RAMROD 564

[DD_Fenrir]

 

Hey all,  

 

With the imminent release of the Mosquito FB.VI, and with interest rising in some of it's precision raid exploits, I hope you will allow me to furnish you with some resources for recreating one of the most fascinating raids, the attack on Amiens Prison.

 

Widely but inaccurately christened "Operation Jericho", it's true name was Ramrod 564. No codename was actually given to the operation; the Jericho appellation was acquired due to PR spin purposes well after the raid.

 

Whilst the DCS Channel map will be a natural host for the mission, it is a little truncated to do so to 100% accuracy. 140 Wing, the wing assigned to accomplish Ramrod 564 was based at RAF Hunsdon, a concrete runway airfield some 22 miles North-northeast of London and therefore unavailable in the DCS Channel Map. However, with some artistic liberties the raid could still be reasonably well recreated in DCS.

 

Route Map:

 

The original Field Order remarks that the first steer point after base should be Littlehampton on the South coast West of Worthing, however that would have entailed a transit across central London and it's balloon barrage, plus a significant period of flight across a very built up area in aircraft carrying bombs and subject to the vagaries of wartime maintenance; an emergency situation whilst over the city could have dire consequences for those below, so an intermediate steerpoint at Henley to the West of London was added.

 

Thereafter all steerpoints were as per the field order and include:

 

LITTLEHAMPTON (RV with Typhoon escorts)

TOCQUEVILLE

SENARPONT

BOURDON

One mile south DOULLENS

BOUZINCOURT (2 miles Northwest of Albert)

TARGET

ST SAVIEUR

SENARPONT

TOCQUEVILLE

HASTINGS

 

Here's a detail of the French steer-points:

 

Let's have a look at the threats faced by 140 Wing.

 

Firstly the Jagdwaffe.

 

Whilst some may note the relative proximity of Abbeville and it's infamous Abbeville-Drucat airfield, in actuality by the date of this raid no operational units were based at the airfield; some 6 months previously the Jadgwaffe had pulled all operational units back from coastal airfields, for various reasons, probably partially to reduce the attrition of units from sudden fighter-bomber attack and also to give the fighters extra space and time to get to altitude before engaging Allied bomber raids.

 

The closest field that apparently was occupied by the Jagdwaffe was Bapaume-Grévillers. Sources indicate 7th Staffel of JG26 equipped with Fw 190A (probably -6 or -7 subvariants) were based here.

 

It would be this very Staffel that emerged from cloud just as the 2nd Wave (464 Sqn and the unfortunate Grp Cpt Pickard) were orbiting to avoid the detonations of the 1st Wave's (487 Sqn) bombs.

 

Whilst Amiens-Glissy field was the closest to the route, it like Abbeville had not seen an operational unit for about 6 months. There was however a Flak unit stationed still at the airfield, which was very much operational, despite a bombing raid a few days prior by some 70-odd B-26s of the 9th Air Force...

 

 

Which segues nicely onto the next threat - flak.

 

Below are two maps outlining the reported instances of where 140 Wing came under fire from ground units during the operation. Note that the majority occur on the outbound legs, indicating a measure of surprise had been achieved.

 

 

First note; some of these are slightly speculative. Often we get a rough location of where AA fire is encountered (e.g. "NW edge of large woods near Senarpont") but rarely specifics as to the direction of the fire. Also we are relying on aircrew actually seeing the fire directed at them (not always a given) and the sources I have read actually recording all reported engagements by ground units. That said, the first recorded encounter is quite specific...

 

It would appear that the 1st Wave (487 Sqn) managed to get all the way to Albert before getting fired upon; they over-ran their Bouzincourt steer-point slightly which took them closer to Albert than planned, and also within range of the 20 and 30mm flak guns protecting a BMW Factory and other industries on the Western fringes of the town. However, all Mossies managed to escape the barrage unscathed.

 

The second noted example is the Flak unit at Amiens-Glisy airfield; as previously mentioned as 2nd Wave (464 Sqn) approached the prison it had caught up to 1st Wave (487 Sqn) and in order to avoid getting caught in the blast of their 11 second delayed action bombs, Wng Cdr Bob Iredale led his squadron in a 360 orbit to port... right into range of the guns at Amiens-Glisy. However, again 140 Wing were lucky and manged to avoid getting hit.

 

The next encounter was actually made by Flt Lt ‘Titch’ Hanafin, who'd been obliged to abort with engine failure near Doullen. As he passed wooded areas near Allery he came under MG and 20mm fire, his aircraft took hits and Hanafin was wounded. Despite being paralysed down one-side he managed to keep control and put down at RAF Ford, the divert field for the mission.

 

The next encounter is somewhat ambiguous, hence the question mark linking two separate sites. Both are referenced as the locations where the unfortunate Sqn Ldr Ian Ritchie and his navigator Flt Lt Sampson came under fire, their Mosquito being severely damaged and Sampson killed when a flak round detonated in the cockpit.

 

One source indicates they were engaged by the guns protecting a V-1 site under construction near Fresneville; the other that they were near Villeroy when they came under fire. I include them both for options sake.

 

The site east of the Senarpont turnpoint was a likely location for where Smith Sparks and Jennings of the 1st Wave (487 Sqn) reported there were many small sandy hills and slopes from where numerous German soldiers opened fire at them with rifles.

 

Finally, as the 1st Wave approached the coast they noticed a green painted pill box on an escarpment and saw the tell-tale flickering of guns firing from the slot; Sparks aircraft was hit and took significant damage but was able to maintain control and make RAF Ford to land.

 

It would be pertinent to note that there would have been significant flak defences at other V-1 construction sites in the vicinity (I am still attempting to localise these) but particularly at the ports and harbours; Le Treport and Dieppe either side of the ingress/egress flight route would have been significantly well defended.

 

For now we'll end on a couple of other notable occurrences/features.

 

Firstly, just after the 1st wave (487 Sqn) passed Bourdon they spotted a large German convoy of military vehicles, heavy artillery and tanks on the main road between Flixecourt and Belloy-sur-Somme, heading towards Amiens. Whilst the majority of the 140 Wing aircraft ignored it and stayed on mission, the temptation proved too great for P O Fowler. Flying ‘J-Johnny’ in sixth position, he attacked and set alight a truck before re-joining formation.

 

Secondly a notable landmark was the tall aerial mast SW of Doullen.

 

 

 

Weather:

 

At RAF Hunsdon (met. station North Weald [7 miles distant]) :

 

Winds: Force 3 -4 (8-18mph/7-16 Knots) from North-Northeast

Cloud: Overcast, cloud base 800-1200 ft AMSL (airfield elevation 262ft AMSL) (Sparks reports entering cloud after take-off at 100ft altitude!)

Precipitation: Snow

 

 

At Littlehampton (met. station Thorney Island [17 miles distant]) :

 

Winds: Force 3 -4 (8-18mph/7-16 Knots) from North east to North

Cloud: Overcast, cloud base 1500 ft AMSL (town elevation ?ft AMSL)

Precipitation: Snow

 

At Troqueville :

 

Winds: Force unknown (?mph/?Knots) from North

Cloud: Clear, cloud base ? ft AMSL (town elevation ?ft AMSL)

Precipitation: None

 

At Amiens :

 

Winds: Force unknown (?mph/?Knots) from North

Cloud: 9-10ths, cloud base 1,500 - 2,000 ft AMSL (town elevation ?ft AMSL)

Precipitation: None

 

It is known that after taking off in almost blizzard conditions, and being obliged to fly the majority of the overland UK part of the route in IMC the overcast lifted slightly not long after beginning the crossing of the channel and the snow ceased. At times it is reported that the cloud cleared enough even to allow some pale sunlight to break through and as they crossed the French coast there were blue skies.

