0:00:06 > 0:00:11To be jailed by an occupying force in your own country
0:00:11 > 0:00:15must be hard enough to bear.
0:00:15 > 0:00:22But imagine cowering in a cell as bombs rain down on you.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Bombs dropped by your own allies.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29The bombing of Amiens Jail in Northern France in February 1944
0:00:29 > 0:00:33was one of the most daring and controversial air raids of the war.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37We had the honour of going in first.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40And if we hadn't completed the job, they were to go in
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and literally blow the prison apart.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50It's hard to imagine the chaos and carnage inside the jail.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55Amidst the dead and dying, the lucky few picked their way out
0:00:55 > 0:00:57amongst the rubble.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01But why did the RAF attack a jail holding resistance fighters?
0:01:01 > 0:01:02Many were killed.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Was there someone inside whose freedom was so important?
0:01:05 > 0:01:08And what secrets did they hold?
0:01:10 > 0:01:16And why did they risk the life of Britain's most famous bomber pilot?
0:01:16 > 0:01:20A hero and a film star. On a mission he described as death or glory.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26As an aviator with a passion for war stories that's been with me
0:01:26 > 0:01:30since boyhood, I'm fascinated by this particular story.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36And 67 years after the raid, the motives for it
0:01:36 > 0:01:39are still shrouded in mystery.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43So I'm flying back on the same route the bombers took
0:01:43 > 0:01:48to see if I can shed some light on the raid they called Operation Jericho.
0:02:11 > 0:02:17I'm on my way to meet living aviation history.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23The last surviving member of the mosquito crews from the Jericho raid.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32This is a recording that pilot officer Maxwell Sparks made,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36after the raid in 1944, for the BBC.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40A loud speaker broke rudely into my sleep early on that February morning.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43It barked through our hut with the list of aircrews who were
0:02:43 > 0:02:46wanted at the briefing room at once.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48My own name was on the list.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Of all things, it was snowing.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53If we were being yanked out of bed to fly in that stuff, it must be
0:02:53 > 0:02:59either some kind of practice of some kind of a practical joke.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02But when we found guards posted at the briefing room
0:03:02 > 0:03:04and they asked us to prove our identity,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08we knew there was neither a joke nor a practice in the air.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Maxwell Sparks was part of the Royal New Zealand Air Force
0:03:12 > 0:03:15contingent who joined Australian
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and British air crews on Operation Jericho.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Even these hand-picked airmen could not possibly have been
0:03:21 > 0:03:24prepared for what they were asked to carry out it.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The jail at Amiens in France,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34and more than 100 Frenchmen were held there awaiting death.
0:03:34 > 0:03:41The idea of the raid was to break the walls of the prison open
0:03:41 > 0:03:47and bomb the German guards' quarters while they were at lunch
0:03:47 > 0:03:52to enable the French Resistance people to get out.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Were you aware that there could be casualties amongst the resistance?
0:03:57 > 0:04:02Yes. We were very much alive to the fact that we could...
0:04:04 > 0:04:09..kill a few people that we... hadn't intended to.
0:04:09 > 0:04:15All I can say is that...war is cruel.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20It's difficult to say but it had to be done.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25Men and women that had helped escaping aircrews,
0:04:25 > 0:04:31prisoners of war escaping... People who'd done a hell of a lot for us.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37And we'd found out that they preferred to die by British bombs,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39rather than German bullets.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Some believe there were no resistance fighters
0:04:47 > 0:04:49awaiting execution that day.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58In France, what's considered in Britain as one of the RAF's
0:04:58 > 0:05:03finest achievements is often seen in a very different light.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Retired doctor Jean Pierre Ducellier was living here
0:05:07 > 0:05:11with his grandparents, 20 miles away from Amiens, when the raid took place.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Operation Jericho became his lifelong obsession.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20For decades he has studied the raid and has published a book
0:05:20 > 0:05:24which he claims disproves the official version of events.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26TRANSLATION:
0:05:26 > 0:05:28The story of Jericho has always interested me.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32I had an aunt and uncle who lived close to the prison,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35and they fled to their cellar when the bombs were going off,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37so I knew a bit about the story.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40But it was the need to find out what really happened
0:05:40 > 0:05:41that set me off on this course.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50One day, a veteran RAF officer came to the area to give a talk,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54and it was nothing but a tissue of lies.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I found the lawyer who looked after the prisoners
0:06:01 > 0:06:04who were due to appear in front of the military tribunal at this time,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and he assured me that absolutely no-one was condemned
0:06:07 > 0:06:10to death in Amiens prison in February 1944.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Never mind 120 people, there wasn't even one.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16There were no resistance workers to save,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20so why was the order given to attack the prison?
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I'm here to look at the official files on the raid.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Maybe they'll offer some clues.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42The records show that seven months after Operation Jericho,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46which still had not been made public, the RAF despatched
0:06:46 > 0:06:50one of its own intelligence officers - Squadron leader Edwyn Houghton -
0:06:50 > 0:06:54to the now liberated city of Amiens on a fact-finding mission.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Part of Houghton's mission was to find out exactly who had
0:06:58 > 0:07:03requested the attack and how many were to be executed.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07He found answers to neither question
0:07:09 > 0:07:14So the RAF couldn't establish why it had been asked to carry out the raid
0:07:14 > 0:07:17It's officially claimed that leaders of the French resistance had
0:07:17 > 0:07:20requested it through intelligence channels.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23There were two main secret services working into France
0:07:23 > 0:07:24during the Second World War.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29The first was the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32The other was the Special Operations Executive, or SOE.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37SIS was the mature veteran of the set-up,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40SOE was the new kid on the block, only being formed in 1940.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45Both secret services ran covert sorties into occupied France
0:07:45 > 0:07:48in order to support the French resistance fighters,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51dropping agents and equipment behind enemy lines.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53They did different things.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59SIS wanted to go when it was quiet, stealth, to secure intelligence.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03SOE wanted to create armed resistance.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07This, of course, occasioned some substantial amount of rivalry
0:08:07 > 0:08:11between the two. And this was compounded by the fact that they
0:08:11 > 0:08:14were rivals for the same aircraft, Royal Air Force,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18the same recruits that they wanted to turn into secret agents, the same resources.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22So not a very happy relationship, all things considered.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Into this murky world of espionage were pitched group captain
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Charles Pickard and his navigator Flight Lieutenant Alan Broadley.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Working on secret missions behind enemy lines,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40they formed one of the most enduring partnerships of the war,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42flying more than 100 operations together.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45And they would go on to lead Operation Jericho.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51He had dropped a French agent off somewhere in France.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53And his aircraft got stuck in the mud.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58All the French resistance fighters who were there all had to come out
0:08:58 > 0:09:04of the bushes and woods and push his aircraft to get it flying again.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09Pick got a pin or something, pricked his thumb and Alan's
0:09:09 > 0:09:13and they put it together and said, "Now we're blood brothers."
