by gerald hall
“Yes, that is very important. They are our people.” Harold said as he prepared to climb into his truck for the drive back into town. Dorothy and their children were quickly climbing inside at the same time after tossing all of the weapons and knapsacks into the back of the truck.
A few moments later, they were on the way back to Derby. Harold and Dorothy could still see several smoke plumes rising from the town where fires still burned.
Chapter Sixteen:
North of Derby, Western Australia
April 28, 1943
Harold and his head naval architect Alexander Portman stood on top of a hill overlooking where the main Japanese force landed their troops. They could see the wrecks of over a dozen Japanese warships and transports that had been sunken in the shallow waters from their vantage point.
“What a bloody mess.” Harold remarked as he looked down at the wreckage.
“I don’t know. I look at this as a great opportunity for us instead. We can refloat and salvage five of those Jap transports for sure. They sank in shallow water so it will be an easy matter to put in temporary patches on their hulls and pump the water out. The question will be then what you want to do with them?” Alexander noted.
“True enough. I think that the big ocean liner might even be suitable for conversion into an escort aircraft carrier. Either Australia, the British or even the Free French could certainly use another flight deck to operate warplanes from.
Tatsuta Maru has four shafts and a decent set of diesel engines to propel her. We will just need to cut down her superstructure, then add a hangar and an aircraft elevator to her.”
“Some of her diesel engines are pretty shot up, Mister Cavill. One of the Beaufighters skipped a bomb right into her engine room and wrecked it much of it. Those damaged engines will almost certainly need to be replaced as a result.”
“I’m sure that we can use some of our standard design marine diesel engines to replace the damaged units and perhaps her other engines as well. We will also have to decide on how to arm her. I suppose that will depend on who wants to buy her from us after her conversion is done.
I think that the other four transports would best serve us by carrying cargo and personnel once again. They are too small or slow to be converted to any real front-line military role. We could certainly use having additional transport ships anyway. The rest of the transports that we can reach will be used for scrap metal and spare parts. We can build a dozen new destroyers and submarines with the steel that we take from those hulks. We will also salvage all of the cargo that they are carrying as well.”
“Sir, what would they be carrying that we could possibly use?”
“We definitely need more ammunition for the militia’s automatic rifles. There is a good chance that some of the ships will have some rifle ammunition that will fit in our weapons. It would take us weeks to replenish what we used to defend ourselves here. The other weapons can either be absorbed by our militia or redistributed to allied militaries.”
“We certainly have our work cut out for us here, Mister Cavill.”
“Yes, we do. We won the battle, but we still paid a heavy price. Hopefully, this victory will deter the Japanese from ever attempting to invade here again. I will have to look into finding other small arms ammunition manufacturers here in Australia who would be willing to produce more ammunition for us. They will likely see that it would also open up an even larger market for their products after more of our allies learn of the capabilities of our CR-1 automatic rifles.”
“I should hope so. But it is frightening to know just how close the Japanese came to defeating us. We need to improve our coastal defenses and the mobility of our militia troops.”
“How do you plan on doing that, Mister Cavill?”
“I thought that we might start by salvaging the guns off of one of those cruisers that our people sank in shallow water north of here. We can probably set up one or two more coastal batteries that way.”
“That is a good idea if we can recover the guns and turrets. There are also guns that we can remove from some of the Japanese transports that ran aground. Another thing that we can do is to build more of those gun trucks of yours. They were very helpful in providing additional artillery support after the Japanese altered their landing site. The gun trucks would also be useful to our allies in providing highly mobile artillery support for their troops too. More trucks or other armored vehicles to carry troops quickly around the battlefield would also significantly improve their mobility. We are probably going to have more customers for the gun trucks anyway after their performance here.”
“I am also going to replace our losses in torpedo boats plus add two more boats to our local militia flotilla. With their success, I would imagine that we will probably get some sales for more of them too. But, someone still has to pay for all of this work though.”
“The sale of those ships that you plan on salvaging could cover a lot of it, Sir.”
“Yes, I suppose it could. But we will need customers for them.”
“Everyone around here is short of transport ships, especially with the U-Boats sinking so damned many of them in the North Atlantic and the Baltic. I’m sure that you will find some customers out there, Mister Cavill.”
About an hour later, Major Burke pulled up in his truck.
“Mister Cavill, our troops have finally cleared all of the Japanese troops out from around Kimbolton. I found something there that you might find of interest.”
“Of course.” Harold said as he got into Major Burke’s truck for the hour-long drive to the small town that the Japanese very nearly captured.
“Have you seen this, Mister Cavill?” Major Burke asked as he looked down at a piece of equipment left behind by the defeated Japanese invaders.
Harold walked up and quickly saw that it was a nearly perfect copy of one of the cross-country bicycles that his own militia troops used. It even had similar racks over the back wheel so that extra equipment could be carried by the bicycle.
“No wonder that these buggers were able to move so fast. They bloody well almost got past our flanks as a result. It’s a good thing that group of your aborigine militiamen spotted this Jap force and ambushed them. Otherwise, we would have lost a lot of good men and maybe even lost this entire battle.” Major Burke noted as he continued to look down at the bicycle.
