As previously arranged, each wave of bombers had split into sections of three aircraft shortly before the target was reached. The leading New Zealand section now swept in to hurl twelve 500-pound bombs at the eastern wall. 'For safety, we flew in somewhat loose formation until we came near to the run up,' Wing Commander Smith said afterwards, 'and then everyone tightened up wing tip to wing tip. We just cleared the wall and no more after letting our bombs go.' Smith's bombs were seen to hit the wall a few feet from the ground, other bursts were adjacent to it with an overshoot in a field to the north. Two aircraft of the second New Zealand section – one had been forced to return to base – then attacked the northern wall, only just clearing it as they broke away. The Australian Mosquitos followed and, as the last of their bombs exploded, Pickard could see that sufficient openings had been made for the prisoners to escape so he ordered No. 21 Squadron not to attack. The Mosquitos then turned and began to close up for the homeward flight. As they did so a Mosquito from the RAF Film Unit made three runs over the prison. Its crew saw breaches in the main walls and considerable damage to the ends of the buildings; prisoners were running out through the broken walls and disappearing across the snow in the fields outside the prison.
German anti-aircraft guns in the vicinity had now opened fire and Focke-Wulf fighters had taken off from the airfield at Amiens only three miles away. The British force thus had to fight its way out through fairly stiff opposition. Almost at once the Australian Mosquito in which Sampson was navigator was shot down. A shell exploding beside the cockpit killed Sampson outright and his pilot, Squadron Leader McRitchie,1 of Melbourne, was temporarily blinded and his right arm paralysed. The Mosquito was doing 300 miles an hour at 50 feet but McRitchie managed a crash-landing on a snow-covered field.2 A few minutes later Group Captain Pickard, who had stayed behind to assess the results of the attack, was set upon by two Focke-Wulfs and shot down only a few miles from Amiens. Both he and his navigator were killed in the crash. Two Typhoons of the fighter escort also failed to return.
All seven New Zealand Mosquitos got back to England safely, but four of them were badly damaged, two so severely that they never flew again. Sparks and his crew had an eventful return flight. Shortly after leaving the target their machine was hit in one engine and Sparks had great difficulty in keeping it airborne. He managed to get back across the Channel and land at an advanced base, where one wheel collapsed as the machine touched down.
Remarkable fortitude was displayed by Flight Lieutenant Hanafin,3 who captained another Mosquito from No. 487 Squadron. On the way to the target an engine caught fire. Hanafin feathered it, the flames subsided, and he managed to stay with the formation for some time.
But eventually he began to drop back, whereupon he restarted the bad engine and rejoined the formation. Again the engine started to burn and Hanafin was forced to leave the formation about ten miles short of the target. He jettisoned his bombs and turned for home, but on the way out was twice hit by flak and wounded in the neck, which paralysed him all down his right side, including the arm and leg. He was in great pain and his navigator gave him a morphine injection as he sat at the controls. Typical February weather over England made the return flight difficult, but Hanafin stuck it out and landed his disabled machine without further damage at an airfield in Sussex.
It was subsequently learnt that as a result of the Mosquito attack, of a total of over seven hundred prisoners of all classes held in the prison, 258 escaped, including over half the patriots who were awaiting execution. The most important prisoner to escape was Monsieur Vivant, Under-Prefect of Abbeville, who had been arrested by the Germans four days before the attack. He was a key member of the Resistance Movement in his district and was later to serve in General de Gaulle's Government.
It was inevitable that some prisoners should be killed during the raid, some by the bombs and others by German machine-gun fire while attempting to escape. There was also some damage to property outside the prison from bombs which bounced over the walls, but fortunately French civilians suffered few casualties. Five days after the raid the following message was received in London from the leader of the French Resistance:
I thank you in the name of my comrades for bombardment of the prison. The delay was too short and we were not able to save all but thanks to admirable precision of attack the first bombs blew in nearly all the doors and many prisoners escaped with the help of civilian population. Twelve of these prisoners were to have been shot the next day ….