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Pickard was a battle-hardened pilot.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23but his face was world famous, thanks to his role
0:09:23 > 0:09:25in one of wartime Britain's most popular movies.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35That's a good thing. I haven't been off the ground for a week.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37It's all very well for you, I have a party tonight.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- That's saved you a headache. - Thank you very much.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I've come to watch Target For Tonight,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46the film that made Charles Pickard a reality star of his time.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Barry Norman knew the director who cast Pickard.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Why do you think they choose Pickard to play the lead?
0:09:52 > 0:09:55He's a fairly unlikely choice on the face of it.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58He's not a bad-looking guy, is he? I thought he played his part very well.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02He was already a war hero, after all.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08He collected three Distinguished Service Orders and one Distinguished Flying Cross.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11I think he got a couple of the DSOs before they made this film
0:10:11 > 0:10:13or around about the time they made it.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18I would think Harry Watt, who I knew slightly, would probably have cast
0:10:18 > 0:10:21a very careful eye over the available candidates
0:10:21 > 0:10:25and just decided, he's for the best. I think he was a good choice.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26Crew of F for Freddy.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Dixon, you're a captain...
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Pickard stars as Squadron Leader Dixon,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36leading his men in a low-level bombing raid over Germany.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Target for Tonight was a government propaganda film
0:10:42 > 0:10:48showing the raid through the eyes of a fictional bomber crew in the plane F for Freddy.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50But all the crews in the movie were real airmen.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55What impact did the film have in Britain and in the wider world in general?
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Very positive. Not only here, but in America.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00It was shown in about 12,000 cinemas in America.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I think it's a really good documentary
0:11:03 > 0:11:07and it was very important at the time because it was really the first documentary
0:11:07 > 0:11:12made in this country during the war that showed Britain fighting back.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15- I hope we haven't kept you waiting, sir? - Good Lord, no. Come and sit down.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20Pickard would have become quite a hero to the cinema audience of that time
0:11:20 > 0:11:24because it was a time when Britain was looking for heroes.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29The rest of the crew obviously had huge respect for him
0:11:29 > 0:11:31and affection, too, I think.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36Yeah, he had that quality. He's the kind of guy you would follow.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38You'd go tiger shooting with Pickard.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39THEY LAUGH
0:11:39 > 0:11:43Not that you'd want to shoot a tiger, but you know what I mean.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55This is where Operation Jericho was made possible.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00'An aircraft capable of the speed, accuracy and agility necessary'
0:12:00 > 0:12:06to pull off a seemingly impossible raid was designed and built here.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11A warplane so good, it beggars belief that furniture makers built it from plywood.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15This is the de Havilland Mosquito, the Wooden Wonder.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18And that's the prototype. How amazing.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Yes, we've just dismantled it this year.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26And how did it start? How did the RAF come to commission a wooden aeroplane?
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- Well, they didn't. - Was it their idea?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31No, private enterprise, de Havilland.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35They were turned down, thought they were crazy. Geoffrey de Havilland said,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39"We've got to do something for the war effort with all that experience."
0:12:39 > 0:12:42So the Mosquito was evolved,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46the prototype was built where you're standing here, which is behind us.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51It was dismantled, taken over to Hatfield, test flown by a young Geoffrey de Havilland.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55They called the Ministry down and when they saw it, they cancelled all the other orders.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Mosquito, Mosquito.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03What was it about the Mosquito that was so perfect for the Jericho raid?
0:13:03 > 0:13:07I don't think there was another aircraft capable of a raid that
0:13:07 > 0:13:10was planned as per Pickard's raid.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Low level, high speed, highly manoeuvrable
0:13:14 > 0:13:16and virtually impossible to catch.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- Its defence was speed.- Yes.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23- It was the fastest aircraft from '41 to '44.- That long?- That long.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30"I turn green with envy when I see the Mosquito.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34"The British knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft
0:13:34 > 0:13:38"that every piano factory there is making."
0:13:38 > 0:13:44These are the words of Hermann Goering, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50The aircraft that we had on the squadron previous to the Mosquito
0:13:50 > 0:13:52was the Lockheed Ventura.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57The difference was the difference between...
0:13:57 > 0:14:03Del Boy's three-wheeler and a F1 grand prix car.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05HE LAUGHS
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Today, there are few clues to suggest that one of the most
0:14:15 > 0:14:18remarkable raids of the war was launched from here.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31The men who could unlock many of the mysteries of Operation Jericho
0:14:31 > 0:14:33once lived and flew from here.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Today, all but a handful are gone...
0:14:45 > 0:14:47their secrets with them.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54But this is where the 18 Mosquitoes took off in February 1944.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Only microlights fly from here now
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and it's only from above that you can still see
0:15:01 > 0:15:04the outline of the old runways.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13So we'll be taking off elsewhere to fly the route of Operation Jericho.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25Today, we're attempting to retrace the Mosquito bombers' flight to Amiens.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30We're going to fly down the western side of London and join their route at Henley.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33'And I'll be navigating for Chris Norton, a former RAF Harrier pilot
0:15:33 > 0:15:37'who saw action in Kosovo and the Gulf War.'
0:15:37 > 0:15:43He, like Pickard, received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his courage in the air.
