3. Operation Jericho
Operation Jericho was the name given to one of the most audacious air raids carried out by the RAF on 18 February 1944. The operation was a low-level attack by Mosquito bombers on a prison on the outskirts of Amiens in northern France where the Germans were holding many resistance fighters and other political prisoners.
The aim of the operation was to eliminate two Allied intelligence officers who had been captured and were being held at Amiens Prison. While no one can exactly tell the intelligence the two officers had, it is believed that their capture posed a threat to Operation Overload where the Allied forces had planned to invade Europe and liberate it from the hands of Nazi Germany. In that case, the Allied forces attacked the prison to either rescue or eliminate the two men.
Eighteen Mosquitoes, supported by Typhoons took off from RAF Hunsdon in Hertfordshire. As they hit the very poor weather, four Mosquitoes turned back as they had lost contact with the other fourteen. The crews later reported that the weather was the worst they had ever experienced.