the central hall of the prison. There’s little doubt that early in 1944 the German
intelligence services and milice collaborators had achieved real success locally. A number
of agents linked to MI6, MI9 and the Special Operations Executive had been captured and s
ome
were imprisoned in Amiens. Just how much the Germans knew about who they held was unclear.
Local resistance leader Dominique Ponchardier, perhaps the key instigator in the raid, who
regularly returned to Britain, had managed in late 1943 to propose Amiens prison as a target for
the new and largely untested Mosquito force at the RAF’s disposal. In conversation with his London
connections, including the raid’s eventual leader, he suggested freeing those prisoners in Amiens,
held by the G
ermans as ‘terrorists’, who could only expect execution. His hopes meshed well
with Air Vice Marshal Sir Basil Embry’s desire to employ his new force in low level precision raids.
As a result, MI6 approached Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory requesting preparation of a plan
to attack a “certain important target in France”. Here’s Basil Embry, commanding No 2 Group
RAF whose airmen would conduct the mission: Early in February 1944 I was asked if I thought
our Mosquitoes were capable of carr
ying out an operation to release about 700 French resistance
movement Patriots awaiting trial and death in Amiens prison. I said I thought it would be
possible but I would want to examine the full implications for such an operation before giving
a definite answer. Later I told him I thought it could be successful, but that it would be
with the loss of some of the prisoners lives. And so, it was agreed that a strike
would be conducted on Amiens Prison to free those resistors held there. The
man chosen to lead the raid was already something of a legend within
the wartime Royal Air Force. 28 years-old and a holder of the Distinguished
Service Order and no less than three Distinguished Flying Crosses, Group Captain Charles Percy
Pickard, known as ‘Pick’ to his men, had joined the RAF in 1937 and had risen to fame in 1941 as
the star of the oscar-winning documentary ‘target for tonight’. Having completed an incredible 100
wartime sorties on both bombing raids and special operatio
ns duties, he certainly had the required
credentials – though, notably, he was less experienced at low level daytime raids, having
completed only 5 or 6 missions in that role. The task of raiding Amiens Prison was given
to Pickard’s 140 Wing, based here at RAF Hunsdon in Hertfordshire. Comprising No’s 464
(Australian), 487 (New Zealand) and 21 squadrons, they were each armed with the Mark VI
fighter-bomber variant of the iconic De Havilland Mosquito. A total of 18 aircraft would
conduct th
e bombing raid, 6 from each squadron. So let’s take a closer look at this incredible
aircraft. First conceptualised as a high speed bomber, and tested in the early part of the Second
World War, it met the needs of the RAf very well. This Mk VI variant, one of three on display at
the excellent De Havilland aircraft museum in Hatfield, England was of the exact type that
Pickard and his airmen would use for the raid. Unusually constructed of lightweight wood,
it significantly reduced the burde
n on the aircraft industry at a time when resources
were in short supply. Weighing very little and powered by two supercharged Rolls Royce Merlin
engines (those famously used in the Spitfire), it was unsurprisingly VERY fast.
Reaching a top speed of around 380mph, which was unheard of for a bomber at the time,
it could lso carry a significant bomb load, which in later variants could equal that of the
B17 flying fortress. With a crew of just two, and armed with 40x20mm cannon and 4x .303
ma
chine guns, it also packed a punch in the air. And so, early on 18th February 1944, the
crews of 18 Mosquito’s plus an additional adapted mossie MkIV of the Film Poduction
Unit piloted by F/Lieut Tony Wickham, which would film the raid, entered the briefing
room at RAF Hundson to hear the final details. The plan had already been formulated by Sir
Basil Embry who had hoped to lead the raid, but been refused due to his senior
rank. It was something like this: Each aircraft carrying 4x500lb bo
mbs, set on
an eleven-second delay, were to head to France in 3 groups, each containing 2 waves of 3
aircraft. Flying north-west round London, to a rendezvous over the town of Littlehampton,
where they would meet their fighter escort of four squadrons of Hawker Typhoons. Crossing
the channel at a height of only 100 feet, they would head inland to the French village
of Senarpont where they would turn north-east, passing Bourdon and Geziancourt before swinging
south-east to the village of Bo
uzincourt on the Somme. Here they would pick up the old
roman road at the town of Albert which ran in a straight line directly to Amiens
and the prison on it’s eastern outskirts. The Prison itself had been modelled
back at Hunsdon in late 1943 and the crews each had a chance to familiarise
themselves with location before take-off. A coin toss in the briefing determined that 487
Squadron, the New Zealanders would lead the first attack. Their role was to target the Eastern
outer wall of the
perimeter at a speed of 240mph and a height of 50 feet. The second wave of 487,
having watched this attack from a higher altitude, would follow up moments later in a north-south
run to attack the northern wall of the complex. The real challenge was to hit the
walls hard enough to destroy them whilst avoiding the prisoners just a few
yards away - ultimate precision was needed. The second group, No 464
Squadron, the Australians, were to attack 3 minutes after the first,
also in two waves. Th
eir targets were the south-eastern and north-western ends of the
main building respectively, with the second wave also targeting the guards quarters from a
height of 100 feet. The intention being that the concussion of the bombs would spring the locks
and hinges of the cells housing the prisoners. Finally, in Group 3, the 6 aircraft of
21 squadron were to attack 10 minutes later. This was a reserve, approaching
in two waves from the east and north, they would release their bombs only if req
uired.
