by gerald hall
Harold still planned to be quite careful about the introduction of new technology in this timeline. But his factory in Australia was already beginning to build modern steam propulsion units for the refitting of HMASAustralianeeMelbourne. The British Admiralty may not be terribly happy about this once they find out. For that matter, the Australian Admiralty might be more than a little concerned themselves. But Harold knew that he needed to introduce any reasonable technological advantages that he could before the beginning of the Second World War.
“I think that it would be a grand idea, Mister Cavill. Besides, I know a few of those people who would be bothered by your project. I would enjoy watching their discomfort, I must admit.” Churchill said with a grand chuckle.
Harold then decided on a gamble to continue Churchill’s willingness to utilize his influence on Harold’s behalf. Harold knew that the expenses of Churchill’s lifestyle frequently exceeded his income, even accounting for the money’s that he received for his writing.
“Of course, it would be only fair that you be duly compensated for your time and efforts assisting me with my projects. I therefore offer you a monthly consultancy fee of two hundred pounds Sterling. That should easily defray any costs that you might incur during this process, Minister.”
Harold was willing to go up to five hundred pounds per month. But he saw no reason to go that far initially. He saw Churchill’s eyes stare intently at him for a moment after the offer was made.
“Of course, if I were to help you with your project, I would have to undertake additional travel and subsequent expenses. I would also incur additional expenses as I would be hosting meetings and social gatherings necessary to garner the support that you desire.”
“That is completely understandable. Let me then offer a monthly sum of three hundred pounds. I would also pay up to two hundred pounds monthly additionally for whatever expenses that you incur on my behalf. I would require expense receipts for the latter expenses for business purposes, obviously.”
Churchill thought intently for a moment, then smiled.
“Mr. Cavill, I do believe that we have an understanding. Let us drink to our new business relationship.”
Harold spent several more hours at the Churchill residence, drinking sherry and listening to Churchill’s tales of his various adventures as a young man. Then, Harold got up and prepared to leave.
“Perhaps you will come visit us down in Australia someday? I’m sure that you will find many fascinating things in our country, Minister.” Harold said with a pleasant smile.
“No. I’m afraid that I will have far too much to do here. Besides, I don’t think that I am terribly popular in your country still after that Gallipoli business during the Great War. You are certainly welcome to visit again when you are on this side of the world. However, I do appreciate the offer, nonetheless.”
Harold then took his leave and rode back to London to begin a series of investments with one of the smaller investment companies. He did not want to go to a larger brokerage house because it would draw undue attention to his activities. Harold was already alarmed by Churchill’s comments concerning what the London newspapers had written about him. Too much attention could cause people to start asking Harold some very uncomfortable questions like about his early history.
Harold needed more time, to let any lingering questions about his past drift away like smoke in the wind. But Harold still needed to continue with his work because he knew that 1939 and the beginning of the Second World War would be upon him all too quickly. The course of history needed to change to prevent the need for the atomic bomb to ever be built. Otherwise, humanity would be doomed in 2040 once again.
There had been accusations in the past that Harold had somehow bought the silence of the Australian newspapers. None of that was true at the time. But this time, Harold knew that he needed to do something to control the information coming out about him and his businesses.
So upon his return to Australia, Harold would begin the process of managing his image to the outside world. Harold decided that he would contact intermediaries who already did business with him. Those representatives would create shell companies, none of whom had Harold’s name or ownership associated with them. That way, if anyone had been able to penetrate the shell company holdings, they would then see evidence that Harold was doing this solely for the purpose of advertising his products. Those companies would then purchase several newspapers on Harold’s behalf.
The newspapers would certainly have quite a few advertisements for the various Cavill Industries products to include firearms, tractors, trucks, ships and even aircraft. Whenever one of Harold’s companies would introduce a new product, reporters from these newspapers would be assigned to cover the event and write favorable articles about them. This was a ploy that had been quietly used by several wealthy individuals in the twenty-first century.
It was made very clear to the newspapers’ editors by Cavill’s representatives that there were certain areas that were very much off limits. This included any inquiries into Harold’s background, how much wealth that he truly had or how he had obtained it as well as any specifics about the military products that he was developing.
Chartwell House
Westerham, Kent, England March 25, 1925
Harold paid Winston Churchill one more visit before departing back to Australia. Churchill was far more welcoming this time when he greeted Harold at the door than during Harold’s first visit to Churchill’s home.
“Welcome back, Mister Cavill. I have been thinking a lot about what we talked about during your previous visit here. You made a lot of very well thought-out points when we spoke before. I wish that we would have a hundred more people in our senior governmental positions who were as insightful as you are.”
“I am afraid that there are some people who would still not make the right decisions even with over one hundred years of knowledge of the coming future.” Harold silently thought before continuing aloud. “Politicians can still make all of the wrong decisions for all of the wrong reasons even with the best information possible, I’m afraid.”
