by Hall, Gerald
“Welcome to Derby, Mister Prime Minister.” Judith pleasantly said as Winston Churchill stepped carefully down the stairs that had been rolled up to the Cavalier’s side personnel door.
“I am very pleased to be back here, though I do wish that the circumstances were far less somber, Miss Cavill.” Churchill replied with a respectful nod.
“I do too. My father was an incredible man, the likes of whom will never be seen for a very long time.” Judith said, emotion dripping from her voice as she thought about the man who traveled back in time to try to save the future of humanity.
“Yes, young lady. I wholeheartedly agree with you about your father. I don’t know if we could have won the war without all of the work that he did for the Allies.
While I am here, I would like to look at a few things. I have heard a lot of interesting things about this new atomic fission pile of yours, Miss Cavill. I understand that your father wanted to use it to make steam for turbines to drive electric generators. Just how much power will that generate?” Mister Churchill asked.
“You are very well informed, Sir. We have already started operating with two reactors, each capable of generating sixty megawatts of electricity. Our plans are to further expand the plant in two phases, each of which will add another two reactors of similar capacity.”
“That is a considerable amount of power.”
“Yes, Sir. It is. But we will make full use of it with the various Cavill industrial facilities in the area and the growing population around Derby and the immediate vicinity. We will sell any additional power production to other communities as transmission towers are completed. If this plant proves to be as successful as our father projected, we have long range plans to build other similar facilities elsewhere in Australia to provide the nation’s growing need for clean electrical power.” Judith explained to the former British Prime Minister, carefully omitting the fact that Harold had brought plans for the Liquid Fuel Fission Reactor and its use of Uranium and Thorium with him on his laptop computer.
Harold and his children already knew that the design would work because it had been successfully operating over eighty years in the future in the other timeline. It was simply a matter of building it.
But Churchill’s next question was quite unexpected. It was also a much thornier subject for Harold’s children to address.
“What about the weapon that had been proposed at the beginning of the war in Europe that supposedly employed atomic fission also? I know that part of the conditions of the armistice conditions on Germany required that she divest herself of all weapons development that involved that technology.
But would your work with these fission power stations also have applications towards developing weapons? If the Germans did not actually stop their research in this matter, they could potentially field such powerful weapons and use them to blackmail all of Europe.”
Judith and the others were both shocked by the former British Prime Minister’s question. Harold had told his children that the computer database did contain sufficient information to permit rapid development of a nuclear weapon. But, given a short period of time, the Cavills could easily adapt their existing equipment to build a weapon though. But he also warned them that doing so would have to be a very last resort because of what happened in Harold’s original timeline. Before he fell sick, Harold also explained to his children that the Uranium-Thorium fission process was extraordinarily difficult to use to produce fissionable fuels necessary for a viable nuclear bomb.
So what Judith then told Churchill wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the entire truth.
“Mister Prime Minister, we cannot use the byproducts of our fission reactors in the production of a weapon. These materials are simply have a variety of physical properties that make them completely unsuitable, I’m afraid.”
“I see. I’m glad to hear that your atomic fission power station design does not create materials that could be used in one of these theoretical ‘super bombs’. We shall just have to keep a very close eye on our German friends in any event. Hopefully, they will keep to their word and remain committed to the peace in Europe. I have to say that they still scare the hell out of me. Those German scientists proved themselves to be all too capable during the war. We were very fortunate to have some very capable scientists on our side as well.”
“We will be keeping a close eye on the Germans and a great many other troublesome blokes elsewhere in the world also, Sir. While the major wars in Europe and the Pacific are now over, there are still plenty of smaller conflicts taking tens of thousands of lives each year. Any one of these little wars has the potential of dragging us right back into war, I fear.”
“I completely understand, Miss Cavill. I have had considerable experience in a couple of those bloody ‘little’ wars, I have to admit. It is not a very pleasant business at all either. Hopefully, the Germans and others who are stirring up the pot in the world will think long and hard before bringing us back into another war.” Churchill gruffly responded.
“I hope that you are right, Sir. My siblings and I were wondering how long you planned on staying here in Derby before you left to go back to London.”
“I’m afraid that I will have to leave here shortly after the funeral to fly to Canberra to speak to your prime minister. Then I will be back onboard one of your Cavaliers once again en route to London. I’m sure that I have a considerable amount of work on my desk waiting on me by the time that I arrive there.”
Two days later, Judith and her siblings along with several hundred other mourners stood by as the local Methodist minister performed Harold’s funeral service. He was the minister of the church that Harold and his family had attended on a regular basis. In most aspects, it was a very ordinary funeral for a most extraordinary man. No one outside of Judith and her siblings knew of Harold’s great secret. Who knew how many other secrets that the former James Michaelson would take to the grave with him.
The end of the funeral service was marked by a flyover by several of the latest Dragonfly-J fighter-bombers, their jet engines loudly roaring as their pilots said their own goodbyes. Afterwards, Judith and her siblings met with the various dignitaries who had come to pay their respects. Finally, the Cavills were alone with former Prime Minister Churchill.