0:15:43 > 0:15:49Pickard led the raid despite having had very few hours flying experience in a Mosquito,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52or of daytime, low-level attacks.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Operation Jericho was originally to have been led
0:15:55 > 0:15:58by Air Vice Marshall Basil Embry.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01But at short notice, he was told he couldn't fly.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Basil Embry's Commander-in-Chief,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12forbade him to go on the raid, partly because he was known to have
0:16:12 > 0:16:15inside knowledge of Operation Overlord
0:16:15 > 0:16:18and many other aspects of Allied operations.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22He'd also been shot down previously in the war and escaped from Germany
0:16:22 > 0:16:26and was a wanted man as far as the Germans were concerned.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31- And they were attacking from this direction, were they? Not here?- Yes.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'I've flown with Chris before.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38'We retraced the route of the famous Dambusters raid last year.'
0:16:38 > 0:16:40And I'm a qualified pilot
0:16:40 > 0:16:44but the thought of flying at ultra-low level across the channel
0:16:44 > 0:16:47is making me somewhat nervous.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49We'll set off 1-2-0 across the channel,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and this bit here, we'll fly low...
0:16:52 > 0:16:57- until we hit that straight, old, Roman Road.- Lovely road.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00And that will lead us straight to the prison.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Nearly 70 years ago, the crews could barely believe
0:17:05 > 0:17:08the target they were being asked to attack.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Well, it's one of the very first truly precision raids.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17In 1944, precision could mean... Several hundred yards between a bomb
0:17:17 > 0:17:21and its target would still be considered to be quite precise.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25But in the Amiens Prison raid, there was no room for any error.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29This was how Mosquito pilot Maxwell Sparks recalled the briefing
0:17:29 > 0:17:30a few months after the raid.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33They brought with them a large wooden box.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36The lid was removed and we craned forward
0:17:36 > 0:17:38to see what the box contained.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42It was a model - a model of a building -
0:17:42 > 0:17:44and it looked to me at once like a prison
0:17:44 > 0:17:46because of the high wall around it.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49It sounded like a bit out of a dramatic novel.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Today, as Chris explains how the raid was carried out,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55it's hard to comprehend how difficult and dangerous
0:17:55 > 0:17:58that task must have seemed.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01They say the motive was to free the prisoners.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04- The threat, of course, was it's 1944...- Exactly.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08..and D Day is coming. But they have no information.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12The Gestapo had closed down all of the Resistance
0:18:12 > 0:18:15so they had no help as to dispositions of German forces
0:18:15 > 0:18:16and things like that.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19So they really wanted to free some of these people, get them out.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31So, we're about to recreate the journey those brave airmen
0:18:31 > 0:18:34embarked on in February 1944.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35- Reading out there.- Yep.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Henley down the left hand side. And they came from Hunsdon
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- which was over there.- Right.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- And joined... This was where they started the route.- OK.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46We're on their route from here on in.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50The weather conditions were terrible and the crews were not alone
0:18:50 > 0:18:54in hoping they wouldn't have to take to the skies in white-out conditions that day.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58There was a sudden snowstorm
0:18:58 > 0:19:01and I remember feeling very happy that night and thinking,
0:19:01 > 0:19:06"Oh, that's all right, they can't fly in this."
0:19:06 > 0:19:08But, of course, they did.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11And then there was just this awful silence.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15The final decision to carry out the raid was made just
0:19:15 > 0:19:18two hours before the target was due to be bombed.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Operation Jericho could hardly have started less promisingly.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Four Mosquitoes lost contact with the formation
0:19:29 > 0:19:32and had to return to base, leaving 14 aircraft to continue.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39There was strict radio silence to prevent the enemy detecting the approaching bombers.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43So it was vital the airmen didn't lose sight of their formations.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46- So, we're going to go down the coast to Seaford.- Yep.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51I'm navigating, and keeping track of our position is hard work.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55We're now on the same flight path as the Jericho raiders.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59But what sort of men were in the cockpit of that lead Mosquito?
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Charles Pickard was born in Sheffield in 1915.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13You'll find no commemorative plaque on the wall here,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16but this is the birthplace of one of World War II's
0:20:16 > 0:20:20most celebrated and decorated pilots.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24He joined the RAF at a pretty young age.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I believe it was about 1936 he joined, maybe a little later.
0:20:28 > 0:20:34So when the war started, he was already quite an experienced pilot.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40A hundred miles from Pickard's birthplace,
0:20:40 > 0:20:41at the other end of Yorkshire,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45the other half of an enduring wartime partnership was born.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49I think he lived for this moment of joining the RAF.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51He'd always wanted to fly
0:20:51 > 0:20:57but he didn't reach the pilot's grade
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and so he trained as a navigator.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Seven and eight - 78.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Pickard's father established the Mecca leisure empire
0:21:08 > 0:21:10having started in the quarry business.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Soon the family became wealthy and successful.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18He was sent to a school,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22quite a well-known public school called Framlingham.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I don't think, educationally, he was particularly bright.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27In fact, I think his headmaster
0:21:27 > 0:21:31was quite hostile about his achievements at school.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36Alan lived with his father and his stepmother
0:21:36 > 0:21:42and they ran a large hotel called Terrace House Hotel.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48My uncle, being the youngest of the family, there were five of them,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52and he was the youngest, so he was called Boy Pickard,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56so the children all called him Uncle Boy.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59I remember, you know, things like playing hide and seek,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02a man of 6" 4' wanting to play hide and seek
0:22:02 > 0:22:05with seven, eight, nine-year-olds.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08It was unbelievable, cos it was damn difficult to hide himself
0:22:08 > 0:22:11when you're that size. He was a real fun guy.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14It was like, I suppose, um, a partnership.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Pick was there.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22He was the tall, dashing, very foolhardy at times,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26but a bit of a lad and, um, Alan -
0:22:26 > 0:22:32steady, controlled - absolutely adored him.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36He'd do anything to be with Pick and be flying together.
0:22:36 > 0:22:42And, if he got moved, then he always made sure that Alan moved too.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46He used to go on so many different sorties and we always used to get
0:22:46 > 0:22:50the most incredible stories about the various trips he went on.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Um, but we used to get those a bit belated,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56because a lot of them were very secret missions.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58We became formally engaged on my birthday,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02which was December the 4th, then he came home.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05They were allowed leave, I think, Christmas leave
0:23:05 > 0:23:09and all he said to me was, um,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13"Pick and I have got a job to do when we get back,"
0:23:13 > 0:23:18but, of course, he couldn't tell me what it was
0:23:18 > 0:23:21and he never mentioned it further.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Push south across the Channel, across the FIR boundary at XIDIL
0:23:29 > 0:23:31in approximately two-zero mikes.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34'I'm about to experience flying at the same height
0:23:34 > 0:23:36'as those airmen as they headed for the French coast.'