 

However, the photographs from Sparks aircraft and the FPU Mosquito show zero evidence of shadows, indicating that by the time the raid hit Amiens, there was an overcast once again.

Edited August 24, 2021 by DD_Fenrir

[DD_Fenrir]

The aircraft involved:

 

ALLIES:

 

ATTACK AIRCRAFT

 

Bomb load for all the Mosquitos was two 500 lb (230 kg) Semi-armour piercing (SAP) bombs and two 500 lb (230 kg) Medium Capacity (MC), all fuzed for 11 seconds' delay. It is unclear which stations held what.

 

1^st Wave

487 Sqn RNZAF – Callsign: DYPEG; Aircraft: Mosquito FB.VI     RAF Hunsdon

 

Red Section (attack prison Eastern wall)

 

Red 1     EG-R (LR333)               W/C I. S. Smith, DFC                F/Lt P. E. Barns, DFC

Red 2     EG-T (HX982)               P/O Maxwell Sparks                P/O A. C. Dunlop

Red 3     EG-H (HX856)              F/Sgt S. Jennings                     W/O J. M. Nichols

 

 

Yellow Section (attack prison Northern wall)

 

Yellow 1     EG-C (HX909)              P/O M. L. S. Darrell                 P/O F. S. Stevenson

Yellow 2     EG-J (HX974)               P/O D. R. Fowler                     W/O F. A. Wilkins       

Yellow 3     EG-Q (HX855)              F/Lt B. D. Hanafin                    P/O C. F. Redgrave

 

 

2^nd Wave

464 Sqn RAAF – Callsign: CANON; Aircraft: Mosquito FB.VI     RAF Hunsdon

 

Red Section (attack prison guard quarters Eastern end)

 

Red 1     SB-F (LR334)                W/Cdr Robert Iredale             F/Lt J. L. McCaul         

Red 2     SB-A (MM402)             S/Ldr W. R. C. Sugden             F/O A. N. Bridges

Red 3     SB-U (MM410)              F/O K. L. Monaghan                F/O A. W. Dean          

 

Yellow Section (attack prison guard quarters Western end)

 

Yellow 1     SB-T (MM404)             S/Ldr A. I. McRitchie               F/Lt R. Sampson

Yellow 2     SB-V (MM403)             F/Lt T. McPhee                        F/Lt G. W. Atkins

Yellow 3     EG-F (HX922)               G/Capt Percy Pickard              F/Lt John Broadley

 

 

Film Production Unit (FPU); Aircraft: Mosquito B.IV     RAF Hunsdon

 

O-Orange (DZ414)      F/Lt A. Wickam                       P/O L. Howard

 

3^rd Wave

21 Sqn RAF – Callsign: BUCKSHOT; Aircraft: Mosquito FB.VI     RAF Hunsdon

 

Red Section (attack prison)

 

Red 1     YH-U (LR403)              W/C I. G. Dale                         F/O E. Gabites

Red 2     YH-J (MM398)             F/Lt M. J. Benn                        F/O N. A. Roe

Red 3     YH-O (HX930)              F/Lt A. E. C. Wheeler               F/O N. M. Redington

 

Yellow Section (attack prison)

 

Yellow 1     YH-D (LR385)               F/Lt D. A. Taylor                      S/Ldr P. Livry

Yellow 2     YH-P (LR348)               F/Lt E. E. Hogan                       F/Sgt D. A. S. Crowfoot          

Yellow 3     YH-F (LR388)               F/Sgt A. Steadman                  P/O E. J. Reynolds

 

 

ESCORT AIRCRAFT

 

1^st Wave

198 Sqn RAF – Callsign: GARLIC; Aircraft: Typhoon 1b     RAF Manston

 

