Reply With QuoteI'd not heard of that, very interesting.
Last night I read a Dutch history magazine. There was an article about Operation Jericho (Feb 1944). 18 De Haviland Mosquitos (although the number of planes involved vary) raided the prison of the French town of Amiens. Inside the prison 700 prisoners, about 200 men and women were part of the French Resistance. Most were betrayed by collaborators. The French Resistance started seeking for help, sending code messages to Britain. At first there was no real response. Then -but never confirmed- the SIS asked the RAF for help.
The RAF had the De Haviland Mosquitos: balsa wood and big engines. The Wooden Wonder. Up until the moment the Germans aired the jet-powered Arado (late in the war), the Mosquito was the fastest plane of WWII. The Mosquitos had very big wings, making it possible to fly very, very slow (<200 km/hr) without dropping from the sky. (A General Dynamics F111 avant la letter - but wihout the Gatlings).
The raid itself should be listed as a great achievement: ultra-low flying, every plane dropping two bombs with a timer, set on 11 secs. RAF was afraid that the bombs would explode and damage the planes! Later, pilots mentioned the fact that they had to fly AROUND trees! And planes were as low as three meters above the tops of the wall. Intelligence had found out that the Germans would have lunch around noon. And at noon, the RAF bombed the German mess hall, the walls and the doors. One plane didn't carry bombs but was the designated photographer of the raid.
The Germans had planned an mass-exectution on Feb 19: 100 Resistance members were about to get shot. That included 2 British spies who were captured after landing with parachutes. The bombs were dropped on the 18th., after a 3-day relay because the weather was bad (fog). On the 18th the weather was good enough. It nearly went wrong because the snow around the prison changed the bouncing characteristics of the bombs! After the bombing, partizans outside the -now bombed- walls raided the prison grounds, killing German guards and Sicherheits Dienst personal.
Was it a success? Partly: not all partizans escaped, about 100 got killed and a lot of the escaped prisoners was caught again (a lot were wounded). But there's still a lot unknown about this raid: after the war, the SIS denied that they'd asked the RAF. There are also rumours of less prisoners inside, but that the >700 number is mentioned to make the death-toll more acceptable.
The RAF learned a lot about it: during the Summer of 1944, the RAF did something like this again: they raided the Dutch town The Hague. That action was even more daring than the Amiens raid because the planes 'came from the wrong side': they attacked from East to West! I will write a piece about that as well.
According to Wikipedia, the BBC did a documentary about the Amiens raid in 2011.
Hermann Göring once said about the Wooden Wonder:
“It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminum better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building….They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops.”
Last edited by thieuster; 24th January 2020 at 13:01.
I'd not heard of that, very interesting.
"A man of little significance"
So impressed was Goerring by the Mosquito that he wanted them and ordered a German version built.
During a raid by Bomber Command the factory making the glue (tego) for the Moskito was destroyed and that was the end of it.
This is indeed shrouded in mystery.
While it is true that the executions the next day were mentioned, archives from the prison show no execution was planned in the next few days. In fact, I believe there is no documented evidence for those resistance prisoners, nor any from the resistance networks that could have been mobilised to aid in the evasion and limit the captures. Most prisoners were common criminals, and only 180 had been jailed by the Nazis.
The name itself was given after the war. In 1944, it was known as Ramrod 564, or sometimes as operation Renovate (which was the code word to abort).
The current thinking seems to be that it was more probably a diversion, part of Operation Fortitude, to hint at a Calais landing for D-day rather than Normandy.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
There's also a story about a French Resistance leader (Can't remember his name) who contacted the British simply because his (partizan) friend was locked up in the prison and he wanted to get him out. And then there's the 2014 book (I just found that link via Google) that bombing the prison was the ultimate act to prevent a British spy (who was incarcerated) telling about the true D-Day plans.
We really don't know. All we know is that those Mosquito-guys were incredible.
M
Agreed on the pilots.
The French resistance commander you're alluding to could be Dominique Ponchardier. (sorry, the English version says nothing)
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
It was an incredible feet of airmanship
The RAF filmed the entire raid, it really does highlight how low they flew, the navigation was amazing. 50ft, 250mph on dead reckoning using a map and stop watch.
You tube has a couple of news reels and films that are worth a search out, I am sure if you looked hard enough the entire mission film will be on there.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_GI2AxVJbLg
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NOy00V5N-pk
Ramrod was the code name for a short range ground attack mission undertaken by bomber aircraft
Ramrod 564 = 564th Ramrod mission.
Last edited by Sinnlover; 24th January 2020 at 14:44.
Wonderful feat of flying ( and bomb aiming) by the RAF.
I remember reading about the Amiens raid in my Victor comic when I was a kid. I actually thought it was widely known.
The Mosquito was a fantastic plane and the original MRCA. Fighter, bomber, PR, fighter - bomber, pathfinder, it could do the lot superbly.
Even the Americans used them!
Cheers,
Neil.
I've still got some Victor annuals in the attic from the late 60's.Originally Posted by Neil.C
Apart from the true stories there was also Matt Braddock VC who piloted both Mosquitos and Lancasters and Alf Tupper who was a world class distance runner and welder.
Did you ever see the Pathe news film of a Mosquito pilot doing a barrel role on one engine ??
The Mosquito was probably the best allied aeroplane during WW2.
Yes, that's the guy! Thanks!
Braddock VC and Tough of the track, wonderful stories. Plus of course the true stories of wartime heroism on the front and back covers.
I haven't got any originals left but I have some modern compendiums of old comics, a couple written by a friend of my eldest son.
Cheers,
Neil.
Nice one
These are the 3 years that I've got but mine from '67 is a bit tattier than this one.
Sent from my SM-A105FN using Tapatalk
^^^
Oh yes, very nice RD.
Kids don't get that sort of stuff nowadays unfortunately.
Cheers,
Neil.
Not something I had heard of before either. Many thanks for posting this.
If the article is online could you post a link?
Mvg
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