The subject matter that Churchill seemed to be most interested in talking about this time was politics rather than the military. Of course, the two subjects were very often intimately intertwined by the common denominator of money and how it was to be allocated.
The two men soon sat down and resumed their discussion in Churchill’s private study. “You know, Harold. You remind me of another one of your countrymen that I met over twenty years ago. Come to think of it, he was actually born in England but made much of his early fortune mining in Australia and New Zealand before moving back to England.
His name was William Knox D’Arcy. He was into investments as well as mining. He also developed the oil fields in Persia and profited quite handsomely from it. William’s ideas about the utility of oil were one of the main reasons why the newest of the Royal Navy’s capital ships are fueled by oil rather than coal.” Churchill commented as he drank another glass of sherry and smoked his accustomed Havana cigar.
“So he was the person who caused so much enmity toward England by the Persians.” Harold silently thought to himself before asking a question.
“What happened to Mister D’Arcy?”
“He died a few years ago after making and spending several fortunes over a very colorful lifetime. William was quite prolific in his spending habits, from the large dinner parties to his many days at the racing track. From what I understand, you are quite the contrast in that matter though.”
“Mister D’Arcy sounds like he was quite an interesting character.”
“Indeed, he was.” Churchill laughed as he subsequently poured both men each a glass of sherry. Politics soon became the topic of discussion. As usual, the discussion was very lively.
“You have been involved in politics for more than twenty years now, Mister Churchill. How the hell do you manage to maintain your sanity around so many idiots in suits and wigs?”
“Everyone has their own self interests in mind when they get into politics, Mister Cavill. No one ever does it for truly altruistic reasons. Politicians usually want power, fame and respect. A minority of them simply want to use politics as a means of gaining wealth at the expense of others unfortunately.”
“I suppose that power and corruption go hand in hand in far too many cases.” Harold replied, though fully conscious of some of his own activities being potentially considered corruption in their own right. Still, he felt that he was justified in how he was using his money to influence certain politicians and get others elected who shared a certain set of priorities. After all, Harold had a world to save and would do anything to accomplish this.
“I can tell though that you are a patriot from your keen interest in the defense of the Commonwealth, Mister Cavill.”
“I am doing what I can. But those fools in my country’s liberal party would have us disarm for the sake of their vote-buying schemes of freely handing out other people’s hard-earned money to their loyal constituents. Unfortunately, the people who are largely receiving those public funds are doing very little to contribute to society as a whole.” Harold opined after a third glass of sherry.
“I’m afraid that we have exactly the same problem with the Labour party here in England as well. They would rather that we be crippled by unsustainable debt and enslaved to the next foreign dictator than to give up a single shilling of payments currently being used to finance the public dole. Granted, we were spending a tremendous amount of money on the Royal Navy. We had to find some way to stop this tremendously expensive naval arms race. But perhaps they went a little too far this time.” Churchill replied. Churchill had far more to drink than Harold, but in spite of the alcohol in his system, was amazingly still capable of holding a perfectly articulate conversation.
Harold had been working behind the political scenes in Australia to promote the election of more conservative candidates. A few thousand Pounds Sterling in the right hands had proven to be decisive in more than one campaign. But Harold had to be careful in selecting candidates to support. They had to be firmly pro-defense as well as extremely discrete. Harold did not want his assistance to become public knowledge. The Commonwealth had to be strong enough to fend off the Axis powers without requiring the historically massive American contribution or the development of the atomic bomb. The first would inevitably lead to the second.
“I’m doing what I can to try to change attitudes among the ruling classes in Australia on a number of subjects, Minister. Some of them are also all too willing to dip into the public till and come back asking for still more.”
“I do understand. No one wants to accept a little pain in their purse, even if it is the long term benefit for the nation as a whole, I’m afraid. I’ve learned that most people are simply too short-sighted to understand or even be bothered with anything that impacts them more than a week in the future. So politicians make their appeal on what they can give to their constituents today, not on what it will cost the beneficiaries a month later.” Churchill replied between sips of sherry and puffs on his cigar.
“You just have to find the right people and give them the proper incentive to see things your way. Then they can lead the rest in the appropriate direction for you.” Churchill remarked.
“I am trying to do that now. That and managing all of my various business interests are some of the most challenging elements of my life.”
“I imagine that it would be. You have a great many different interests. I don’t know if I could possibly manage so many different tasks simultaneously myself.
Incidentally, I have already started working with some of the people that I know within the Admiralty concerning your idea about theHawkins-class cruisers. I do believe that getting the Admiralty to agree to convert the cruisers into aircraft carriers is achievable. I don’t think that the Admiralty here will allow any of the conversion work to be done outside of the country, however. There is a lot of political pressure to keep our own shipyards working and the limited funds available for naval construction inside of the country. The Admiralty is also reticent about putting ‘unproven technology’ into these ships.”
That was a small blow to some of Harold’s hopes. He wanted to be able to incorporate his new high-pressure steam turbines into one or more of theHawkinsconversions to improve their performance and demonstrate the technology to the Admiralty. But he had realized already that this was a long-shot at this time.
“Perhaps the Admiralty will rethink its position after I get my new design power plant fully tested and into production? I’m absolutely certain that it will show a substantial reduction in both size and fuel consumption as well as being suitably reliable. This will be particularly important when the time comes to build replacements for the Royal Navy’s capital ships.” Harold confidently said while taking another sip of sherry.
“Well, Mister Cavill. I do hope that you are successful. Personally, I think that a substantial part of the reason why the Admiralty is not supportive of your engine designs is because they still fear any semblance of new technology not invented by their own people.”
“Winston, perhaps you can remind them that these engines will have been developed in the Commonwealth, produced in a British factory and employed thousands of British workers. I’m sure that we can convince a few members of Parliament to relay the same message as well.”
“Somehow, Harold, I think that you have already started on that process.” Churchill said with a jovial laugh.
“Well, Winston. I must be going now. My ship will be leaving shortly for the trip back to Australia. I have a great many things that I have to accomplish, I’m afraid.” Harold said with a tip of his hat before turning to walk to his waiting Hackney.
During the trip back to London, Harold saw a flight of Fairey Fox biplane fighter-bombers fly overhead. The thought that the Royal Air Force would still be flying biplane fighters at the beginning of the Second World War absolutely horrified him, especially with the spectre of the Luftwaffe and its modern aircraft very nearly defeating the RAF in the Battle of Britain. But Harold was also determined that America not be pushed into developing nuclear weapons that would eventually bring an end to humanity.
Harold spent almost four weeks onboard an ocean liner during his return trip back to Australia. He had not dared bring his portable computer with him during his travels. There was just far too great of a risk of its secrets being compromised. There was also no reliable source of electrical power anywhere outside of Harold’s home in Derby. Instead, Harold used the opportunity to document as much as possible what he saw. This included people, places and products that he witnessed during his travels. He also documented any ideas about possible technology that he could perhaps introduce relevant to the period state of the art. He wanted to compare all of these notes with the data on his computer database.
Harold did not want to dramatically disrupt the technology level of this timeline. But he strongly felt that he would need to do more than merely copy existing historical designs for the factories that he was building to manufacture. But even Harold couldn’t build entire fleet, army and an air force all by himself to defend Australia.
However, Harold wasn’t going to let anything stop him from doing everything possible to redirect events. He did not want the Americans drawn into employing desperate measures against the Japanese and Germans once again. The history files showed that had the Germans not surrendered before the atomic bomb was ready, the Americans were planning on using the bomb on Germany first, not Japan.
There had to be an alternative to the development of nuclear weapons to finish the war that Harold knew was inevitable. He just hoped that preventing the development of the Bomb would not lead to something even worse.
Chapter Nine: Cavill Industrial Site #4 Derby, Western Australia May 14, 1925
Harold stood in front of the large new building that was being constructed almost midway between his Derby shipyard and
the local aerodrome. There were also nearly a dozen other large buildings in various stages of construction also going up at the same time. But those buildings only represented part of Harold’s expanding industrial complex in Derby.
Some of Harold’s new industrial plants were not being placed inside traditional buildings. What was not apparent to the casual observer was there was much more construction occurring underground than above it. Harold was having his people excavate large concrete-lined underground chambers in the hillsides for much of the industrial equipment going into his new factories. Much of the spoil from the excavations was being transported by rail to the coast near the shipyard to create a new breakwater and pier. The rest was being transported and dumped to create a huge berm surrounding an area of wetlands. At the seaward end of that berm, there was another project underway with a lot of concrete being poured at the site. Very few people knew exactly what the purpose of that project was though. It just happened to also be where the turrets and barbettes of the old Australia battle cruiser had been taken.
There was a lot more electrical power available now in Derby since the construction of the new power station several kilometers up the river from the town. Three ofAustralia’sold steam turbines had been connected to electrical power generators there. The fourth turbine from the battle cruiser had been disassembled as was being studied for reverse-engineering and upgrade by several of Harold’s new American engineers. But there was already additional construction underway at the power station to provide space for more steam turbines and generators as well.
Electrical cables ran from towers from the power station to the town in addition to all of Harold’s industrial sites surrounding it and the new shipyard. Harold did what he could to minimize the smoke plume from the power station, but the coal smoke from the station’s boilers still was visible for miles from the site. At least the wind generally kept the smoke and its smell away from the town. Harold wanted to find a cleaner source of power but the technology and resources simply weren’t available at that time. Tidal power generators, solar panels and nuclear reactors were simply unheard of in the early twentieth century.