TP-? (serial u/k)   F/Lt R. Dall

TP-? (serial u/k)   F/Lt R. Roper

TP-? (serial u/k)   F/Lt R. Lallement

TP-? (serial u/k)   F/Lt J. Scambler

TP-? (serial u/k)   F/Lt R. Armstrong

TP-? (serial u/k)   F/Lt R. Niblett

 

2^nd Wave

174 Sqn RAF – Callsign: CAJOLE; Aircraft: Typhoon 1b     RAF Westhampnett

 

XP-? (JR133)   F/O J. E. Reynaud

XP-? (JP793)   F/Sgt H. S. Brown

XP-? (JR310)   F/Lt F. A. Grantham

XP-? (JP541)   F/Sgt F. E. Wheeler

XP-? (JP671)   F/Lt G. I. Mallett

XP-? (JP308)   F/O W. C. Vatcher

XP-? (JR303)   P/O W. D. Burton       

XP-A (JP535)    F/O H. V. Markby

 

3^rd Wave

245 Sqn RAF – Callsign: DUNLOP; Aircraft: Typhoon 1b     RAF Westhampnett

 

MR-? (serial u/k)   S/Ldr J. R. Collins

MR-? (serial u/k)   F/Sgt D. J. Lush

MR-? (serial u/k)   P/O K. J. Dickie

MR-? (serial u/k)   F/O A. E. Miron

MR-? (serial u/k)   P/O L. Jeffreys

MR-? (serial u/k)   F/O R. G. F. Lee

MR-? (serial u/k)   F/Sgt D. C. Nott       

MR-? (serial u/k)    F/Sgt E. E. G. Noakes

 

Target Cover

3 Sqn RAF – Callsign: ???; Aircraft: Typhoon 1b     RAF Manston

None of this squadrons aircraft took off as the required drop tanks could not be fitted in time.

 

AXIS:

 

TBC

Edited August 25, 2021 by DD_Fenrir

[Nazgul9]

Nice 

[bart]

Nice work Fenrir.

 

Look forward to the update..

[DD_Fenrir]

Hi all!

 

Please note that I have updated the first post to read as I had originally intended! More to follow.

 

[bart]

Good work, one thing though. You called Grp Cpt P.C. Pickard... Grp Cpt Pickering!

Edited August 20, 2021 by bart

[DD_Fenrir]

1 minute ago, bart said:

Good work, one thing though. You called Grp Cpt Pickard... Grp Cpt Pickering!

 

Whoops! Been a long week... thanks Bart, correcting...

[Hartsblade]

1 hour ago, DD_Fenrir said:

 

Whoops! Been a long week... thanks Bart, correcting...

Can't really blame you for a Pickard Freudian slip  

[MAXsenna]

Thank you for this write up!

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[Silver_Dragon]

 

[Black Witch - Blaggards]

Nicely done Fenrir, I have also been planning this mission for a couple of days in the Mission Builder and actually found the RAF weather report for 18 Feb' 1944. I'll post a link to it up here later when I get on my main PC. Now I've got to work out whether to use Static or Dynamic weather to get it right, it's a shame the Channel map doesn't cover the whole route so I intend to use Biggin Hill for the start/end point, also, it didn't help that there are 4 TOCQUEVILLE'S in upper normandy but I like the one you've chosen.

 

Now all we need is for a winter version of the Channel map to get it as authentic as possible.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Witch 56 Squadron

[Mogster]

Excellent post.

 

Given the map we have and the Mosquito an AI Typhoon would be very useful. Obviously flyable would be immense but that seems unlikely.

[bart]

43 minutes ago, Witch 56 Squadron said:

Now all we need is for a winter version of the Channel map to get it as authentic as possible.

 

And the Mosquito of course

 

I read somewhere, it may have been a comment on a you tube stream when the Pre-order video released, BIGNEWY said a version of the Amiens raid will come with the module. I assume this to be  in the single player mission list for the module. If we do get this mission on EA release then I would expect ED would have to release the update for the Channel map at the same time which will include the Prison target, maybe even winter textures for the map too!. Fingers crossed.

