I was duty pilot in the tower at Cottesmore on the night the Bucc and Victor collided. I had a LOT of Canberras airborne, playing against Boulmer, when the word came through that SAROPS was on for a mid-air in the North Sea. You can imagine what went through my mind...
I called Boulmer allocator and he was not going to tell me who was involved. Only after I pleaded with him did he confirm that no Canberra was involved. About ten seconds after I finished the call, the Staish and OC Ops appeared telling me to find out who was involved. I told him of my phone call but he called the Boulmer allocator himself. Bless him, the man at the other end refused point blank to give the Staish anything more than he gave me - despite the Staish trying to pull rank. Staish stormed out in a fury, but OC Ops stayed for the rest of the evening.
It wasn't until the next day that we learned the awful truth...