In the period between attacks two and three, the Film Unit Mosquito would overfly the prison to
assess the damage and decide if that third attack was required. Ultimately though, the call about
this final wave would be made by Pickard himself. In the briefing Pickard also
issued the instructions that a stop/go code for the mission of “RED,
RED RED” or “GREEN GREEN GREEN” heard over the radio could call off or
progress the attacks at any time. In order to control the operation,
Pick
ard placed himself and his equally experienced navigator Jim Broadley
at the rear of the second wave, orbiting the target for a total of 10
minutes, at much increased risk to himself. Pickard’s closing words summed up
the feelings of all involved… "Well boys, this is a Death
Or Glory show! If it succeeds, it'll be one of the most
worthwhile jobs of the war. If you never do anything else, you can still count
this as the finest job you could ever have done. And so, At 1050 am on 18th Februar
y
1944 the first Mosquito’s taxyed out on to the bitterly cold and snowswept runway at
RAF Hundson with each aircraft powering down the runway in their allocated waves. Here’s
Pilot Officer Max Sparks of 487 Squadron. "The aircraft took off quickly one after
another at about 11 in the morning. We were going to hit the jail when the guards
were at lunch. By the time I got to 100 feet, I couldn't see a thing except
that gray soupy mist and snow, also the rain beating against the perspex
win
dow. There was no hope of either getting into formation or staying in it, and I
headed straight for the channel coast." As Sparks said, very soon they were en-route to
target. There was immediately though an issue, the Typhoon escort squadrons had only
been briefed minutes before take-off, and several aircraft missed the rendezvous. Things
were so confused that 198 Squadron’s leader, the only man to know the destination,
simply said to his men 5 minutes before take-off “there’s a job on cha
ps
- escort mossies - follow me”. This last minute confusion and the
poor weather had a major impact almost immediately. Two mosquitos of both the
second and third waves lost contact in the snow clouds and had to return to base,
as did 6 of the typhoons. The remaining 14 mossies pushed on and finally over
the channel met better weather. Maintaining radio silence and skimming at wave-top
height at more than 380mph they approached the enemy coast, with Tony Wickham’s film mossie
capturing t
he journey in this remarkable footage which required nerves of steel and lightening
fast reactions. There was no going back and as the formations crossed to France they began
their final checks for the run on to target. As the main formations began their series of
turns in towards target Flt/Lt Hanakin’s mossie developed an engine fire which meant he had to
turn for home. Being hit by flak en-route and paralysed in his right side, he incredibly still
managed to land safely at Ford in Sussee
x. The remainder pushed on, reaching that straight
roman road running from Albert to Amiens. At exactly 12:00 the first wave of group 1, easing
back their twin throttles to slow the aircraft to 240mph, were running down this very road at
tree-top height with a total of 12 bombs destined for the prison’s Eastern Wall. Here’s Pilot
Officer Sparks of of 487 Squadron once again: "The three of us were flying so low that I had
to keep my aircraft tilted at an angle to avoid hitting the tops of th
e trees with my wing.
It was then, as I flew with one eye on those poplars and the other watching the road ahead,
that I was reminded we had a fighter escort. A Typhoon came belting across right in front
of us and I nearly jumped out of my seat. The poplars suddenly petered out and
there, a mile ahead, was the prison. It looked just like the briefing model and we
were almost on top of it within a few seconds. We hugged the ground as low as we could, and at
the lowest possible speed; we pit
ched our bombs towards the base of the wall, fairly scraped
over it - and our part of the job was over". Despite the successful run-in, it seems that the
bombs of these leading aircraft passed straight through the eastern wall, exploding on the far
side of the complex or in the fields beyond, all except one of Wing Commander Smith’s
which breached the southern wall. Moments later the two remaining aircraft of the
second wave of Group 1 were running in from the north, with one of Pilot Offic
er Darrell’s bombs
blowing a neat hole in the north wall, a second striking the roof of the main building and a third
hitting the northern side of the Eastern building. With the prison now wreathed in smoke and
brick-dust the Second group attacked in their two waves. Running in at just 50
feet the first wave again targeted the intact eastern wall and guards mess room,
with a bomb landing directly on the latter, destroying it, and it’s occupants.
The second wave of group two, attacking from
the north-west followed on
with another 8 bombs, registering hits on the north-west corner of the prison wall and
the main transcept of the prison building. In total, 23 bombs had fallen in the
prison compound in a little over 5 minutes, with six failing to explode. A further
17 had gone through the much thinner than expected prison walls and detonated
outside the compound. Some of those, travelling a considerable distance after
striking the frozen ground had caused damage in Amiens itsel
f, including one which killed
40-year-old Madame Letien in her kitchen. Above the action as the waves moved in was
Tony Wickham in the Film Mosquito. Making three passes over the target between 1203
and 1211 at a height of five hundred feet, he could inspect the damage.