It hit Harold that a relatively insignificant piece of technology like a bicycle could have made a major difference in a battle, perhaps even an entire war. Harold’s desire for his daughters to have bicycles that were literally ahead of their time could have been far more costly than he dared imagine. He now wondered what other bits of advanced technology that he had introduced could also have an unintended effect far different than what Harold had intended.
But he couldn’t stop innovating now. He simply had to be far more careful about what he introduced and how widely the technology was disseminated. The war still needed to be won without the need for the Bomb to be built.
Derby Militia Headquarters
Derby, Western Australia
April 30, 1943
The small office that the Derby Militia had used for its headquarters quickly expanded to an entirely new structure. Harold had immediately started construction of the new militia headquarters facility almost before the last shots were fired.
He had construction equipment begin to excavate into the side of a nearby hill. Then a reinforced concrete structure was quickly poured and then buried with only a couple of entrances visible. Underground communication cables were run from the headquarters and connected to both the main telephone network and a new set of radio communication towers on top of the hill.
Immediately after the new headquarters was declared operational, Major Burke, Harold and several representatives from the Australian military, the Derby militia’s aviation and naval components as well as the lead design engineers from Harold’s factories came in for a meeting. Furniture was still being brought in as Harold
and Major Burke arrived.
“I just got word from Admiral Phillips an hour ago. The Japanese did try to ambush the Coalition force coming out of Haiphong and Singapore to intercept their decoy force.” Major Burke noted.
“What happened then?” Harold asked.
“The Japs sent out several squadrons of twin-engine torpedo bombers, the ones that the Americans call ‘Betty’s’ along with a heavy fighter escort of Zeros to attack Strasbourg, Prince of Wales and Repulse. The twin-engine bombers flew out of the Philippines as did some of the fighters. But the rest of the Japanese air strike came from their carriers. Those were all single engine torpedo and dive bombers along with more Zeros. Our aircraft were heavily outnumbered by the Japanese force. But the Japanese just didn’t count on how effective our fighter cover from Indomitable, Hermes and Melbourne would be. The additional Dragonfly fighter-bombers that had recently been delivered to the fleet were put to very good use.
There were also the upgraded antiaircraft guns that your people installed aboard Strasbourg and several other ships of the Coalition force. Those guns were able to chop up the few bombers that got through our carriers’ fighters. The Japanese did score a few hits on our ships but we were able to get them all back safely to port.
Where we did not do so well was in our own carriers’ counter attack against the Japanese.”
“I think I already know what happened. The Zeros got to the Swordfish, didn’t they?” Harold asked.
“Yes. I’m afraid that they did. Our torpedo bombers didn’t have a chance either. Every single one that had been launched against the Japanese carriers was shot down. Our Blackburn Skuas didn’t fare much better, I’m afraid. Only two of them managed to make it back to Indomitable. Our carrier attacks did little damage to the Japanese fleet as a result.” Captain Nigel Jackman answered. He was a Royal Australian Navy operations officer who flew in shortly after the battle to do an assessment on Japanese tactics during the attack.
“We should have known better than to send out slow biplane torpedo bombers against Japanese fighter defenses. The Zero is simply too dangerous of an adversary. It sounds like we will need to design and build new torpedo and dive bombers for the fleet to use out here.” Harold suggested.
“Perhaps not. Fairey Aviation is bringing a new aircraft called the Buccaneer into service even as we speak. The Buccaneer can do dive bombing, level bombing and torpedo attacks. This is a modern monoplane design that has folding wings for aircraft carrier use.” Captain Jackman explained.
“But will it be survivable against those Japanese fighters?”
“The Buccaneer certainly has to be much more survivable than the Swordfish and Skua. But I think that the key will still have to be in having an adequate fighter escort for our strike planes however.” Harold replied.
“Then we must get some of these Buccaneers transported out here as soon as possible. I will try to see about increasing the production order for the Dragonfly so that all of our carriers will have enough to fully outfit their fighter squadrons.
I am curious if the battleships got to face off against each other?” Major Burke said.
“No. Our capital ships stayed back and supplemented the antiaircraft fire of our aircraft carriers instead of moving up to engage the Japanese Kongo’s. I can’t exactly blame them for hesitating to attack the enemy surface forces, especially after what happened to Dunkerque and the American Pacific Fleet. A little healthy fear can be a very good thing. It keeps us from doing particularly stupid things at the wrong time. But I’m sure that they will have their chance to use their big guns in due time.” Captain Jackman explained.
“At least they kept the Japanese from being able to come in and reinforce the invasion fleet that hit us here.”
“Yes. We also gutted the Japanese bomber force as well as their squadrons aboard those carriers, based on the number of claimed kills. Even with a conservative estimate, it will take months to replace all of those aircraft. The Japanese had to have lost a lot of aircrew also. Those losses might take much longer to replace than the aircraft themselves.”
“I would have to agree. My wife and her team of training pilots are already training a new group of pilots to replace the ones lost during the invasion and to expand our current force. Once she is done with the training of the new pilots, our more experienced combat pilots will finish the training of the new pilots and get them ready for combat.” Harold said.
