The Amiens Prison Escape, "Operation Jericho"!

"Operation Jericho", Was an attack on Amiens Prison to
release high ranking members of the French Resistance
who had been convicted of terrorist attacks. Eighteen Mosquito
aircraft, were to swoop down from a high elevation at 360 miles
per hour 580 kph, to around 20 metres 65 feet elevation to
release bombs on February 18, 1944, at 12 noon.

As French Resistance Groups awaited outside the prisons to
aide and assist it the Escape The Mosquitoes Swooped down
and were successful creating a main 12 ft wide hole blasted
in the south wall, created the opportunity for 258 prisoners to
escaped, of whom 179 were common criminals, 29 were termed
"French political," and 50 were members of the French Resistance,
some of whom had been convicted of committing terrorist acts
against French Population as German soldiers.

Air Photo Evidence - Amiens Prison Pinpoint Bombing Raid


BBC - WW2 People's War - Timeline

RAF at War: Mosquito bombers during Operation Jericho

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmiEIsUhb9s[/YOUTUBE]

 

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Second clip features a segment on Operation Jericho.

 

WWII veteran recalls Jericho raid - World War II Forums

Operation Jericho: The Amiens Raid - Mobile podcast from RAF Museum

 

SEE! You really can put a bomb in a pickle barrel!

Woops, wrong bomber, wrong Air Force.

 

The same Mossie Squadron also bombed the Gestapo Headquarters in the Hague

 

Thank you for the Video and links adds more info. If one considers the target as the precision needed in knock big holes in thick walls, the Operation was a success for Precision Bombing. The problem Lies that Low level Bomb Attacks can only be carried out in Favorable conditions. The Video shows the French resistance Assaulting the anti-Aircraft Guns +++.

 

Jericho was pretty impressive, but the Mossie raid on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen wasn’t the success they had hoped.

Operation Carthage resulted in over a hundred Danes getting killed, and half of them children whose school was accidentally hit.

 

Operation Carthage was a success from a "was the target we intended to hit destroyed?" standpoint. Shellhus was destroyed and both Gestapo and their Danish collaborators were killed.

The loss of so many children was tragic. Today it's referred to as "collateral damage", a term that does not hide what happens to the innocents of war.

 

A Mosquito in the first wave hit a lamp post and crashed into a school beside the "Shellhus," and the third wave of bombers attacked the burning school thinking it was their target.

125 Danish civilians died in the school, including 86 schoolchildren. If you compare that to other "Collateral Damage" of WWII on Civilians, would look meaningless.

There's nothing Pretty when it comes to War.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Operation_Carthage