Here’s what he recalled: "We could see the first time we flew over
the objective that the operation had been a complete success. Both ends of the prison had
been completely demolished and the surrounding wall broken in many
places. We could see a large
number of prisoners escaping along the road". By slowing this footage down we too can explore
the scene a little better. Clearly visible is the Albert to Amiens road, running left-right which
the first wave used to guide their approach. The breach in the north wall is closest
to us, and we can also see damage to the main building’s northern end and
the German mess block and guard room. Despite reports from the crews, no men can
be seen running through the nort
hern breach but given the smoke and dust rising,
that’s not particularly surprising. Now, let’s turn to one of those
on the ground, Raymond Vivant, a leader in the OCM resistance
network who recalled what happened: "I thought initially that a German plane
had just crashed close to us and I began to delight in this when a succession of
explosions resounded. I saw the wall on the left split open abruptly and a cloud of dust
invaded my cell, but as soon as it dissipated I saw that the door wa
s torn from its hinges.
The long corridoor which served my part of the prison had been replaced with a cluster of
smoking debris. I saw the countryside covered with snow extending to Infinity. A large breach
had been opened in the high surrounding wall." In total, there were at least four breaches
and many escaping prisoners, black figures against snow-covered fields. Realising the job
was complete and Group 3 were not required, Wickham and the others listened for Pickard’s
call. Silence.
Daring not to wait any longer Wickham himself called “RED RED RED”
across the radio. But where was Pickard? Just a few miles away from Amiens
prison was this airfield at Glisy, which at the time of the raid was a Luftwaffe
fighter base, home to the potent FW190’s of JG26, some which were already airborne. One such
aircraft was flown by Feldwebel Wilhelm Meyer, who, at 1204 had spotted the mossies
of group 2 approaching the prison. Focussing on the aircraft at the rear of
the formation, he
began to dive down on the unsuspecting crew which had turned away
from the other Mosquitos. Moments later, a farm labourer some 8 miles from the prison
heard a burst of gunfire and looked up to see Pickard’s mosquito rear up as it’s tail came away
from the fuselage, before slamming down into this very field, exploding on impact. Rushing to the
site, several civilians managed to pull the two crewman from the fire but, it was too late, both
Pickard and Broadley had been killed. The time, conf
irmed later by Pickard’s charred wristwatch,
which had stopped on impact, was 12.05. The bodies of both Pickard and Broadley were
collected by locals the following day and buried a stone’s throw from the prison they had lost their
lives attacking. Even today, that crash site, an unremarkable farmer’s field in northern France,
bears the scars of that day, with parts of the downed aircraft still scattered across the ground.
Despite a strict prohibition, many local residents attended the graves
ide to
pay their final respects. One more Mosquito would ‘fail to return’ that
day, that of Squadron Leader McRitchie, which was hit by flak near Fresneuville, with navigator
Sammy Sampson being killed outright. Mcritchie, despite receiving an incredible 26 separate
wounds, managed to make a belly landing and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner.
Two Typhoon pilots would also fail to return, with Canadian Joseph Renaud taken prisoner
and 23-year-old Henry Brown last seen entering a
snowstorm over the English
channel. His body would never be found. The total cost on the ground cannot be overlooked.
Official numbers of prisoners at the time of the raid vary between 700 - 820, with around 190
being resisters. It is believed that in total 95 occupants of the jail were killed by bombs
or guards bullets as they fled the prison, and that a similar number were wounded. By 26th
February a total of 518 had been recaptured, or never left the prison at
all, meaning that somewhe
re in the region of 80 resisters found freedom,
at least for a while on that winter day. German losses are also hard to gauge. The raid was
timed to coincide with the lunch of both prisoners and guards and a direct hit on the mess hall for
German guards it is believed killed around 20, including the prison’s governor,
and perhaps wounded as many as 70. But, for those raiders on the mission named
Ramrod 456 (which has become known to many as Operation Jericho after a 1946 film
of that name)
, there was a feeling of mixed success. They had done their job,
and done it well, but not without loss. Importantly though, when studying this action,
we should not lose sight of the fact that many of those who found freedom that day, instead
of a firing squad, would in the months to come, play an integral role in securing their
country’s freedom from Nazi Germany. Perhaps though, the best way to sum up
this remarkable action and what it achieved can be found in the words of Wing Commander
Irving Smith who led the first wave that day: "“We heard the details of this mission
with considerable emotion....After four years of war just doing
everything possible to destroy life, here we were going to use our skill to save
it. It was a grand feeling and every pilot left the briefing room prepared to fly into
the walls rather than fail to breach them." Thanks for taking the time to watch this
video, and if you would like to see more, or support us in our work to share more of this
kind of history, please check out our Patreon at the link below. We really enjoy making
content like this here on Youtube, so if there is something you’d like to see us cover
in the near future, leave us a comment below. We’d like to finish with a special thanks to Dr
Robert Lyman, author of two books on the raid, ‘Jailbusters’ and ‘Operation Jericho’.
If you like to study this incredible raid in more detail, check them out
at the links in the description. Thanks again, and well see you nex
t time.
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