The Amiens Prison Raid captured on Film! (WW2 Documentary)

I was blessed to spend a wonderful day with Canadian fighter pilot Don Burton before he passed. He flew on that mission, lost his best friend Henry Brown ( although he did not know it until he returned) and was piloting the Typhoon that passed in front of the camera Mosquito. He shared that day his gun camera footage, the events recorded in his log book and many stories from his flights. I have a photo on my wall that he carried in his wallet to his last day of his Typhoon on a hay field in France after D day. He earned the DFC. We are blessed to have known such men. Thanks for the great documentary

More British excellence in documentary film making. We Americans view “The Few” who flew in Fighter Command and Bomber Command as the legends of valor they were. And we will never forget that it was the RR Merlin that gave our P-51D’s their famous purr — as it did the Spitfire, magisterial Mosquito, and illustrious Lancaster. Cheers Brit mates! 🇺🇸💛🇬🇧

Thanks for this doco, a few new details I’ve not heard before. My great uncle PO Mervin Darrall, from the second flight first wave, survived the war and returned to NZ. As far as I am aware he never piloted a plane again and almost never spoke of the war except once to an airline pilot relative. Too many friends lost I think.

Wing Commander Iredale Australian pilot flew on this mission ,survived the war returned to Australia and and never flew aircraft again,his son Michael served a tour in Vietnam in 1966,Mike asked his father how he kept getting promoted he replied they kept losing pilots and they promoted accordingly due to losses.

I'm from Amiens, my grandfather was a teenager at the time and saw the planes fly over the city, he told me this story several times. I didn't know there were real footage of the attack, I'm amazed! Thank you for this video! Also does anyone know where I could find any information about a british pilot who was shot down and then hidden in a small village near Amiens? (It's a story from my grandmother this time but I don't have much information).

The Amiens prison raid was another example of what British determination could achieve. Starting with Sir Geoffrey de Havilands determination to produce the Mosquito as a private enterprise when the narrow minded officials declined his original proposal. To the dedication of the crews themselves to see the job carried out, not just on this raid but others like the Gestapo HQ and from preventing Goerings broadcast. It is a shame that such heroism that these men displayed should be questioned after the war.

I bought a diecast model Mosquito plane a few weeks ago from an RAF museum and I was holding it and looking at it as I was watching this interesting mission story video. What a fantastic plane the mosquito was. It's one of my favourite WW2 planes because of how versitile it was.

"By the time German soldiers got to the prison some 258 prisoners had escaped, including 79 members of the Resistance. However, 155 of the escapees were recaptured. 102 prisoners were killed in the raid by the bombs." "The story put out at the time was that the raid was requested by the French Resistance to allow as many imprisoned Resistance fighters to escape as was possible as they faced execution. In December 1943, twelve members of the Resistance had been executed at Amiens but none were planned when the raid took place. It is now accepted that the Resistance did not, in fact, request the raid and according to a French historian, Jean-Pierre Ducellier, the official RAF version is “sheer lies”. So who did?" "After Amiens was liberated, the RAF sent one of their officers to the city to find out why the raid was ordered. Squadron Leader Edwin Houghton found out nothing – not even a list of supposed executions that were meant to have been carried out by the Gestapo of men who were saved by the RAF." History Learning site UK Operation Jericho page

Excellent video! As a visual learner, I found the computer animation and historical photos (and the maps) to be very helpful. Keep up the good work.

Excellent documentary. I grew up in Bampton, Oxfordshire. The local bank employed a member of this raid. Max Sparks, originally from New Zealand. There is an interview, by Martin Shaw, he played " Doyle" in the tv series The Professionals. If I can locate the interview, I will post a link.

A cracking episode. Always loved this story.

Another outstanding documentary from you guys 👏🏻 i love the detail you guys go into the footage and graphics used to tell the tale and paint the picture are on point too! 👍🏻

Good that you emphasised the fact that the prison was run and staffed mostly by guards who were French and consequently therefore technically….no actually…in the pay of a collaborationist government. As a French girlfriend once said to me: “ You go to France now and EVERYBODY’S family was in the Resistance!” 🙄

Ive known about this raid for decades but this is the most informative video/written word story Ive ever seen on the subject. Thank you, WELL DONE!

That New Zealand pilots led the Amiens Prison raid is a point of pride and a celebrated event for the Royal New Zealand Air Force, even today. N Z pilots made up 12% of the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Another point of pride for Kiwis. Alas, we lost our fighter arm of the RNZAF back in the late 1980s when we used Skyhawks.

Amazing video. May France and Britain's friendship last until the end of time!

Wonderful work, just bloody wonderful, both to the Mosquito crews and the BGVT team for this documentary. Bless.

Great vid and combo of old, new and animated footage !

My dad, born 1930, was a senior sales manager for Lever Bros (a major UK soap company). His boss was a chap called Jack Southern who was a Mosquito pilot during the war. I remember my dad telling me that Jack had said to him he could recall the flak coming towards him but never once believing it was going to hit him. Jack's wife Marjorie used to come for a coffee morning at our house and I remember her telling me she had a boyfriend that was a Spitfire pilot who was shot down over France, walked over the Pyrenees into Spain and flown home to rejoin his unit only to be shot down and killed a few weeks later. I just wish that I had the opportunity to talk in depth to them both about their lives during the war. The thought that Jack would be such a heroic figure during the war would become a soap company sales manager after the war seems very humdrum. But there again everyone returned to normal life after the war. That generation that gave so much is now dwindling at an ever increasing pace.

In December of 1958, as an RAF airman, I was posted to RAF Jever, near Wilhemshaven, north Germany. The C.O. of Jever was Group Captain Irving "Black" Smith, one of the mosquito pilots who flew on the Amien Raid. He was a tough, unncompromising C.O., but though he could be extremely demanding, he was also very much admired and liked by every man on the unit.