0:23:36 > 0:23:40This, Martin, this looks like the height that they were flying.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- 110?- Thank you.- 100?
0:23:43 > 0:23:48- Unfortunately, it's a still day, there's no waves.- Yeah.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56This was the height they flew across the Channel to avoid detection.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Barely 30ft above the waves.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04This kind of flying was difficult and dangerous,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08but not as dangerous as being detected by enemy radar.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Pickard and Broadley knew all about the importance of radar.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Two years earlier, they had taken part in the daring Bruneval raid,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19dropping paratroopers near Le Havre.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25They captured parts of the German Wurzburg radar installation,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28escaping with vital enemy technology and prisoners
0:24:28 > 0:24:31to waiting naval vessels.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34After the Bruneval raid,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39he had a visitation from the King and Queen.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41He walked in and the King said,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46"Excuse me, what are these black marks on the ceiling?"
0:24:46 > 0:24:49He said, "Oh, well, sir, we had a bit of a celebration last night
0:24:49 > 0:24:53"after the Bruneval raid and they blackened my feet
0:24:53 > 0:24:58"and carried me along the ceiling and those are my foot marks."
0:24:58 > 0:25:02And, when they got to the end, the King said,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04"What are those two black blobs?"
0:25:04 > 0:25:07He said, "I'm afraid, sir, that's my bottom."
0:25:07 > 0:25:12And, of course, the King burst out laughing, but that's the sort of thing he would get up to.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17This remarkable footage from Operation Jericho
0:25:17 > 0:25:20was shot by a camera inside one of the Mosquitos.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25It shows just how close the aircraft were to the sea and to each other.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30- Having seen that film, Martin, I reckon this was about the height they flew.- Looks like it.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34100ft, going down to 30ft, especially in you're flying in formation,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38all that does is make it really difficult for the wing men.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42A moment of lack of concentration and then it takes
0:25:42 > 0:25:47just a little bit of a degree before you're in the water.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Flying so low at 350mph, there was every chance
0:25:51 > 0:25:54that the raid could have gone catastrophically wrong
0:25:54 > 0:25:56before the aircraft had even crossed the Channel.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59But the crews had been handpicked for their skill
0:25:59 > 0:26:02in such high-speed precision attacks.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05They all knew the task facing them as well as the risks.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10But the chain of command through which Operation Jericho was ordered
0:26:10 > 0:26:13remains far from clear to this day.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Maurice Buckmaster was the former head of the French section
0:26:17 > 0:26:18of the Special Operations Executive
0:26:18 > 0:26:22and one of Britain's most famous wartime spymasters.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25He was pressed on the subject of the raid
0:26:25 > 0:26:28in a Panorama interview in 1982.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Well, it's always been a bit of a mystery to me,
0:26:30 > 0:26:36but we were, so to speak, the lucky side beneficiaries of a...
0:26:36 > 0:26:39of an attack which was organised and thought of
0:26:39 > 0:26:42by someone else and I don't know who.
0:26:43 > 0:26:49So, his organisation didn't order the raid, so what about the SIS or MI6?
0:26:49 > 0:26:53There is a letter which actually says,
0:26:53 > 0:26:58"I have been asked by C to express his gratitude and gratitude of his officers
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- "for the attack carried out on Amiens Prison."- Oh, yeah?
0:27:02 > 0:27:06- Yeah.- So C is the head of MI6?
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Is he?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10You know that.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12I believe it's true, yes.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16So doesn't that letter at least suggest that, um...?
0:27:16 > 0:27:18- Yes.- ..MI6 was involved?
0:27:18 > 0:27:20I've never seen this letter or heard of it before,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25until you mentioned it just now, but that could well be, yes.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29I just don't know. It's not my kind of work at all.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33But the SIS did not mount
0:27:33 > 0:27:36this particular operation at your instigation?
0:27:36 > 0:27:41Not at my... Oh, no, I don't know who mounted it, I'm afraid.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45The letter that Buckmaster knew nothing about
0:27:45 > 0:27:48is here in the National Archive.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53It is written on behalf of C, head of MI6, and his officers,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57thanking the RAF for carrying out the raid and included is
0:27:57 > 0:28:00what is said to be a message of thanks from the resistance.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04It says, "Thanks to admirable precision of the attack,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09"the first bomb blew in nearly all the doors and 150 prisoners escaped.
0:28:09 > 0:28:15"Of these, 12 were to have been shot on the 19th of February."
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Those who are sceptical about the official version
0:28:19 > 0:28:21claim that this is all made up.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27TRANSLATION: Also in this document, they point out
0:28:27 > 0:28:30that 50 German soldiers were killed, which is completely false.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32'After more in-depth research,
0:28:32 > 0:28:37'we concluded that only five or six were killed on February the 18th.'
0:28:37 > 0:28:41So was MI6 involved in this raid?
0:28:41 > 0:28:45The head of the RAF's air historical branch believes it's likely.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47If the suggestion, as it is believed it did,
0:28:47 > 0:28:53comes from resistance circles, it's got to come back
0:28:53 > 0:28:57either through MI6 or the SOE.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00It can't come back through any other organisation.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05One of those has got to have fed it into the RAF and asked them to do it.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09We know that C, the head of MI6,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14thanks the RAF for mounting the raid, ergo, it seems to me pretty clear
0:29:14 > 0:29:20that the request came back from the resistance via MI6 to the RAF.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23That's not a mystery.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25But according to Monsieur Ducellier,
0:29:25 > 0:29:30any involvement from MI6 wasn't quite so straightforward.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34TRANSLATION: So, in reality, there were two versions.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37The first aimed at the French, to free the resistance,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40and the second at the Germans to make them believe
0:29:40 > 0:29:42there was a British agent in the prison
0:29:42 > 0:29:45who knew the secrets of the D-Day landings.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52Seagulls on the sea will leap airborne at the sight of a plane.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53They could come up and hit them,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57but the Mosquito was fairly sturdy, even for a balsawood aeroplane.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02'Back over the Channel, the Mosquitos didn't have speed alone to shield them from attack.'
