Operation Jericho
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Operation Jericho took place on 18 February 1944 during the Second World War. Allied aircraft bombed Amiens Prison in German-occupied France at very low altitude to blow holes in the prison walls, kill German guards and use shock waves to spring open cell doors. The French Resistance was waiting on the outside to rescue prisoners and spirit them away.
Dust and smoke from Amiens prison during the raid
German troops moving a V-1 flying bomb
Four 500-lb MC bombs being loaded into a Mosquito FB.VI of 464 Squadron, RAF Hunsdon
487 Squadron Mosquitos over Amiens Prison as their bombs explode, showing the snow-covered buildings and landscape.
De Havilland Mosquito
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The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or "Mossie". Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, nicknamed it "Freeman's Folly", alluding to Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who defended Geoffrey de Havilland and his design concept against orders to scrap the project. In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.
De Havilland Mosquito
Construction concepts pioneered in the DH.88 Comet were later used in the Mosquito.
One of de Havilland's proposals was to adapt the de Havilland Albatross design to create a fast bomber.
1943 advertisement for de Havilland taken from Flight & Aircraft Engineer magazine highlights the speed of the B Mk.IV.