“I do wish to thank all of you for your hospitality. Your father was a very good friend and a patriot, both for your nation and mine. He will be greatly missed. I wish you all the best. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience.” Churchill remarked.
“Thank you for your kind words, Mister Prime Minister.” Judith replied with tears in her eyes.
The great wartime leader of the United Kingdom then turned and walked towards a waiting car to travel back to the Derby airport.
An hour later, former Prime Minister Churchill was onboard an aerial transport en route to Canberra.
Judith had just seen the great wartime leader off when a man wearing a Cavill Industries uniform walked up to her.
“Miss Cavill, the local aborigine chief is here to see you.” The worker informed Judith.
“Did he happen to say what he wanted?” She asked.
“He told me that he wanted to offer his personal condolences for the passing of your father and also talk about a few other important matters.”
The aborigines had been very strong supporters of Harold Cavill. Judith was mourning, but did not wish to offend her father’s friends, especially after all that they did for each other.
“Of course. Please send him here.” She told the worker.
A slight, dark-skinned man dressed in traditional garb walked towards Judith. She recognized this particular aborigine man as being normally addressed as ‘Tim’. He reached out his right hand. In turn, Judith reached out and shook the aborigine’s hand.
“Hello, Judith. How are you doing?” He semi-formally asked.
“It has not been easy, Tim. But my sisters and brother are taking this as well as can be expected. Our mother died when we
were much younger, so we did not know her nearly as well.”
“We, understand. All of us in the tribes, have also learned of the death of your father. We wish to express our appreciation to you, your brother and sisters for all that your father has done for us during his time here in our world.”
“Thank you. We miss him terribly alright. I know that many of you regarded him as a shaman with the gift of knowing the future. I also know that he worked very hard to ensure that your people were treated justly.
I, my brother and sisters also wish to tell you that we have inherited our father’s gifts and his vision for the future. We promise to also treat your people with honor and justice as our father did.” Judith told the aborigine chief.
“We have known all of Harold Cavill’s children since you were infants. We have watched you grow up into people who we know that your father would be very proud of. Your words to me now only confirm what we have always known. Thank you, Judith.”
“It is I who must thank you for all of the support that you have given our family since my father first arrived here. We will always be in your debt.”
“I must go now, Judith. I know that you have much to do. May God continue to bless you and your family.” Tim said with a smile before turning and silently walking away.
Judith stood there for several minutes longer before she finally wiped the tears from her eyes and left for home herself.
A few weeks later, the Cavills were back at Judith’s office discussing their plans for their father’s business and what their own personal plans would be.
“We have managed to bring in a lot of technical expertise from outside of Australia since the end of the war. It almost seems as though we are living at some foreign port with all of the nations’ sailors passing through.” James commented.
“You are probably right. Some of the old-timers living near our rocket launch site in Kalumburu are beginning to refer to it as ‘Little Hamburg’ because of all of the German emigres who have settled there.” Beatrice replied with a smile.
“We have managed to recruit a lot of Germans to work with us here. It was a lot easier to get permission for them to come here than it was to get any Chinese or Japanese entry visas. It helped a lot also that we were able to convince a lot of younger educated German women to move here as well.” Judith interjected.
“Still, we’ve had to set up special schools to teach them all how to read and write English in addition to Australian history and culture. But all that effort will make the new emigres integration into Australian society much easier. I do find it interesting that so many of the German women coming here are absolutely beautiful. I think that the recruiters must have had that as one of their main selection criteria.” Sarah noted.
“These new arrivals are still very bright people, regardless of their appearance. We can certainly use them with the expansion of our various industrial divisions.” Justin explained.
“That is exactly how our father would have wanted it too. He always judged people by their character and performance. If they did their job well and proved themselves to be decent human beings, Father would find a job for them. With what we have to continue to do, we will need these sorts of people helping us.” Beatrice replied.
“Dad talked a lot about what he wished that he had done earlier to change history in other ways.” Judith told her siblings.
“Yes, he wished that he could have stopped Mussolini and prevented the entire Fascist movement from even getting started. If Italy had remained allied with France and England like it had been during the First World War, Hitler may not have even gained power.” James noted.
“I think that Hitler was going to find his way into power, no matter what our father did in Italy. Mind you, if Italy had remained allied with the West or at least declared itself neutral, then England could have shifted forces from the Mediterranean to help assist Norway or could have countered Hitler’s move into Greece much more forcefully.” Judith replied.
“Perhaps so, but Dad stepped in pretty aggressively after the war with Italy. His investments helped the Italians get back on their feet economically, especially after the first new democratically-elected government took power. The Italians were able to secure reliable fuel supplies from the Libyans to also help fuel the reconstruction process even though they no longer controlled the area. There were a few naysayers in Italy and elsewhere, of course.” Sarah explained.
