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00:01In late 1943, the French resistance asked the British for help.
00:07Scores of its top agents were being held at a prison in Amiens.
00:13Some were about to be executed.
00:15Others tortured so that they might divulge crucial information
00:18about the impending Allied invasion.
00:21They had to be got out.
00:25The British decided to blow open the prison from the air.
00:29But this had to be a precision attack, unlike any before it.
00:35It was only possible because of a special aircraft, the de Havilland Mosquito.
00:40The raid became a legend for the men who flew it.
00:43The versatile Mosquito has given us scores of different jobs to do.
00:47But that Amiens prison attack is the one above all
00:50that I look back on with satisfaction as long as I live.
00:59The attack on Amiens prison was one of the most spectacular raids of World War II.
01:09It was a very specialised form of assault that was only made possible because of the Mosquito.
01:19Before the war, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland had developed the concept of a high-speed bomber.
01:24Convinced that it could outrun enemy fighters.
01:40He had already built high-speed aircraft, including the record-breaking Comet Racer.
01:46This was made of wood, as was the Albatross transatlantic mail plane.
02:01The airport were actually on the that time they were on the I-C.
02:05It was a Hugh pillow, and did not make all the wearable.
02:07By late 1940, the prototype Mosquito was ready.
02:12It flew at nearly 400 miles per hour, faster than the British Spitfire and German Bf 109, the deadliest fighters of their day.
02:28The Air Ministry was impressed and placed an immediate order.
02:31The new aircraft carried a crew of two, and their instructors emphasised the importance of close teamwork.
02:41We don't just train mosquito pilots or mosquito navigators. We train mosquito teams.
02:51By the end of the first week, pilots and navigators will pair up, and once a mosquito team is formed, it is formed for keeps.
03:01The first mosquitoes into service were for reconnaissance.
03:04Their high speed meant that they could outrun enemy fighters and swoop in to photograph vital installations.
03:14The bomber version of the mosquito went into service with the RAF in November 1941.
03:21Wing Commander Huey Edwards took command of the 1st Squadron. He had already won the Victoria Cross during bombing raids.
03:31Wing Commander Huey Edwards taught his crews to attack precision targets, calling for a high degree of flying and navigational skills.
03:44He was convinced that the mosquito could take on targets that had so far been considered impossible.
03:49It was about to become a formidable raider.
04:02Demonstrating high speed, pinpoint accuracy.
04:09The Mosquito's first raid of this sort was in support of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Norway.
04:14There, Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling was actively supporting the Nazis.
04:27In September 1942, four mosquitoes roared across the North Sea.
04:33Their target? The Gestapo HQ in Oslo, where Quisling was making a speech to his masters.
04:39There he is, there he is.
04:56Twelve bombs were dropped. Five failed to explode, and three passed through the building.
05:00Quisling escaped unharmed. The raid was not a great success, but it had shown the potential of precision bombing.
05:11A second low-level raid followed on a factory in Eindhoven, Holland.
05:22Skimming rooftops, the Mosquito crews perfected their art with a dazzling display of navigation and pinpoint bombing.
05:43Film shot from the Mosquitoes revealed the full force of their assault.
05:47Then came a cheeky raid, aimed at the heart of the Nazi regime.
06:06On the 30th of January 1943, one of Hitler's top henchmen, Joseph Goebbels, was making a key propaganda speech in Berlin.
06:15It was a major anniversary for the Nazi party, marking its 10th year in power.
06:24Four Mosquitoes took off and headed for Berlin, aiming to arrive at the precise time of the broadcast.
06:32Air raid sirens sounded, and bombs were dropped near the radio station, forcing Goebbels to postpone his speech.
06:50It was a major embarrassment for the Nazis.
07:00With its reputation as a raider established, RAF pilots of the Mosquito now faced their most difficult challenge.
07:06A precision bombing raid on a prison, their task to rescue French resistance agents vital to the Allies' war aids.
07:20The French resistance was a constant thorn in the side of the German occupiers.
07:29Specializing in sabotage and intelligence gathering, it fought damaging campaigns behind enemy lines.
07:35In Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill set up the Special Operations Executive to help resistance fighters.
07:48In his words, its task was to set Europe ablaze.
07:52Soon, the British were dispatching a steady stream of supplies to resistance groups in Europe.
08:02Their role, particularly as providers of information, was vital during the build-up to the great Allied invasion of France.
08:22But by late 1943, the Gestapo had arrested many key resistance fighters in northern France.