0:30:02 > 0:30:08Above each group of six Mosquitos was a squadron of Typhoon fighters
0:30:08 > 0:30:12to protect them against enemy aircraft.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14And Frank Wheeler was flying
0:30:14 > 0:30:18his first sortie for the RAF that day as a Typhoon pilot.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23He's the last surviving member of the fighter crews who escorted the bombers to the target.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25We fell in each side of them
0:30:25 > 0:30:28to escort them, just a bit above them,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30lining up on each side of their formation.
0:30:30 > 0:30:36Our job was simply to ensure that no German aircraft came in
0:30:36 > 0:30:40to interfere and attack them. We went across at this very low height
0:30:40 > 0:30:43and, when we got to the coast, to my amazement,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46they stayed at that height and we went at treetop height all the way.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51- Paris can't see them now, even on the transponder.- Oh.- Down at 100 feet.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55- Radar wasn't as sophisticated then as it is now anyway?- No, no.
0:30:55 > 0:31:01- And it was definitely something that we were a lot more advanced.. - Yeah.- ..than the Germans were.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03'Entering French airspace,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06'we're now less than 100 miles from the target.'
0:31:06 > 0:31:10- Now is the point they declare to the world, "We're coming." - Here we are, yeah.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13"But we're not going to say where we're going."
0:31:13 > 0:31:17'At the speed the Mosquitos were travelling, they were a quarter of an hour from the jail
0:31:17 > 0:31:22'and the unsuspecting German soldiers were settling down for lunch in the guardhouse,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25as they always did at noon each day.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Maxwell Sparks flew in the first wave of bombers to attack the jail.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32We turned right and headed for Albert,
0:31:32 > 0:31:37turned right again and picked up the main road from Albert to Amiens.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40A long, straight road.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43The beginning of it was lined with poplars
0:31:43 > 0:31:47and I had to keep my wing tilted away from the poplars,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49we were so low.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53When the poplars petered out about two miles from the prison,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57Typhoon fighters suddenly swept across in front of us.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02I won't say what I said, but we carried on
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and got tighter and tighter into formation.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09My wing was just in front of the leader's tail plate.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17Just moments away now and very few inside the jail would've known what was about to hit them.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20It's believed some prisoners had received word of the attack
0:32:20 > 0:32:24from resistance operatives on the outside.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27Two from one. 30 seconds to overfly.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Lower and lower and lower
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and down to a speed that was no more
0:32:33 > 0:32:37than a few knots above stalling speed, with a heavy bomb load.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41One of the other pilots that was watching us going in
0:32:41 > 0:32:47saw swirls of snow from our slipstream.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50The attack plan formed the template for modern air combat
0:32:50 > 0:32:52and is still in use today.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55The Mosquitos criss-crossed the target in waves
0:32:55 > 0:32:59to confuse the enemy about the direction of attack.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04The 500lb bombs were dropped so low, delayed fuses had to be used
0:33:04 > 0:33:09to stop the aircraft being destroyed by their own explosions.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10SIREN BLARES
0:33:10 > 0:33:13By the time the first wave of bombers had attacked,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16the Luftwaffe was alerted to the raid.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20German pilots were scrambled from a nearby airfield into their fighter planes.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24Moments later, they were airborne, hunting down Pickard and his men.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30'And we're about to get our first view
0:33:30 > 0:33:34'of the Mosquitos' target that day. We're approaching the jail.'
0:33:34 > 0:33:37- Overhead?- It's a big old building, isn't it,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39- even with modern-day skyscrapers. - Yeah, absolutely.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42- Four storeys high.- Yes.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47That's a monstrous target that, that sort of target.
0:33:47 > 0:33:53We opened the bomb doors and, around about between 10 and 15 feet,
0:33:53 > 0:33:58well below the wall, I saw the Wing Commander's wing bomb drop,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02I pressed my bomb tip, the aircraft lifted up,
0:34:02 > 0:34:07full throttle, and as we swept over the wall,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10I look along the wing and up
0:34:10 > 0:34:13at the top of the prison,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17straight into the eyes of an open-mouthed guard.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22And that was, stick hard forward, back onto the deck and snaking away,
0:34:22 > 0:34:27because he had a machine gun and could've fired at us.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29As Frank Wheeler circled the prison from above,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32he saw what the aircrews had hoped to achieve.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35There was this one man, large man,
0:34:35 > 0:34:40getting away from the prison and clamouring over rubble to get out,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42probably the first person to escape.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45So, mission accomplished.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Pickard gave the call, "Red, red, red, the oranges are ripe" -
0:34:49 > 0:34:51the code for the success of the operation
0:34:51 > 0:34:54and immediate return to base.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59They were to be the last words his men ever heard him say.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02I don't know whether he stayed too long.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08But, as it so happened, he was attacked by two Focke-Wulfs
0:35:08 > 0:35:15- and he had no chance of escaping the deadly fire.- Yeah.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18They shot his tail off and he crashed.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Killed instantly.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Pickard's aircraft came down in this field in St Gratien,
0:35:26 > 0:35:28about seven miles from Amiens.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33The remains of the flaming fuselage with Pickard and Broadley inside
0:35:33 > 0:35:35landed by the corner of these woods.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39French villagers arrived first at the scene
0:35:39 > 0:35:43and recovered their badly burned bodies.
0:35:43 > 0:35:44They removed anything
0:35:44 > 0:35:48that would help the Germans identify the fallen airmen.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52The propaganda value of two such high-profile war heroes
0:35:52 > 0:35:56would've been huge, as would the blow to morale back in Britain.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00The bodies were then taken to the village hall.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03It was a terrific shock, really.
0:36:05 > 0:36:11To have lost your Group Captain like that, it was terrible.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14After all he had done throughout his career.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Group Captain Pickard and Bill Broadley.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21They really were heroes.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26The mosquito of Squadron Leader Ian McRitchie was also shot down.
