Operation Jericho: Freeing the French Resistance from Gestapo jail, Amiens 1944 (Raid)

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The Mizoram Peace Accord of 1986, between the government and MNF, paved the way for constitutional changes. A peace accord known as the “Mizoram Accord” was signed between the Government of India and the MNF. As per the accord, Mizoram was granted statehood on February 20, 1987, and the MNF agreed to lay down arms and participate in the democratic process.

A March 9, 1966, report by the now-defunct Kolkata-daily, the Hindustan Standard, quoted Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as saying that the fighter jets had been sent in to airdrop men and supplies, not bombs. But the question was, why would anyone deploy fighter jets to drop rations?Despite efforts to resupply the Assam Rifles battalion via helicopters, rebel resistance led to the shooting down of some supply missions. The IAF’s involvement extended beyond just airstrikes. It facilitated the rapid movement of troops and supplies to remote areas of Mizoram, where the rebellion was most active. This not only bolstered the government’s presence but also demonstrated the reach and flexibility of air power in counterinsurgency operations. Operation Jericho: Aftermath and Resolution

A separatist movement (seeking independence from India) led by Mizo National Front (MNF) was gathering steam in the area now known as Mizoram, and then referred to as the Mizo Hills. The operation's eponym is the biblical event when the Wall of Jericho miraculously fell down (Book of Joshua). Another story put out at the time was that the men who were killed had stated before their deaths that they would prefer to die in a bombing raid rather than face a German firing squad. This, of course, would have put some gloss on the 102 deaths. In fact this information only came from one person, Dominique Penchard, and can’t be verified. a b c d e f g h i j "Raid on Amiens Prison - The Myth of the Mosquito". Key Military. 25 June 2017 . Retrieved 25 December 2021. The Gen episode 10: Jail Breakers (35 mm film) (Newsreel). The Royal Air Force at War. London: Imperial War Museum Simply Media. October 1944. Event occurs at 00:15 – 02:48. DD05531 . Retrieved 16 June 2020. Gladstone, Kay, ed. (2002). The Royal Air Force at War (DVD).

A team of nine resistance members, including at least one prostitute, raided several stores, led by a professional thief called Violette Lambert … at least that was one of her names. Many of her team were also professional criminals, the women with bags carried under their clothing to receive their loot. The men carried overcoats over their arms, the sleeves sewed closed for their booty. The stolen attire was meant to clothe the escapers, and the team of thieves stole so many articles that some had to return to their cars to unload and return for more. At last Violette saw one of her team being closely observed and shouted, “My bag’s been stolen,” and the man slipped away in the confusion. Two days after the raid, a low-level reconnaissance photo reveals extensive damage to Amiens Prison. The Operation Jericho raid to free prisoners from the Germans blasted a breach in the north wall of the facility, which is visible at the center of the image.

With D-Day looming, early 1944 was a time of massive intelligence activity across northern France, and many résistants were being captured and imprisoned by the Germans. Among the jails full of French agents was Amiens, where hundreds awaited likely execution for their activities. Codenamed Operation Jericho, the air raid on the Amiens prison on 18 February 1944 was mounted to free French resistance fighters prior to the invasion of Normandy. The raid was planned and executed by 180 Wing, consisting of three Mosquito squadrons - 21 Squadron, RAF, 464 Squadron RAAF, and 487 Squadron RNZAF. The Mosquitos were escorted by Typhoons from another three RAF squadrons - 174, 198 and 245. Zamawia, another ZORO member, said he strongly believed that the Mizos right to self-determination was unquestionably attached to Zo nationalism. The operation against Amiens Prison, codenamed Jericho, had been prepared in the deepest secrecy. Until a scale model of the Amiens Prison was unveiled on a table in the briefing room, none of the crews had any idea they were scheduled for the most audacious raid of the war, rivaled only by the Doolittle strike at Tokyo. Matter-of-factly their leader, Air Vice Marshal Basil Embry, told the aircrew that they were on their way to blow holes in prison walls deep in France so that prisoners inside could run to safety.

Brigadier Rustom Zal Kabraji led ground operations to clear rebel-held positions. He commanded the 61 Mountain Brigade based in Agartala. The Mizo rebels had besieged the HQs of 1 Assam Rifles and released all prisoners from the local jail. In 1971, the government agreed to convert the Mizo Hills into a Union Territory (UT), which became UT of Mizoram in 1972.

a b Perry, Mike (8 September 2013). "Operation Biting: The Bruneval Raid". SOFREP . Retrieved 14 January 2022. Eighty-seven had died in the bombing and received a mass funeral carefully orchestrated by the French authorities. Predictably, the tame French press fulminated at the British, carefully parroting the party line that the raid was a crime. The funeral was a sad time, but even it had its bright side, for in the cortege of one of the dead, six wanted men walked piously away from the convent where they had been hidden. Body, Robert (2016). Runways to Freedom: RAF Tempsford and the role of the Special Duties Squadrons.Though the state of Mizoram was formed in 1987 after the Union government and the Mizo National Front signed the Mizoram Peace Accord, today, Zo nationalism – an ideological formulation of Zo peoples fragmented by the process of decolonisation and spread across India, Myanmar and Bangladesh – continues to assert itself.