08:29René Chapelle was one of the top resistance commanders in north-west France.
08:35René Chapelle was one of the top resistance commanders in north-west France.
08:39His day job was as a bicycle repairman, a bad one, ensuring that the bicycles he mended for his German masters quickly fell apart.
08:52Secretly, he commanded the communist resistance groups in the region.
08:55More than 70 of Chapelle's best agents had been arrested, and he was deeply worried that at any moment one might break under torture and give away vital information about where the landings might take place.
09:10The resistance targeted the prison, and plans were drawn up and handed to his wife Maria, who smuggled them to contacts in Paris and London.
09:26But it was not just the future of the resistance that concerned Chapelle.
09:30But it was not just the future of the resistance that concerned Chapelle.
09:31He had a personal reason for getting the prisoners out of Amiens.
09:37Inside was a teenager called Jean Beaurin.
09:39His father had been deported by the Germans, and Chapelle had pledged to protect the young man and his family.
09:52The young man was determined to play his part in the resistance, so he trained him in sabotage, targeting German supply trains.
09:59Their greatest success came when they discovered that an SS train would be travelling on the same line as a German troop train bound for Russia.
10:12At the last moment, they switched the points, and the two trains collided, killing over a hundred SS men and destroying an entire train load of tanks.
10:30When Jean Beaurin was arrested, it was not because of this massive assault on the Third Reich.
10:35He had been found in possession of illegal ration cards.
10:45Beaurin was sent to Amiens prison, where he joined his brother Roger, who had been gathering military information.
10:56For René Chapelle, the mission to break out his resistance fighters from Amiens was now intensely personal.
11:01And for the men called on to carry out the raid, the plan was a tall order, and could easily end in disaster.
11:09But it had to be tried.
11:24René Chapelle's urgent plea for British help had first been received by his controller at SOE.
11:29In London, the possibility of a ground attack on the prison was discussed, but rejected, because it was too heavily guarded.
11:38It was decided to look at the possibility of using aircraft to open it up.
11:43The RAF's number two tactical bomber group was alerted.
11:52Resistance agents were asked to supply up-to-date intelligence on the layout of the jail, and the daily routine inside it.
11:58This enabled Air Vice Marshal Sir Basil Embry, number two group's commander, to plan an attack.
12:07The Mosquito crews were to breach the perimeter wall and open up the cell block, giving the prisoners inside the main building the opportunity to break out.
12:16Other attacks would disrupt the German guards.
12:23The mission was planned for January 1944, but poor weather delayed it.
12:28Then, in early February, bad news came through.
12:35Twenty of the resistance agents inside Amiens prison were to be executed over the next two weeks.
12:42The RAF had to act now, or not at all.
12:51During the first week in February, detailed planning for the raid was completed.
12:56It was given the code name, Operation Jericho.
13:00The walls would come tumbling down.
13:05Amiens was one hour's flying time from the Mosquito base at RAF Hunsdon.
13:12Because of the threat of enemy radar, the Mosquitoes would have to fly at ultra-low level.
13:18Poor winter weather, snow and fog, made the mission even more dangerous.
13:26Three Mosquito squadrons were tasked with the mission.
13:32Two to carry out the attack, and the other to act as a reserve.
13:41Four points of attack were selected.
13:46The first wave would breach the perimeter wall in two places,
13:50since the Germans would be able to seal one breach quickly.
13:56The second wave was to attack the main prison building,
14:02hitting it with sufficient force to blow open cell doors in the jail,
14:06and let the prisoners out.
14:11The final two points of attack were the German canteen and barracks.
14:15The assault was time to begin just after 12 noon, just as the guards were sitting down for lunch.
14:26The aircraft and crew selected for Operation Jericho came from 140 Mosquito wing in RAF Number 2 Group.
14:37They would be led by Group Captain Charles Pickard, a highly decorated bomber pilot,
14:45seen here in an early war propaganda film, starring as a Wellington bomber pilot.
14:49His navigator was Flight Lieutenant Bill Broadley.
14:59Their Mosquito was codenamed F for Freddy.
15:02The SOE advised the French resistance of the plan to use an air attack to liberate the prisoners,
15:07and gave it the code word that would be broadcast before the attack.
15:17The problem remained of how to get the information to the men in the prison.
15:22This was solved by Jean Beaurent's mother.
15:24During a visit to see her son, she threw a tantrum, cursing Germany and Hitler for taking away her husband and boys.