0:36:26 > 0:36:33He survived the crash with serious injuries but his navigator Flt Lt Dick Sampson was killed.
0:36:34 > 0:36:40It's believed Pickard and Broadley may have gone to look for survivors when they, too, were attacked.
0:36:41 > 0:36:48The greatest tragedy was that they'd lost their leader, their famous leader and navigator.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50He was a hero.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54A tremendous flier and a tremendous pilot and a great leader.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59He was a great loss to the Air Force when he went.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01So was the navigator.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14So, we've retraced the route the Mosquitoes took in 1944
0:37:14 > 0:37:18and now we're a few minutes away from landing in France.
0:37:22 > 0:37:28I'm hoping I can shed more light on how the raid came about.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32This part of Northern France holds many unsolved wartime mysteries -
0:37:32 > 0:37:34some dating back to an even earlier conflict.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39- Coast clear, Martin. - Coast clear.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47We're landing at the small provincial airport at Glisy, just outside Amiens.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51There was a German Luftwaffe base here during the war.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01Er, you park in front of the door.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05Back on the ground, the next part of my journey will take me into the city of Amiens
0:38:05 > 0:38:09to find out more about Operation Jericho.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15But the danger wasn't yet over for the Jericho airmen as they headed for home without their leader.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20Maxwell Sparks and his navigator, Arthur Dunlop, were about to cross the coast.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24He was still firing.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29As I turned to cross over the coast, he put a burst straight through my wing.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31He made a hole about that size.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Yeah, right in front of the roundel.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40The wing dropped alarmingly. I yelled to Alan to help me with the stick.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44We literally fell over the coast down onto the water.
0:38:44 > 0:38:53We had to snake away because they had a nasty habit of firing at the water after you,
0:38:53 > 0:39:00in the hope that the spray from the bullets will go upwards and ingest into the engine.
0:39:00 > 0:39:06But Maxwell retained control of his damaged aircraft and crossed the Channel to land safely.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Meanwhile, Frank Wheeler managed to evade enemy attack
0:39:10 > 0:39:15and guided his Typhoon across the Channel, despite being dangerously low on fuel.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23The success of the raid in military terms is beyond dispute.
0:39:23 > 0:39:29The accuracy, skill and bravery of those who carried it out were beyond belief.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32But the damage and death was on a terrible scale.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Of 700 prisoners inside, around 100 were killed.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41And of those who escaped, only a few dozen avoided recapture.
0:39:51 > 0:39:57That was such an amazing experience, that flight, navigating low level across the Channel
0:39:57 > 0:40:01managing to find the prison.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06And here were are on the road the Mosquitoes used for their run in.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09This wonderful, straight Roman road,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13which I'm using now to drive to the prison which is coming up quite soon.
0:40:16 > 0:40:22The jail at Amiens still houses inmates and has been largely rebuilt,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25but the wall still remains.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Driving past the front of the jail, you can still see
0:40:32 > 0:40:35where the breach in the wall has been repaired.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40Maxwell Sparks reckons this is where his bomb hit.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43The scar in the brickwork is a permanent reminder
0:40:43 > 0:40:45of Operation Jericho.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50Outside the prison, there's a memorial to all those who died.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53On the anniversary of the raid, they're still remembered
0:40:53 > 0:40:56by the people of Amiens, as they have been every year
0:40:56 > 0:40:59since the attack 67 years ago.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Anyone who was there will never be able to forget that day.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07Their memories could hold clues to the mysteries of Jericho.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10And every year, there are fewer people who remember it.
0:41:11 > 0:41:18Madame Felau? Ah, bonjour. Ici Martin. Merci.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20SHE SPEAKS FRENCH
0:41:20 > 0:41:22This is Therese Felau.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26She was a young married woman living next to Amiens Jail in February 1944.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30She was alone at home and three weeks away from giving birth
0:41:30 > 0:41:32when the attack came.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Madame Felau, I hope it's not too painful for you.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40But could you tell us your memories of the raid and that day?
0:41:42 > 0:41:46TRANSLATION: I was outside in my yard, I went to get some water
0:41:46 > 0:41:48when all of a sudden I heard sirens
0:41:48 > 0:41:51and the airplanes appeared immediately.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54They almost shaved the top off the house and then the bombs came.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I ran downstairs to my cellar.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05I was really scared, then I heard someone coming into the house.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09I went up the cellar stairs and saw this man, all covered in black.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13He said to me, "Some water, please, quick!"
0:42:13 > 0:42:15I was amazed that he was still alive.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19I didn't even get to ask him his name. Then, he ran off.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23So, then I went outside, I had to cut through the fields
0:42:23 > 0:42:26because the Germans had blocked everything off,
0:42:26 > 0:42:30that's when I saw all the wounded people coming out of the prison.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32It was horrible, horrible.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35How do feel about the raid now?
0:42:38 > 0:42:39I can't forget it.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It's impossible, it's too hard.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44I wondered who could have been bombing us.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46I didn't know it was the English.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51We were used to being bombed by the Germans, but not by the English.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54I've always wondered why it happened.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58We were told afterwards that it was to liberate two people,
0:42:58 > 0:43:00two resistance workers.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03They must have been very important
0:43:03 > 0:43:05to have killed so many for just the two.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09ACCORDION MUSIC
0:43:14 > 0:43:18Sitting by the River Somme, made infamous by a previous conflict,
0:43:18 > 0:43:22I wonder what the truth behind Operation Jericho really is.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30It's claimed it was to free resistance fighters
0:43:30 > 0:43:33but could there be another explanation?
0:43:34 > 0:43:39Its position, just 75 miles from Calais, may hold some clue
0:43:39 > 0:43:43as to why the prison here at Amiens was bombed.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00The D-day landings took place in June 1944 -
0:44:00 > 0:44:02four months after Operation Jericho.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08Some believe it was to fool the Germans into thinking
0:44:08 > 0:44:12that the impending allied invasion would be in this part of France
0:44:12 > 0:44:14rather than along the Normandy coast.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21Operation Fortitude was a deception plan thought up by allied intelligence
0:44:21 > 0:44:24in the hope that the Germans would mass their forces
0:44:24 > 0:44:26in the Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30The lives of thousands of allied troops depended on it.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Monsieur Ducellier believes that Operation Jericho
0:44:36 > 0:44:38was one part of that plan.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45TRANSLATION: The bombing of Amiens prison was the first phase of Operation Fortitude.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48It was its first objective. I'm sure that the real reason for the bombing
0:44:48 > 0:44:52was to make the Germans believe that the invasion was having to be postponed.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57And secondly, the location of Amiens, between the Pas-de-Calais and the Somme, was significant
0:44:57 > 0:45:02in making them believe the invasion would take place in this area.
