Amiraute Francaise, Outside Paris
13:30 Hours, October 8, 1948
Admiral Gensoul set down the phone, but sat for a few moments in silence. After a few moments of contemplation, he lifted the phone again and ordered the switchboard to connect him to the headquarters of the Armée de l'Air, and it's Chief of Staff, General Jaouen. "Good afternoon, Charles," Gensoul said. "Have a good lunch? Thank you... Right, down to business - yes, I just got word. Not a large number of aircraft, but a few... yes, I've been told Buccaneers or Buckinghams... whichever the reconnaissance variant is, yes. Four destroyers tailing, too. Yes, the plans as we discussed last week. That will be marvelous, Charles. No, don't ride them too hard - just enough to get the point across. Aeronavale's going to send one of their Br.932s from Cherbourg to eyeball the surface ships. No, the German carriers aren't operating a PAC until they get back in home waters, so anything else in the air will be fair game. Thank you for seeing to this, Charles."
The Manche
14:30 Hours, October 8, 1948
Commandant Gabriel Le Berre's escadrille departed their air-base at Abbeville, but they did not climb to altitude, as was normal for a training mission. Instead they stayed low, at three hundred meters, at speed across the Baie de Somme and out over the Manche. Le Berre's Ouragan I had just been freshly overhauled and the paint touched up - the better to make a show. Le Berre couldn't remember offhand any time that the Armée de l'Air - or the Aeronavale - had intercepted a British aircraft over the Manche; but it seemed like the Rosbifs had irritated Paris one time too many.
"Eleven o'clock," Three reported. "Twin engine."
"Another at one o'clock," Four reported.
"All right, spit by wing-pairs," Le Berre ordered. "I'll take left - Three, you take right. Lemercier, stay with me, I'm throttling up. Allons-y!"
The four Ouragans split into pairs, and Le Berre pulled his throttle all the way back to maximum. The Ouragan accelerated, climbing slightly, banking slightly to starboard as Le Berre lined up on the British reconnaissance bomber. Going all out, the two Ouragans passed a hundred meters to starboard of the Buccaneer. Le Berre then banked sharply, pulling four gees and throttling all the way back, sweeping back around to find the British aircraft again. At a much more sedate pace, now, Le Berre closed in on the Buccaneer, throttling back as necessary in order to keep a modest distance. He crept up on the Buc's starboard side, eventually seeing the faces of the crew as they looked back. He jauntily waved his gloved hand at them and matched speed.
"Get used to us," Le Berre said, mostly to himself. "The rest of the Groupe de Chasse is queuing up for the fun. Come on, get your bosses to send out some Meteors or Vampires. We want to play..."