Cavill Industries Main Office
Derby, Western Australia
May 1, 1943
Colonel Ronald Bailey arrived in front of Harold’s office just a couple of hours after Harold had even learned of the Colonel’s visit to the Derby area. Harold knew that Colonel Bailey was Parliament House’s liaison to the Ministry of Defense’s defense production office. However, Harold had never personally met him before.
Harold’s assistant knocked on the office door to let Harold know that Colonel Bailey had arrived. Harold had a wry expression on his face before asking for the Colonel to be sent in. Typically, short notice visits like this smelled of bureaucratic interference or other unreasonable demands by the government, regardless whether the visitor wore a uniform or a business suit. Colonel Bailey’s visit was even more unexpected after the meeting with other Australian military officials only a couple of days earlier.
“Good afternoon, Mister Cavill. I must say that your people have done a remarkable job of repairing so much of the damage from the Japanese attack just a couple of weeks ago. We in Canberra were all very impressed with how well your militia performed in holding back the Japanese until regular air force and navy units were able to throw back the invaders.”
Harold had to grit his teeth at the deliberate downplaying of the Derby militia’s role of stopping the Japanese invasion attempt.
“We were very lucky, Colonel. But we also had many patriotic citizens, white and aborigine both, who fought with skill and bravery to stop the Japanese.”
Colonel Bailey smiled, but Harold could detect a sense of unease when Harold had mentioned the role of the aborigines in the defense of Derby. But it really didn’t matter in the long run because the people of Derby and the surrounding area knew what happened. They had drawn together as brothers in the crucible of combat. That was the truly important outcome of the battle for Derby.
“I imagine that you are wondering why I came here to see you, Mister Cavill.” Colonel Bailey calmly said.
“I had hoped that you were here to ask what Canberra could do to help us here in Derby, Sir.”
“I’ve afraid that isn’t quite why I am here. My superiors at the Ministry of Defense all the way up to the Prime Minister himself were very pleased with the success of your newest weapons. They know that a single heavy bomber armed with these radio-controlled bombs essentially eliminated the Japanese carrier force that threatened you here at Derby. We have also heard that you are beginning to make a new torpedo that guides itself towards the sound of a ship’s propellers.
We would like for you to provide us with the blueprints for the production of these new guided weapons so that we can produce more of them for the rest of the Australian military. Obviously, with the economy of an entire country, we can produce more of these weapons than you can do on your own, Mister Cavill.”
“Sir, I don’t care how many conventional bombs and torpedoes that you make. However, my factories will continue to be the exclusive producers of the guided bombs and acoustic-homing torpedoes here in this theatre. I simply cannot afford for my trade secrets to be given away to competitors, much less falling into the hands of our enemies.” Harold angrily said before continuing.
“It is difficult enough for me to have to rely upon factories in Sydney and elsewhere to build Twin-Wasp and Cyclone radial engines for use in the production of my aircraft. Unfortunately, my factories here in Australia can only manage to produce fifty engines of each type per month. The French are only just beginning to produce these badly-needed engines under license from Pra
tt and Whitney for the Twin-Wasp and Wright for the Cyclone. It took me months of negotiations with the French to get permission to even construct these engine factories in French Indochina. I need every single engine that I can get in order to produce more Cavaliers, Cassowary’s, Dragonflies and Whirlwinds, much less the new transport and medium bomber aircraft that I currently developing.
I have also set up small arms production in southern and western China in those areas that have been liberated from the Japanese. But the technology here is all very conventional still. Yet, the government has refused to provide me with any assistance at all.”
“But we need more of these advanced weapons if we are going to be able to defeat the Japanese.” Colonel Bailey demanded.
“I cannot provide you with miracles. But I also will not give anyone permission to steal from me either. We, as a nation, can provide sufficient arms for our soldiers, sailors and airmen. But you need to get others to do their share of the production that they are capable of doing. Let me do what I and my people are best suited for.”
“I understand that. It is possible even viable. But perhaps you would be willing to entertain another proposition instead that we are now party to? The British government has tendered an offer to license production of the Mosquito fighter-bomber in exchange for the right to produce some of your new armored vehicle designs. This would help fulfill requirements for both us and Britain.” Colonel Bailey replied.
Harold knew that he didn’t have the resources to build the Mosquitos with his own relatively limited manufacturing facilities. The wood used in the Mosquitos’ construction would have to come from French Indochina due to the lack of sufficient supplies in Australia. But that wasn’t the only problem.
“I don’t think that I would have much of a problem licensing production of my tanks to British or even American manufacturers. We all have to do our part for the war effort. But, while we badly need more combat aircraft like the Mosquito, my companies just don’t have to facilities to produce them. If the de Havilland Company were to perhaps help me set up factories in French Indochina, we could produce aircraft for both the RAAF and the Free French Air Force. This would also include new engine factories here to produce the Merlin engine for the Mosquito and perhaps other designs. I would require some investment from de Havilland or one of the Commonwealth governments to help defray the cost, perhaps as partial compensation for the licensing of my armored vehicle designs.