 

I also believe Reflected is planning on doing a campaign for the Mosquito, in which one mission he said would be the Amiens raid, so hopefully plenty of options coming!.

Edited August 21, 2021 by bart

[Basco1]

Fenrir....this is a truly sterling effort old chap,thank you very much indeed,wow,fantastic mate 

[Black Witch - Blaggards]

Here is a link to the RAF weather reports for early 1944.

 

https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/io_6e544f21-c932-40bd-a640-d065701b351e/

 

For the 18 February got to page 77.

[Krupi]

16 hours ago, Mogster said:

Excellent post.

 

Given the map we have and the Mosquito an AI Typhoon would be very useful. Obviously flyable would be immense but that seems unlikely.

 

Agreed this is begging for an AI Tiffy, the more AI aircraft the better. 

[Basco1]

@Mogster  An AI Typhoon.....oh yes.....now we're talking,that would be the icing on the cake.

[DD_Fenrir]

Weather:

 

Details now added to first post.

Edited August 24, 2021 by DD_Fenrir

[DD_Fenrir]

Note to all.

 

In light of fresh information I have amended the first two posts.

 

I will continue to update should further clarifying detail come to light.

[xvii-Dietrich]

Superlative set of posts, @DD_Fenrir . The level of detail is most commendable.  Well done.

You are probably aware of it already, but if not, then I would recommend the following reference for LW bases and units: http://www.ww2.dk/Airfields - France.pdf . Unfortunately, the Channel Map has no relevant LW airfields, but the document does allow the identification of those that were used and thus derive feasible vectors for interception.

 

In addition to the airfields themselves, it also has mention of the Flak.Abt (AAA-detachments), for example in an around Amiens. While it does not contain the exact locations of these batteries (which no doubt moved anyway), it does have their unit names, which may assist with additional research.

[Basco1]

Yeah it's a pity the Channel map is devoid of the relevant LF airfield that was key to the raid,correct me if I'm wrong,but I believe the 7./Jg26 Fw 190's that attacked the raiders were scrambled from Grévillers close to the Pas de Calais.

[DD_Fenrir]

@Basco1 @xvii-Dietrich Gents, given the historical relevance of the airfield to the apparent chronology of the DCS: Channel Map perhaps you would add your approval to my post requesting its addition:

 

 

[Basco1]

14 minutes ago, DD_Fenrir said:

@Basco1 @xvii-Dietrich Gents, given the historical relevance of the airfield to the apparent chronology of the DCS: Channel Map perhaps you would add your approval to my post requesting its addition:

 

 

Already done dear boy ......this definitely gets my vote.

[DD_Fenrir]

The attack profile:

 

At a point ten miles from target the 2nd section of each wave separated from their lead section, breaking off to the north to await the bomb detonations from the 1st Section before making their own attack runs.

 

 

Aircraft attacking the walls were to release their bombs from 10-20 ft altitude(!).

 

Aircraft attacking what were (wrongly) assumed to be the guardhouses to release their bombs from 20-30 ft altitude.

 

During briefing there were concerns that the bomb casings could break up on impact and it was decided that, to try and prevent this, all attack runs would have to be made at under 240mph IAS.

 

As it was, the sturdiness of the wall construction had been overestimated and in reality a number of bombs punched holes straight through the walls, accounting for some of the damage to the main prison building. Furthermore, with the ground frozen hard a number of the bombs skipped wildly, careening long past the target, one demolishing a civilian home some 220m beyond the prison and another demolishing the wing of a Luftwaffe hospital nearly 900m distant.

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is evidence to suggest that the 3rd wave (21 Sqn) was not to flatten the prison in the event of the failure of the first two waves to breach the prison walls or the presumed guardhouses, but rather endeavour a second time to make the breaches necessary to aid the inmates escape.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by DD_Fenrir

[Silver_Dragon]

Amiens prision apears on the final of startup mosquito video.