0:45:02 > 0:45:08A single raid does not, per se, persuade the German high command
0:45:08 > 0:45:11that the Pas-de-Calais is an important area.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17It chimes with Operation Fortitude to a degree, so it's helpful,
0:45:17 > 0:45:22but it's not the reason for mounting the raid, at least in my opinion.
0:45:30 > 0:45:3570 years ago, these streets were filled with fear, treachery and secret defiance.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42Those who opposed the German occupation lived in constant fear of betrayal.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46It's extraordinary, in a place like this
0:45:46 > 0:45:52that is just what you would expect of a fairly quiet town -
0:45:52 > 0:45:54very normal, very ordinary,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57in these little flats, little apartments around here,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00there would have been members of the resistance.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04People who are remembered here, who were carrying on their underground fight
0:46:04 > 0:46:08with great courage but in constant fear of that knock on the door.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12The Nazis and Jackboots and the machine guns
0:46:12 > 0:46:14coming to execute them, or worse, their families.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18It's an extraordinary feeling to be in the middle of all of this.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25But who were the resistance fighters inside Amiens Jail, whose freedom
0:46:25 > 0:46:29justified risking so many lives? Were there any?
0:46:29 > 0:46:34The RAF's own intelligence documents include one possible name -
0:46:34 > 0:46:38Raymond Vivant, who had escaped the jail in the bombing.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41But Monsieur Ducellier believes this isn't possible.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50TRANSLATION: There was an important resistance worker called Vivant.
0:46:50 > 0:46:55He was vice prefect of Abbeville and he's often mentioned as the person who must have known something.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58He was imprisoned in Amiens Jail on February 14th.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02But the operation had already been ordered several days before this,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05so it couldn't possibly have been mounted for him.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08So we have been trying to find out what members of the resistance
0:47:08 > 0:47:13were due to die. In 1944, everyone in the region was wondering
0:47:13 > 0:47:15who were these people who had to be freed.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Of course, there was no end of people who were willing to say
0:47:18 > 0:47:23it was them, but no-one has ever been found who could have been a serious contender.
0:47:23 > 0:47:28For security reasons, it has not been possible until now to give a full account of this exploit.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31This is how the story of the raid was finally presented
0:47:31 > 0:47:34to the British public, eight months after it was carried out.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38..led by Group Captain Pickard of Target For Tonight fame.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40It was to prove his last flight.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44But back at the national archives, documents show that, just weeks before,
0:47:44 > 0:47:48there was official concern and confusion about just how to tell
0:47:48 > 0:47:50the story of Operation Jericho.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56In this note from the then Air Commodore David Atcherley,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58he struggles to disguise his frustration
0:47:58 > 0:48:02at the draft press release he'd been sent to consider.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06"Obviously, DPR..." That's the Department Of Public Relations,
0:48:06 > 0:48:11"..intends the story to be splashed across the British newspapers.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14"We know that the French are a bit out of sympathy,
0:48:14 > 0:48:16"with the purpose of the operation,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19"and it is reasonable to assume that if uninformed
0:48:19 > 0:48:24"and misleading criticisms (verbally or press) from France are to be anticipated,
0:48:24 > 0:48:30"we shall have to make certain of the intelligence 'facts'."
0:48:30 > 0:48:32And he puts the word 'facts' in inverted commas.
0:48:32 > 0:48:37But despite the absence of 'facts', the RAF PR machine was still
0:48:37 > 0:48:39desperate to get the story out.
0:48:39 > 0:48:44Why were so many high-ranking RAF officers
0:48:44 > 0:48:49involved in ensuring that the right version of the story came out?
0:48:49 > 0:48:52In the words of the briefing officer, Mosquitoes are to attack
0:48:52 > 0:48:57the prison at Amiens to assist more than 100 prisoners to escape.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01These prisoners are French patriots condemned to death
0:49:01 > 0:49:03for assisting the allies.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07TRANSLATION: In France, or should I say in Amiens,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09certain voices began to be raised, saying,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12"Why have we never found these members of the resistance?"
0:49:12 > 0:49:14They looked and never found anyone,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17even the resistance themselves.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21So, despite the RAF claiming the raid was to free resistance fighters,
0:49:21 > 0:49:23no-one was ever identified.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28Ten years later, the French began asking, once again,
0:49:28 > 0:49:30"Why was the prison bombed?"
0:49:35 > 0:49:39But then a new story emerged from an unlikely place.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Jean Claude Beloeil was a French soldier sent to Cyprus
0:49:43 > 0:49:47at the height of the Suez Crisis in 1956.
0:49:47 > 0:49:54But whilst there, did he unwittingly become part of a new deception plan by British intelligence?
0:49:56 > 0:49:59TRANSLATION: One day, a colleague in the regiment told me
0:49:59 > 0:50:02that an Englishman wanted to meet me because I was from Amiens.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04A car came to pick me up.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07It was a senior British officer and he told me his story.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11He said he was parachuted twice into the Amiens area
0:50:11 > 0:50:14but the second time he was wounded, captured and he had his leg
0:50:14 > 0:50:17amputated, then was thrown into Amiens prison.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21His story absolutely amazed me.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Especially when he told me why it was so important for him to escape.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28He said he was an important link in the chain of events
0:50:28 > 0:50:31leading to the Normandy landings a few months later.
0:50:31 > 0:50:36It was very important for him to meet someone who came from the place where he'd been imprisoned.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39I now think it was in the hope that I would tell people
0:50:39 > 0:50:41what he had told me.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44And when he returned with that revelation,
0:50:44 > 0:50:49he found a city willing to accept a new version of why its prison was bombed.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Actually, the whole deception worked a treat
0:50:54 > 0:50:57because when Jean Claude Beloeil returned home from military service,
0:50:57 > 0:51:01he told the story to the people of Amiens and to the newspapers.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03And so the story went on for 60 years.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06Well, I say hats off to the British secret service
0:51:06 > 0:51:09because I'm really impressed by their techniques.
