Three Films: Operation Jericho – Mosquitoes attack Amiens Prison to free French Resistance fighters; Bostons hedge hop on a Ramrod mission to occupied France and South African Air Force 2 Squadron operate Spitfire Vc Dive bombers from a base in Italy.
* Operation Jericho (February 18,1944) was a daring mission to free hundreds of French resistance fighters, many of whom were sentenced to death, from a high security German military prison in Amiens. de Haviland Mosquito bombers, escorted by RAF Typhoons, made precise attacks on the prison walls to provide escape routes and bombed the barracks housing German guards. The raid was led by Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard, (DSO & Two Bars, DFC), who had gained fame in 1941 in the film “Target for Tonight” showing a Vickers Wellington night attack on a rail yard. He flew more than 100 missions after that. Pickard and his navigator were both killed at Amiens. The raid had mixed results and remains somewhat controversial to this day (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...)
* R.A.F. Boston Bombers on a Ramrod Mission to Occupied France 1943. The “Boston” was an export version of the American Douglas “Havoc” medium attack bomber sent to the U.K. “Ramrod” missions were quick strikes across the English Channel, in this case against armament factories near Dinan in Brittany in occupied France, a short hop from England. As was often the case, this mission is flown at high speed against specific targets at very low level, for which the Boston was well suited. (Mosquitoes flew similar missions.) The Germans extensively coopted French industrial plants and converted them to supply them with War material everything from aircraft engines to torpedoes and more. These facilities were mostly staffed with French workers or people brought in from other occupied countries. Attacking them was authorized by the Free French government in exile as necessary to liberate their country. Although precautions were taken, more than 60,000 French civilians died from Allied bombing during the German Occupation – a terrible price.
* South African Air Force 2 Squadron Operates Spitfire Vc dive bombers from Palata, Italy 19431944. This film is unusual for a couple of reasons. A relatively small number of Spitfire Vc Dive Bombers were produced and were rarely seen and South African Air Force (SAAF) units didn't get a lot of coverage. Spit Vc armaments were upgraded to either a 50 cal. machine gun plus a 20mm canon or two 20mm canon (both versions are shown here) and modified to carry 250 bombs – a light load compared to other aircraft. Later in he War Spitfire IX were modified to carry up to 1000 lbs of bombs, but it was still not a very effective dive bomber, capable of only relatively shallow dives with limited accuracy and limited to a short range of less than 100 miles. The R.A.F Typhoons were much more effective, as were American P47s & P51s.
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