“Yes, there were, especially when the Italians kept what was left of their navy, built a batch of new destroyers and put those two aircraft carriers into service.” James interjected.
“Well, we couldn’t afford too much of a power vacuum in the Med, especially with the decimation of the French Navy and the cutbacks that had been forced on the post-war British Royal Navy at the same time. Besides, it helped maintain the balance of power in Southern Europe and kept the Italian shipbuilders gainfully employed at the same time. But the Italians still have much work left to do before their navy has truly recovered from the war.” Judith said.
“I suppose that is the reason why our people from the Ordnance Works have been helping improve the Italian 65 millimeter automatic anti-aircraft cannon.” Beatrice noted.
“Yes. But I don’t think that we will be able to really give them an effective automatic loading system. I hope that we can finally convince the Italians to adopt our automatic six pounder. Then they will be able compete well against the French 57 millimeter and German 55 millimeter automatic cannons. These weapons can also serve well as the primary guns for patrol boats and small escort vessels. We also will receive a percentage of the profits from every one of the improved cannons that are produced as a result of our technical assistance. We already have a contract with Ansaldo and Terni for this purpose, in fact.” Judith explained.
“I’m that our people are happy to have the work. Perhaps the Italians will hire us next to update their 9cm anti-aircraft cannon. It is my understanding that it is actually a very good weapon. It simply needs to be mated up to a reliable mount, an automatic loader and first-rate fire control system to make it a truly world-beater.” Beatrice noted.
“We already proposing to do that very thing. We could certainly use that weapon ourselves for a variety of purposes. It would be readily adaptable as a tank gun to start with. We could also take an automatic version of the gun ourselves, manufactured under license, and use it as the main gun armament for our newest escort and fast attack vessels.
Therefore the design work would benefit both Italy and ourselves in the long run. This is the sort of business arrangement that we should always seek.” Judith explained.
Chapter Four:
Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin
North Sea, Approximately 120 miles northwest of Kiel
December 1, 1954
Kapitian zur See Gunther Kreiger looked anxiously from the bridge of his ship as he watched a small, but very unusual jet aircraft lining up to land aboard the Kriegsmarine aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin’s newly installed angled flight deck. The pilot seemed to be wandering from side to side as he attempted to get in the correct flight path for landing. The flying wing jet fighter-bomber could be seen in the distance opening and closing the split ailerons in its wing’s trailing edges to control yaw and correct its flight path as the aircraft approached the moving warship.
A senior Kriegsmarine officer stood next to Kapitan Kreiger. The older man did not seem to mind the cold sea spray constantly coming from the surface of the North Sea as Graf Zeppelin plowed its way through the waves at a speed of over twenty-five knots.
“I hope that this pilot knows what the hell he is doing, Herr Großadmiral. I certainly do not need to see another aircraft and crew splattered all over my flight deck again. It was difficult enough with the Focke-Wulf’s that we previously operated. We lost eight of those aircraft during the year prior to my ship going back into drydock for its most recent refit.” The Kapitian groused as he looked over towards the older officer standing wit
h him on the aircraft carrier’s bridge.
Graf Zeppelin was originally intended to use a combination of modified Messerschmitt ME-109T fighters and Junkers JU-87 ‘Stuka’ dive-bombers. However, immediately after the armistice, the planned mix of aircraft was significantly altered as construction resumed on the German aircraft carrier. The handful of ME-109T’s manufactured were replaced with Focke-Wulf Ta-152’s, which were the ‘long nose’ variant with strengthened internal structure and undercarriage along with folding outer wings. The Stukas were eventually also replaced with a torpedo bomber variant of the navalized Ta-152.
Graf Zeppelin was completed a couple of years after the armistice and served in a much reduced Kriegsmarine. In doing so, the German aircraft carrier gave many of Germany’s aviators an opportunity to learn how to operate from this type of vessel. Graf Zeppelin also gave Kriegsmarine leaders valuable lessons in how to conduct operations in a task force centered around an aircraft carrier at the same time.
But now, after a long period of extensive reconstruction and refitting, Graf Zeppelin was about to leap ahead of most navies in terms of her carrier air wing and overall capabilities. The German aircraft carrier’s original heavy anti-surface battery of sixteen 15cm naval rifles had all been removed en lieu of additional hangar space for a much larger air wing. Borrowing a page from the HMAS Melbourne, Graf Zeppelin had also been reequipped with an angled flight deck to permit simultaneous takeoffs and landings. There were also numerous other modifications to the German aircraft carrier that were not obvious to the casual observer.
Großadmiral Hans Holtzburger smiled as he looked out at the modified Horton HO-229 flying flying wing jet fighter just prior to touchdown.
“Kapitian Kreiger, what you are looking at right now is the future of our navy. While it is true that our U-Boats will remain very important in the Kriegsmarine, our enemies will put much effort into neutralizing them. Our U-Boats also have a very difficult time striking targets in the air or within an adversaries’ shores, though some efforts are being made to change the latter circumstance.” Holtzburger then remarked.