-: The operation was called Operation Squabble.
Two men, George Fern and Ken Gatward
that flew down the Champs-Elysees
you know 20 feet off the ground at some points
going up below high-tensioned cables
and with not much armory at their disposal.
The premise of the mission was that
he would originally go down and fire
on the troops as they were parading up and down
but the parade was canceled for whatever reason.
(military marching music)
Gatward: We took a bearing from the Eiffel Tower
and came in smack over the Defense Monument
and then headed straight for the Arche de Triomphe.
I said to Sergeant Fern my observer,
"Are you ready for the first flag?" and he said,
"Yes, I'm all ready but the slipstream
is nearly breaking my arm."
He was pushing this furled flag down a flag chute
into the slipstream from the propellers
and at the right moment, he let it go.
We couldn't stop to see exactly
where the first dropped but officially
it was said it fell right on the
Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
-: Even though the conditions were not as they expected,
you know that there was no clouds cover,
the visibility, you know they could,
they were spotted you know.
Despite all of that, they continued.
Gatward: One of the things we wanted to
look at particularly was the Ministry of Marine.
Because, it was crammed with Huns
and we had something for them.
And we were right in line at a range
of about 500 yards before we
let fire with our four cannons
and saw the sparks flying off the building.
Whilst I was doing this, Fern was shouting encouragement
and pushing out the second flag which
we hoped would fall smack across the front door.
We saw a number of German military cars
stopped in the streets with Huns standing around them.
But we couldn't let fly at them because
there were too many civilians about.
-: The occupying forces were parading up and down
along a really important street in Paris
to symbolize their dominance, their superiority
over the subjugated French people.
Really sort of stamping their authority
that we are occupying your country.
And the idea of Operation Squabble
which was conceived by I think
undercover agents in France and also the British
was to say, "Actually, we're here."
And we're here and it's an act of solidarity
We are together as a people in adversity
it's support for an oppressed people, um.
And when the chips are down, we're there for each other.