Three Films
* Operation Jericho (February 18,1944) was a daring mission to free hundreds of French resistance fighters, many of whom were sentenced to death, from a high security German military prison in Amiens. de Haviland Mosquito bombers, escorted by RAF Typhoons, made precise attacks on the prison walls to provide escape routes and bombed the barracks housing German guards. The raid was led by Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard, (DSO & Two Bars, DFC), who had gained fame in 1941 in the film €Target for Tonight€ showing a Vickers Wellington night attack on a rail yard. He flew more than 100 missions after that. Pickard and his navigator were both killed at Amiens.
* R.A.F. Boston Bombers on a Ramrod Mission to Occupied France -1943. The €œBoston€ was an export version of the American Douglas €œHavoc medium attack bomber sent to the U.K. Ramrod€ missions were quick strikes across the English Channel, in this case against armament factories near Dinan in Brittany in occupied France, a short hop from England. As was often the case, this mission is flown at high speed against specific targets at very low level, for which the Boston was well suited.
* South African Air Force 2 Squadron Operates Spitfire Vc dive bombers from Palata, Italy 1943-1944. This film is unusual for a couple of reasons. A relatively small number of Spitfire Vc Dive Bombers were produced and were rarely seen and South African Air Force (SAAF) units didn't get a lot of coverage. Spit Vc armaments were upgraded to either a 50 cal. machine gun plus a 20mm canon or two 20mm canon (both versions are shown here) and modified to carry 250 bombs - a light load compared to other aircraft. Later in he War Spitfire IX were modified to carry up to 1000 lbs of bombs, but it was still not a very effective dive bomber, capable of only relatively shallow dives with limited accuracy and limited to a short range of less than 100 miles. The R.A.F Typhoons were much more effective, as were American P-47s & P-51s.
