Amiens Raid 70th Anniversary

Yes I took the Amiens raid sim ride at the IWM a long time ago, but I cannot remember what year it was.
I had seen a lot of the much publicised still photos beforehand but hadn’t seen the film footage before that sim ride.
Ed

Yes! I too went in that “simulator” back on my visit there in late 1993, or early 1994. It was also the first time I’d seen the footage and I was not only blown away by the fact that they had filmed the raid, which I’d previously read about in a few RNZAF history books, but also this was the first time I’d ever seen or been in a sim that gave real feeling of movement. It was very cool. I wonder if it’s still around somewhere. No doubt today the younger people would demand it be in 3-D and full colour to get their attention?

Amiens Raid film at Imperial War Museum

I came across some old photo’s took way long ago at the Imperail Museum from one of my trips to the UK…. when I first remember seeing the footage from the actual raid on the Amiens Prison in Feb of 1944. This experience really took me off to discovering and reading all that I could on the mission . I believe this was even before this forum was formed…????? Road his several times just to see the film !!! I was hooked …in a good historical way !!!! Lifted these shots off an old HI 8 tape !
Anypne remember this from the Imperial War Museum …early 90’s???
BlueNoser352!

Has anyone seen a photograph of the 190 which shot Pickard and Broadley down?
I wondered if anyone knows what identification markings it carried.
Ed

A few photos from my trip to Amiens a few years ago !

A few photos from my trip Amiens a few years back !

Outstanding effort Sir !

Sir: Great tribute for this 70th anniversary…BlueNoser352 offers a salute to all who made this possible. Great set of photos and enjoyed seeing them . Nice to remember all involved in this operation !

BlueNoser352!

Many thanks for adding the logbook info Chris, it is much appreciated.
Ed

Well the alternative set of events was not widely known, in fact Wikipedia still states that Pickard was circling the prison before being intercepted by the FW190. At the time of the conversation my father was starting to suffer from the onset of senile dementia.

He was of the opinion that Pickard was reckless in returning over the prison and should have made good his escape when he had the chance.

Very interesting to read Chris, A shame that he believed the fabricated cover story regarding the loss of Pickard though.

The photo shows my father’s log book page for flight with Bill Broadley as his navigator when they crashed in Portugal flying back from Gib. They crashed on a beach in the Algarve when the engine they were not worrying about suddenly stopped and they headed towards land. I seem to remember there were some minor injuries. The crew were interred for three months before returning to the UK.
At the time they were members of 161 squadron flying from Tempsford. On return they remained in 161, and my father converted to flying Halifax, where Bill was his navigator for several more OPS.
Altogether my father flew 67 missions, first on Whitleys, then Halifax with 161 squadron, and finally on Lancs. Each tour of duty was interspersed with being an instructor at an OTU. Post war he flew Yorks to India, was an instructor, flew Lincolns and did a final tour flying Shackeltons with 224 squadron from Gib.
When a program was on the TV about 10 years ago about the prison raid I mentioned that I had seen it. It was at this point he told me about Bill being his navigator, and it seemed that they had a good friendship. He was of the opinion that Pickard was reckless in returning over the prison and should have made good his escape when he had the chance.
My father was Olaf Cussen, DFC and bar, Dutch Flying Cross, and passed away in 2009 aged 93.
He was very reticent to speak about the war. I did ask him why he survived when so many did not, and he attributed it to being 24 when he joined up in 1940, being lucky and not as hot headed as the younger pilots. He said when attacking targets sometimes they would take a few moments to see the best line of approach. I have in my possession his flying logbooks, so if anyone is interested in a particular event or date I can scan and post the page.

(Well I have tried to upload the image from my PC but it seems to hang) Relevant details show on the page are

8 Nov Flight in Lysander with SqLdr Pickard as 2nd pilot
18 Nov flight in Whitley V Z9160 with crew of F/O Broadley, F/S Stephens, Sgt Sharpe to deliver supplies to North Africa
18 Nov flight in Whitley V Z9160 with crew of F/O Broadley, F/S Stephens, Sgt Sharpe Gib to Base (crashed location obscured)

Cheers Moggy, what a good set of photos to fully round off what could possibly be the last organised remembrance anniversary for the raid.
Well done to all involved.

And as a credit – Here’s Timothy’s Aztec

Flying Scholarships for the Disabled is a very worthwhile charity

Moggy

Indeed they are. That one is my favourite shot of them all.

From the turn over the jail we headed out of Amiens to the Northeast, intending to overfly the spot where their Mosquito came down. In fact we did, but rather by accident as it wasn’t exactly where we thought (as we found out later).

So no aerial shot of that tragic field.

But to finish this last frame which the fanciful might like to imagine as the shadows portraying the chilling sight of a single-seat fighter closing in on the twin

Moggy

And Pickard & Broadleys graves off and below the starboard wing too…

Overhead.

A lot higher (to comply with French aviation law) than for the rest of the trip, but nevertheless in the same airspace as Pickard and his men those 70 years earlier.

The cruciform shape of the jail plain to see, bottom left.

Moggy

One of the sadder moments is on the final run-in, with the Jail in sight a glance over the side reveals the CWGC wherein lie the Pickard crew (Top left of the municipal cemetery, with a French war cemetery to its right)

Moggy

What? Attacking Amiens? That’s not very friendly. 😉

This link will take you to a ‘zoom’ version of that image and enable further burrowing through the archives

http://digital.nls.uk/first-world-war-official-photographs/pageturner.cfm?id=74549156&mode=zoom#mode=zoom&zoom=3&lat=3388.75&lon=4660&layers=BT

Moggy

I wish Christchurch was doing that 🙁

It’s hard to tell.

Post WW1 the French and the Belgians went to great lengths to rebuild their wrecked towns as much as they were previously as possible. The centre of Albert and Ypres both being notable examples of total restoration, not replacement by new build.

Here’s a shot of Amiens in WW1 I found with a quick Google

[ATTACH=CONFIG]226207[/ATTACH]

Moggy

I seem to recall that Amiens was one of the battlefields where the kiwis fought in WWI, so are all the older buildings in the town post-WWI construction or was the town spared in the battle?