This is the story of Operation Jericho, the spectacular prison break
staged by an elite group of British, Australian and New Zealand bomber
pilots, who flew a daring low-level mission to blow holes in the walls
of Amiens jail and free French Resistance prisoners under the sentence
of death during World War II.
With D-Day looming, early 1944 was a time of massive intelligence
activity across northern France, and many résistants were being captured
and imprisoned by the Germans. Among the jails full of French agents was
Amiens, where hundreds awaited likely execution for their activities.
To repay their debt of honour, MI6 requested an air raid with a
seemingly impossible brief: to simultaneously blow holes in the prison
walls, free as many men and women as possible while minimizing
casualties, and kill German guards in their quarters. The crews would
have to fly their bomb-run at an altitude of just 20ft. Despite the huge
difficulties, the RAF decided that the low-level specialists of No. 140
Wing had a chance of success.
With the aid of first-hand accounts, explanatory 3D diagrams and
dramatic original artwork, the eminent historian Robert Lyman explains
how one of the most difficult and spectacular air raids of World War II
was pulled off, and debunks some of the myths over why the raid was
ordered in the first place.