0:51:09 > 0:51:14I think the idea of there being some super, ace secret agent
0:51:14 > 0:51:18in Amiens prison that is the man
0:51:18 > 0:51:23that they're really seeking to release
0:51:23 > 0:51:26is something maybe for the novel than the history book.
0:51:32 > 0:51:38We all inwardly felt he'd been killed because he'd been on loads
0:51:38 > 0:51:41of secret missions before, and for us all to be summoned
0:51:41 > 0:51:44in the way we were, we thought there's something very serious here.
0:51:46 > 0:51:51I decided there and then that I would presume he would be saved
0:51:51 > 0:51:55and I wouldn't let any other idea come into my head.
0:52:00 > 0:52:01Here it is.
0:52:03 > 0:52:09The last resting place of Group Captain Pickard, age 28.
0:52:11 > 0:52:19And just behind him, there is his navigator Flight Lieutenant Broadley, 23.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24Pickard and Broadley were buried by the French but it would be months
0:52:24 > 0:52:28before loved ones back home would have their worst fears confirmed.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36He was posted missing for so long, well,
0:52:36 > 0:52:41I'm certain the whole family knew that he must have been killed.
0:52:41 > 0:52:48There was still no news, and I knew he'd bought my engagement ring,
0:52:48 > 0:52:52and so I wrote to the Group Captain and said that I'd be glad
0:52:52 > 0:52:55if he would send the ring to me.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And I would like to have it and wear it.
0:53:01 > 0:53:07There was always the hope that he was in a prisoner-of-war camp
0:53:07 > 0:53:09but that sort of news filters back.
0:53:11 > 0:53:12I came down one morning
0:53:12 > 0:53:17and the paper was on the table and I just picked it up and read it
0:53:17 > 0:53:24and there was this big headline. I had no warning and no inkling
0:53:24 > 0:53:29that it would be in the papers like that with big headlines
0:53:29 > 0:53:32and I just broke down immediately.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Great, great sadness, particularly my grandmother,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38who was absolutely devoted to him.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41She broke down, as did my mother and my aunt.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46We, as children, were just sort of sat there dumbfounded by it all.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51It was as though, you know, all your hopes were dashed
0:53:51 > 0:53:56and we kept hoping it wasn't true, but of course it was.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Both men were only too aware that they had lived a charmed life
0:54:03 > 0:54:06and that their next sortie could be their last.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10This letter from Pickard was only to be delivered should he fail
0:54:10 > 0:54:12to return from a raid.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17It's written to Lord Londonderry, the godfather to his son Nicholas.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21He left instructions as to his education and future.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25Pickard wrote in the letter,
0:54:25 > 0:54:30"For nearly two years now I have had the feeling that one day or night I shall be knocked down,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33"and although myself I am not afraid,
0:54:33 > 0:54:35"I do feel my responsibilities...
0:54:41 > 0:54:46"My chances of being taken alive are remote, as I always carry a revolver
0:54:46 > 0:54:49"and intend fighting it out.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54"If you hear I am a prisoner, it will be because either I am too badly injured to fight
0:54:54 > 0:54:56"or because I funked it."
0:54:57 > 0:55:02The French made their own cross when Pickard was first buried.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05On it they wrongly engraved the Victoria Cross -
0:55:05 > 0:55:07an honour never awarded to him.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12The Ministry of Defence asked the French to remove the VC.
0:55:12 > 0:55:19And so the then French ambassador went to see the minister of Defence
0:55:19 > 0:55:23and said "Look, you know, he did wonderful things
0:55:23 > 0:55:26"for the French, not just the Amiens raid but many others.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30"And so, you know, we feel he should get the VC.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32"Why have you not given him the VC?"
0:55:32 > 0:55:34They would give no reason.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39He did over 100 sorties, he should get the VC for that alone.
0:55:39 > 0:55:44We have launched campaigns from time to time,
0:55:44 > 0:55:49but of course, it's so long ago now that it seems to me
0:55:49 > 0:55:52that the Ministry of Defence don't really want to know anymore.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58It seems extraordinary that so few people now
0:55:58 > 0:56:02know the name of Charles Pickard and of the operation which he led.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11I think if he'd wanted to become an actor at the end of the war, he'd have had the opportunities
0:56:11 > 0:56:16cos his sister, Helena, was married to Sir Cedric Hardwick who was a very prominent actor at the time.
0:56:16 > 0:56:21He had all the right contacts if he wanted to get into the business.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Operation Jericho was an extraordinary raid.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27Of that there is no doubt.
0:56:27 > 0:56:32But WHY it took place, and so many lost their lives, remains a mystery.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38I'd like to stress this -
0:56:38 > 0:56:43there's no way that I was a hero in this job.
0:56:43 > 0:56:49My part was miniscule, it was over and done in five seconds.
0:56:50 > 0:56:55The real heroes, I think, of this particular raid
0:56:55 > 0:56:59were the French Resistance fighters who were incarcerated in the prison.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04I'm not sure if we will ever get completely
0:57:04 > 0:57:06to the bottom of this story.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09Let's not pretend that we've got the full story when we haven't.
0:57:09 > 0:57:15And let's not fill up the gaps with possibles, make-believes, who-knows.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18Maybe, one day, there will be that document,
0:57:18 > 0:57:23one day there will be that diary, one day there will be that photograph,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25and then we'll have a good story.
0:57:25 > 0:57:26And a full story.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43They say that truth is often the first casualty of war.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48We may never know the real reason why those French patriots
0:57:48 > 0:57:52died in the rubble of Amiens Jail.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54But the men who led the raid that cut short
0:57:54 > 0:57:58those lives are buried just yards from here.
0:58:00 > 0:58:07Make no mistake, all those brave airmen truly believed that they were giving the resistance a choice -
0:58:07 > 0:58:09albeit a stark one -
0:58:09 > 0:58:12death or freedom.
0:58:47 > 0:58:50Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:50 > 0:58:52E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk