Untimely Excursions

by Hall, Gerald

  The southeastern republics also want out, but the Russians are far less able to prevent this from happening. They also mostly populated by Muslims who have resented Russian domination for many decades. But the Russians want very badly to retain control of the oil fields of the Caucasus. ”

  “It sounds like you have had your hands full, Carl. I am simply glad that I am not part of that world any longer.”

  “I’m sure that you are. I think that I will be traveling to Australia soon to talk to officials there. Obviously, there is some concern with Australia having annexed the whole of New Guinea. Indonesia is quite upset about Australia’s unilateral move.” Carl explained.

  “I read about that in the news. More than a few Australians fought and died to reclaim New Guinea from the Japanese during the war. It makes sense for Australia to go ahead and permanently claim the island. It is supposed to have substantial natural resources. Controlling New Guinea also gives Australia a considerable increase in their strategic depth.”

  “Those reasons are all true, John. But the current administration in Washington gets very nervous about any hint of colonialism, even if it is done under the excuse of protecting the Christian minority in Papua. It’s bad enough that the French are dug in like ticks in Indochina and the Germans are quietly acquiring mineral rights and facilities all over Africa.”

  John Birch had worked for several years as an intelligence officer for several years during the war before returning to his previous avocation as a Christian missionary. But he still could appreciate what was happening elsewhere in the world.

  “I’m afraid that we are still living in very interesting times, my friend.” John replied, always mindful of the Chinese curse that the phrase invoked.

  “That is what I was worried about, Major. Anyway, we still have food to give out and an angry Generalissimo to convince to end this civil war peacefully before the fighting gets any wider.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three:

  Cavill Industries Headquarters

  Derby, Western Australia

  December 1, 1957

  One of the shift leaders came into the office and saw James Cavill standing there looking through a stack of mail that had just been delivered.

  “Did you hear the news, Mister Cavill? The government in Canberra has decided to annex the whole of New Guinea and incorporate it as a new state within Australia.” Joe asked.

  “The whole island?” James asked.

  “Yes, Sir. That’s what it appears.”

  “I’m not surprised. I know that there had been a lot of activity in Canberra concerning the possibility of this over the past few months. I bet that the blokes in charge in Jakarta are none too happy about that. Has there been any official word from them?”

  “Not yet, according to the radio reports, Sir. It seems that our government worked out something with the Dutch beforehand though to hand over sovereignty of West Papua. Word was that the Indonesians were planning on taking over West Papua themselves when the Dutch finally left.”

  “Then I’m sure that we have not heard the last of this from the government at Jakarta and especially President Sukarno. He has got to be bloody pissed about this, especially with all of his rhetoric about bringing together all of the people of what he considered a greater Indonesia.” James noted.

  “I just see that bastard Sukarno as a Japanese collaborator, Sir. He should have been hung for treason after the war was over in my opinion. Australian soldiers and sailors fought and bled to throw the Japs out of New Guinea in the first place. So if we wanted to make it a part of Australia, then we damned well earned that right the hard way.”

  “Not everyone here is going to be happy about this even here in Australia though. That is especially true of the blokes who have traditionally supported the whole ‘White Australia’ policy. Bringing in New Guinea will mean granting Australian citizenship and rights to a lot of folks who don’t exactly look European, you know.

  The island could be a tremendous source of agriculture for us. So much of Australia is too arid for commercial agriculture. We have a growing population that needs to be fed. New Guinea could fulfill that need for us. It may also have substantial mineral reserves that we can mine also.”

  “I still worry that we are going to have problems later on as a result of this act. The Indonesians, much less the Malays and Vietnamese have all had sizable independence movements. They will all surely see this as being evidence of imperial ambitions by another Western colonial power.”

  “Well, the French are certainly learning that the hard way in Indochina. But things certainly could have been far worse for them. The fall of the Soviet Union has cut the legs out of many of the Marxist groups down here.” James explained

  “Yet the Viet Minh continue to fight, even when facing the French Foreign Legion and a bunch of former German SS troops who would slit the throats of their own mothers if it would grant them victory in battle.”

  “Yes. I have heard that those particular Legionnaires are a very brutal lot. But the French still controls the sea around Indochina.”

  “True. But they do not command all of the roads and paths from the north or the west. That is where the insurgents are getting most of their supplies now.” Joe replied. Like many people who worked for the Cavill’s, he was also a member of the Derby militia and kept up with much of what was going on in the world.

  “I certainly hope that there isn’t anyone foolish enough to try to start up an insurgency in New Guinea. Some of our mates can be a pretty tough lot too. Plus we control all of the sea routes around the island.”

  “Fair Dinkum. At least they will be able to protect the Christians living on New Guinea from the blokes who want everyone to be a Muslim. I heard a lot of stories from our troops that served in Egypt and Iraq about how the Christian minorities were so badly treated by the Arabs.”

  “The Muslims out here are usually not quite so strident about their religion. But there are always a handful of blokes who want to make everyone convert to Islam, whether they want to or not.”

  “If they try that with me, they will be in for a very rude awakening, I guarantee you, mate.” Joe firmly said.

  Chapter ThIrty-Four:

  Foreign Secretary’s Office, Whitehall

  London, United Kingdom

  December 11, 1957

  “It’s been over five years since we gave India and Pakistan back to their citizens. God must have been looking down upon all of this because two nations have somehow managed not to go to war since the partition. Mind you, the partition itself was bloody enough as it was though.” Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden bitterly proclaimed in front of handful of advisors after reading the latest news from the subcontinent.

  “I hope that the continued peace is because we had some positive influence upon those people during the near century that we administered the South Asian subcontinent, Sir.” Patrick Montegue, one of the junior deputy secretaries mused out loud.

  “Whether it was due to us or whether it was because someone in Delhi had managed to convince enough of the state governors to get their affairs in order, it doesn’t matter. The entire region is still a powder keg, ready to explode as a result of more sectarian and religious violence. Mister Gandhi had managed to keep things tamped down for a while until some fool nationalist decided to put three bullets into his chest.

  Now, it is only a matter of time before India and Pakistan go to war over the disputed territories on their border, I fear.”

  “Is there any way that we can use our remaining influence with India and Pakistan to prevent outright warfare between the two? Obviously, another large scale sectarian conflict will lead to even greater bloodshed than what happened during the Partition. We have to feel some sort of moral obligation to try to prevent this from happening.” Steven Wallace, another deputy secretary asked.

  “I don’t know if we can. Besides, both nations will primarily be using weapons that we sold to them after the end of the war. We were rather
busy selling everything that we could without much concern about how they would be used because of the immense war debt that we had accumulated as you are all aware.” Foreign Secretary Eden noted.

  “So you think that the rest of the world is going to blame us for all of the dead Muslims and Hindus that will result if the sectarian violence resumes, Sir?”

  “I don’t know if they will blame us. But they certainly will not look kindly upon our role, indirect or not, in the extent of the potential violence and bloodshed.”

  “At least we have been able to retain our holdings in Singapore and Hong Kong. Those are extremely strategic bases for the Royal Navy in the Far East.” Patrick commented.

  “Not without some difficulties though, I’m afraid. The civil war that is currently raging in China is a threat to our colony at Hong Kong and to Portugal’s colony at Macau both. There is also the issue of the threat to the sea lines of communications between here and Hong Kong. We have already received reports of increased levels of piracy in the South China Sea and Malucca Straits.

  If war erupts between India and Pakistan, such a conflict will add another area where civilian shipping will be threatened.”

  “Sir, that sounds like all the more reason why we should not only maintain our influence over Singapore as a Crown colony. In fact, we should probably increase our forces there. We certainly paid enough in blood and treasure to protect Singapore from Japanese occupation in the last war.”

  “The Australia decision to annex New Guinea should help us considerably though. They will be able to extend their defensive perimeter out towards the South China Sea at least three hundred kilometers as a result of the move.”

  “True. But we will still have to coordinate with the Australians in regards to security arrangements. They are still part of the Commonwealth, but have made it very clear that they plan on pursuing an independent military and foreign policy from ours.”

  “The fact that Australia also conducted a significant reduction in the size of their military after the war should help us in that matter then. They have to know that in order to effectively police the southwest Pacific, they need to closely work together with allies. Otherwise, the Aussies just won’t have enough military assets to accomplish the mission. With the continuing Chinese civil war and the insurgency in French Indochina, the entirety of Eastern Asia is still rather unsettled.”

  “What forces do we have in the area at this time?”

  “We have a cruiser, four destroyers and a submarine based in Singapore at this time. But I am not sure that is going to be enough. We need to do something to demonstrate that we can still project power to protect our interests in the Far East.”

  “What do you have in mind, Sir?”

  “It believe that it is time for the Royal Navy to send a task force out from Portsmouth to visit Singapore and Hong Kong. This task force needs to be powerful enough to send a message to all of the players out there. We will probably also need to make a few stops along the way in South Africa and India as well. I understand that we now have two of our refitted battleships ready for operations now along with the fleet carriers Ark Royal and Eagle.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Then I need for that task force to have one of those battleships along with Ark Royal and a suitably capable group of escorts. The task force will also need sufficient support vessels to keep those warships supplied as needed.”

  “I will ensure that the Admiralty will receive the necessary orders before the end of the day, Sir.”

  “One other thing, Admiral. One of the capital ships will be carrying several VIPs aboard her as part of the mission.”

  “Do we know who, Sir?”

  “Yes. But their identities will not be made public for security reasons until much closer to the time that the ships sail from Portsmouth.

  Chapter Thirty-Five:

  Royal Navy Base

  Portsmouth, United Kingdom

  December 22, 1957

  Lord Mountbatten stood at the pier as he watched a large aircraft carrier being carefully shepherded out of her berth at Portsmouth by a quartet of tugboats. The skies were just beginning to clear after an early morning rain shower. The First Lord of the Admiralty looked at with pride as HMS Ark Royal prepared to go out for the first time after an extensive refit.

  Ark Royal and her sister ship Eagle were the two largest ships in the entire Royal Navy, displacing even more than the remaining battleships of the King George V class.

  “Good morning, Sir. I am just admiring Ark Royal now that she is out of refit.” Captain Alfred Collingsworth, commander of the Ceylon-class light cruiser Newfoundland said as he saluted the First Sea Lord.

  “Yes, Captain. Portsmouth is beginning to look quite empty compared to crowded she was only a couple of years ago. We have even eliminated all of the Japanese warships that we had claimed as prizes at the end of the Pacific War. They are now all in the process of being cut apart to become scrap metal for our factories.” Mountbatten replied while still looking out over the harbor.

  “Yes, Sir. That big Japanese armored aircraft carrier Taiho was quite massive. She was easily as large as Illustrious or perhaps even Eagle. The other Japanese carrier; Katsuragi, I think that her name was, had been perhaps two-thirds the size of Taiho. We never seemed to have enough aircraft carriers during the war, especially after taking some combat losses.”

  “Yes, but the Japanese ships were proving to simply be too difficult to integrate with our naval technology. The quality of their construction was also rather lacking, probably due to wartime pressures. The battleship Haruna that received was also quite simply obsolete in addition to being worn out from wartime operations. She was not worth the funding necessary to make her seaworthy, much less to modernize her to operate in today’s environment.”

  “What happened to those two big Japanese submarines that they used to launch suicide buzz bombs at the Americans, Sir?”

  “Our engineers tested the hell out of the bloody bastards first out in the North Seas first. Then our people put those I-400’s inside a covered shed and cut them completely apart to examine them even more. Whatever is left of those big bastards is probably inside of a blast furnace now.”

  “Are we going to build any submarines that can launch missiles like those big Jap boats, Sir?”

  “I cannot talk about it at this time. I would highly recommend that you not inquire further about that either. On another subject, as I recall, your ship is about to go into refit as well, Captain.”

  “Yes, Sir. She is. I hope that Newfoundland comes out of the yards as well as Ark Royal appears to have done. That big carrier is quite a beauty.”

  “Yes, she is, Captain. But you must remember that Ark Royal and her sister ship Eagle are also far different than what they had been when they were first commissioned. Your command will also be considerably different when the yard dogs are done with her too, especially with all of the new systems that are due to be installed in her.”

  “I know, Sir. I was just noting all of the changes in Ark Royal when you arrived. The angled flight deck was quite evident after her reconstruction. What else was done to Eagle and her sister ship during their time in the yard, Sir?”

  “There were quite a few changes both inside and out, Captain. With the larger size of the newer jet aircraft, we needed to reconsider the use of the centerline elevators on Eagle and Ark Royal. It was simply getting much more difficult to fit the aircraft onto the original elevators. During these latest refits, it was decided to remove the centerline elevators and replace them with a pair of deck-edge lifts. The deck edge elevators are able to handle the larger aircraft that our carriers will need to employ in the future.

  One of the new lifts was placed just forward of the island on the starboard side. The other was placed on the aft port quarter. This modification also allowed us to enlarge the available space within the hangar so that we could carry more aircraft. Our carriers have always lacked sufficient hangar space.”r />
  “That had to require a considerable reconstruction of the upper hull and hangar spaces, Sir.”

  “Yes, Captain. We virtually reconstructed both ships entirely from the hangar deck up. But without the openings in their armored flight decks, Eagle and Ark Royal should be far more survivable than before. They will also be able to handle operating much heavier and faster aircraft than ever previously. That is going to be absolutely essential for their continued service in the future. The threats that our ships will face are becoming far more sophisticated and capable, I’m afraid.”

  “I see that Ark Royal’s armament has been brought to a modern standard as well, Sir. Are those the same antiaircraft missiles that our battleships now carry for short range defense?” The cruiser captain said as he pointed out a traversing box launcher mounted on a sponson just aft of the portside aircraft elevator.”

  “Yes, Captain. We have three of those eight-cell antiaircraft missile launchers on Ark Royal. Two of them are mounted on her aft quarters. A third launcher has been mounted on a sponson on the port side forward, just ahead of the angled flight deck. You can also see that the missiles are supplemented by a small number of six-pounder automatic cannons and 25mm gatling guns for close-in defense. All of these weapons replaced the sixteen 4.5” dual-purpose naval rifles and over fifty Bofors automatic cannons that Ark Royal was originally equipped with.

  With the change in her armament, there has been a small reduction in the number of sailors required to man Ark Royal. That reduction is relatively small because we needed more personnel to service the new jets and electronic systems.”

  “I suppose these new weapons are here in case an aircraft or missiles gets past my cruiser or one of our battleships with our long-range missile launchers, Sir.”

  “Of course, Captain. Redundancy is the most reliable way to ensure success, especially in warfare. The plan is to have a layered defense to protect our aircraft carriers as they will be our primarily offensive strike force. Our newly rearmed cruisers and battleships will provide much of the long-range antiaircraft defensive firepower. As each of our other three aircraft carriers go into refit, they will receive roughly the same defensive battery as Ark Royal here.”