Jericho operation

The operation Jericho is the name given to an air raid carried out the February 18th 1944 by the RAF which bombarded the prison of Amiens in order to release from the allied secret agents and of resistant French. This operation made 98 dead.

This operation lies within the scope of the Opération Fortitude, intended to induce in error the German intelligence services on the unloading combined in Pas-de-Calais. This attack on the prison of Amiens wanted to let accredit the idea that the resistant ones of great value were imprisoned there and that their release was essential to the success of an unloading in Pas-de-Calais.

But it of it was nothing. Although 180 people were imprisoned by the Germans in this prison with dimensions of 523 common rights, no allied agent was imprisoned there. And following the air attack, no coordinated action was led to the ground by Resistance to extract oneself-saying them essential people to the allied plans. -->

The attack was conducted by 18 Mosquito BFR Mk VI of Wing 140 of RAF, covered by 4 Hawkers Typhoon S of Squadron 198 conduits by the Belgian pilot R.Lallemand, nickname “Horse”. The precision of the attack was remarkable: on the 40 launched bombs, 23 fell into the enclosure from the prison, while 13 others missed the objective only by little. Four other bombs made damage at a distance from 250 to 700 meters of the prison. Another Mosquito Mk IV of the FPU (Film Production Links) filmed the prison after the raid.

The Luftwaffe reacts with the Focke-Wulf FW 190 A7 of the 7. /JG 26 which cut down with Saint-Gratien (to 12 km in the north of Amiens) Mosquito of the commander of the attack (Wing Commander Pickard - Fl Lt Broadley killed) and Typhoon of the escort. Second Typhoon was reported missing, without it being possible to specify if it is by the action of the enemy or because of the climatic conditions extrèmes reigning this day on the English Channel.

To motivate the crews, the commander of the operation had specified that the action aimed at the release of 120 resistant condemned to be shot the following day and that the bombs aimed only the residences of the German guard and the enclosing wall. Actually, no execution was envisaged in the following days the attack and the buildings concerned did not relate to only the German troops, far is necessary some.

Lastly, the name even of the operation, Jericho, appeared only after the conflict, in 1946. In 1944, the operation was known under the name of Ramrod 564, even of operation “Renovate”, the name of the word-code in front of if required marking the abandonment in the course of action of it. The name of Jericho was given to him after the war, when RAF diffused under this name a film recalling these events.

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