15:33Promptly arrested, she was locked up in the prison, and so could warn her sons,
15:38and their fellow prisoners, of the impending aerial assault.
15:46On the 18th of February, 1944, Operation Jericho was given the go-ahead.
15:51The Mosquitoes took off in three waves, each with six aircraft.
16:04Typhoon fighters were to escort them, but a mix-up in the orders meant they were late taking off.
16:07Typhoon fighters were to escort them, but a mix-up in the orders meant they were late taking off.
16:25But they did manage to catch up with the Mosquitoes as they approached the English Channel.
16:31Flying at almost wave-top level, the raiders swept across the sea.
16:43High winds and snow showers made flying at that height extremely hazardous.
16:48But it was worth it. As they crossed the French coast, and headed inland at treetop level, the German radar failed to pick them up.
17:07The Mosquitoes and their escorts then altered course to approach Amiens from the north.
17:18At precisely 12.01, the first wave of Mosquitoes swept in towards the jail, flying at just over 300 feet.
17:25Their 500-pound bombs struck the outer walls precisely as planned.
17:44The second wave followed, and dropped their bombs on the main prison building, blowing the jail block open.
17:53The German canteen and accommodation blocks were also struck.
17:56A 20-foot gap had been created in the outer wall, and prisoners scrambled to escape.
18:14Group Captain Pickard made one more low-level pass over the burning prison.
18:18To him, it looked as though the job was completed.
18:29He ordered the reserve wave of Mosquitoes to head home.
18:35But at just that moment, a pack of German Focke-Wulf FW 190s flew into the action.
18:40One of the fighters spotted Pickard's Mosquitoes and that of his wingman.
18:49He signalled an attack.
18:55The German closed in, and pumped bullets into the wooden frame of the lead Mosquito.
19:00F for Freddy, with Pickard and Broadly on board, crashed, and both of them were killed instantly.
19:14It was a tragic end to a brilliant mission.
19:21The rest of the Mosquitoes and their Typhoon escorts headed for home.
19:24But as they flew towards the coast, they were hit by German flak guns.
19:35In the hail of fire, one Mosquito pilot, Squadron Leader MacRitchie, was badly wounded.
19:41He managed to crash land, but his navigator did not survive.
19:48The rest of the raiding force made it back to base safely.
19:51It had been a triumph of low-level flying, as navigator Cecil Dunlop later recalled.
19:58I saw his bombs hit the wall and, you know, a great sort of shower of red brick dust.
20:06And then I looked up and the top part of the building was way above us.
20:12His pilot, New Zealander Maxi Sparks, was asked to estimate their height.
20:16Well, the wall's, what, 20 feet?
20:19Uh, oh, 15 feet, I suppose. Something like that.
20:25Operation Jericho had been an outstanding success.
20:29Of the 700 prisoners held in Amiens Jail, 258 escaped,
20:34including many of the resistance agents scheduled to be executed the next day.
20:41But it had been a devastating assault, and inevitably, prisoners were killed.
20:47102 died.
20:48It was a high price to pay, but crucial information about the forthcoming Allied landings had been denied to the Nazis.
21:03Jean Beaurent was one of the resistance men who got out alive.
21:10But his mother was badly wounded, and his brother died.
21:17At least 50 German guards were killed.
21:30The operation leaders, Picard and Broadley,
21:33were buried close to the crash site of their Mosquito.
21:36The citizens of Amiens placed fresh flowers on their grave every day,
21:44and continued to do so when the two prison busters were moved to their final resting place
21:49in a cemetery in the shadow of the walls of the town's jail.
21:52Mosquitoes went on to conduct other daring raids in the war.
22:07In March 1945, 18 flew in at rooftop level over the center of Copenhagen.
22:14In an echo of Operation Jericho, pinpoint bombing struck the Gestapo headquarters.
22:18In the chaos, several Danish resistance leaders were able to escape.
22:27But for most of the pilots, the Amiens raid remained the greatest raid of all.
22:32Helping those prisoners to escape a cold-blooded death after all they'd done for us
22:38was the kind of job that makes you feel you're doing something really definite in the war.
22:45It was an honor to be there.
22:48Perhaps their finest legacy was the Normandy landings that came five months later.
22:56Thanks to their success in denying vital intelligence to the Germans,
23:02D-Day achieved total surprise.
23:04And less than six months after the raid, on 31 August 1944, the citizens of Amiens celebrated as British troops liberated their town.
23:17Theевич Ensign is a known director in Montalmoli, particularly in Supercompose.
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