The next day, Shire issued an unexpected order to everyone:
"In order for Major General Pierre to fully understand the takeoff and landing of warplanes and adapt to future changes in warfare, Major General Pierre is now transferred to the 5th Air Base as a staff officer and will also learn to fly a plane!"
The 5th Air Base is near the Toulon Shipyard, 13 kilometers away, allowing Major General Pierre to freely travel between the shipyard and the airbase.
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was this humiliating order. There had never been such a precedent where a Vice Admiral would be sent to the Air Brigade to learn flying.
Everyone thought Major General Pierre was finished, completely denied by Shire and cast aside.
Some even believed this was a graceful way for Shire to let Pierre leave: making Pierre resign in humiliation rather than dismissing him.
The British advisory group thought the same, bursting into laughter upon hearing the news:
