Controversy Engulfed this Successful Air Raid After the War
The raiders arrived at noon on February 18th, 1944. To start off the show, they dropped 500 pound bombs with delayed fuses to allow the Mosquitoes to fly out of the blast zone before detonation. The explosions were right on target, and successfully breached the outer walls. Then the guardhouse was struck and destroyed, killing its occupants along with collateral damage prisoners in the vicinity. Once prisoners were observed pouring out of the breached walls, the raiders headed back home.
The mission was a tactical success, although the results were mixed. The bombing was pinpoint accurate by the standards of the day, and the walls were successfully breached, allowing the prisoners an opportunity for a jailbreak. At the cost of three Mosquitoes and two Typhoons, 50 Germans were killed – but so were 107 of the 717 prisoners. 258 prisoners escaped, but 182 were recaptured.
Controversy erupted after the war when some in the Resistance disputed that they had requested the attack. Additionally, no evidence emerged that the Germans had planned mass executions of the Amiens prisoners.
