The Boy and the Battleship

by Christopher Cummings

  A few minutes later Max arrived. He had a large cardboard box which contained smaller butter containers. He opened one to reveal models for his country of Italy. These included six fighter planes and a really good little model of a tri-motor SM79 torpedo bomber; ten tanks painted a sand colour with yellow marks on top, three armoured cars and three trucks. As well he had an MAS Boat, a type of small Motor Torpedo Boat. Another box contained vehicles and aircraft painted light brown and with red and yellow markings: Spaniards. They included three fighters, three bombers, eight heavy and four light tanks and four trucks.

  A third box contained about twenty small trees made of green cardboard stuck to matchsticks. They were planted upright in dobs of plasticine to represent the jungle of the Central American country of Andesia. “That jungle is so thick that tanks can’t get through it,” Max declared.

  What a good idea! Graham thought, envious that he had not done the same.

  Alex now joined them, carrying his latest increases, all German. These included a model of a Heinkel III bomber which had clear plastic glued over its nose to represent the crew compartment and cockpit. It looked very realistic and was by far the best model Alex had yet made. A twin-engine ME 110 fighter and four of the dreaded Stuka JU87 Dive Bombers, plus four more ME109 fighters joined the other German planes on the airfields.

  Almost at once the war began. Without further ado Alex launched a massive air raid on the Trogs. Max joined in. In the middle of this Peter arrived lugging his new models. These caused a lull in the action while they were inspected. Graham was at once amazed, appalled and envious. Peter had been very busy. He had constructed a huge battleship, two cruisers, six destroyers and a Seaplane Tender, as well as numerous tanks and planes.

  The battleship was named the Avron and was based on the American Iowa-class. “Nine 16” guns,” Peter told them. There was no disputing that fact at all. The Avron was the largest ship so far. The cruisers were just as much of a blow to Graham. One was an absolute monster with 9 x 8” guns, based, so Peter said, on the US Baltimore-class. The other was a light cruiser nearly as large, of the US Brooklyn-class, armed with 15 x 6” guns.

  They make my two old cruisers look pretty sick, Graham thought ruefully. Thank God I have made the Nelson. At least she can match the Avron in guns and armour.

  Peter’s model destroyers were also a sight to see. They were identical, all mass-produced, of the US Gearing-class with 6 x 5” guns and ten torpedo tubes. When they were berthed side by side in Peter’s main harbour they looked very impressive and powerful. Graham resolved to make more destroyers as a top priority.

  Peter had also made dozens of planes and tanks. Graham tried to count them but gave up when he reached one hundredd for the Russians. Peter had made these all the same and had painted them a dark brown and put red markings on them. As Peter placed them along the Russian border Max and Alex both looked worried. Almost at once they broke off the air battle with the Trogs.

  The Russian planes joined in. Then their tanks rolled over the border. Furious battles broke out. Max and Alex set about re-grouping their armies to face in both directions. Graham started building a pontoon bridge of balsa and matches over the Rhine, while loading British tanks on the Trog landing craft for shipment across the Channel.

  The battle raged for two hours before Alex and Max were defeated. The huge guns of the battleships played a major part in this, as did a strike by Graham’s carrier planes on Italy. The boys all enjoyed it enormously and emerged grimy on hands and knees from crawling around on the concrete. It was agreed to put everything back the way it was before another game after lunch.

  At lunch time Graham had to finally face Kylie. She looked at him hard but he said nothing about the previous night. Luckily she did not press the matter with questions but she was obviously not in favour of Thelma. It was a relief to get back to the Ship Room to continue the battles.

  These raged for the next three hours, and followed quite a different pattern. Graham sent an invasion force to seize the Erg, which annoyed Max enormously. Alex invaded Romania. Max tried to capture the Rock but was beaten off by the battleships guns after his own was sunk. Then his Spanish army tried to force the passes in the Pyrenees and fierce fighting ensued until both passes were blocked by piles of dead tanks. In the end Graham and Peter won again, but only when the Atlantis army was shipped over to invade Spain. Towards the end tempers began to fray a little and there were some cross words, but the use of the dice kept most disputes to a minimum.

  All in all it was a very enjoyable day. Graham was pleasantly tired when he farewelled the others after arranging to play games after school during the week. Before going to have his bath he stood alone in the Ship Room and savoured the atmosphere, and admired his models.

  Peter’s might be bigger and better made but I still like my own, he told himself. He now felt quite affectionate towards them.

  After tea he settled, very unwillingly, at his desk to do some homework. Then he started work on three Lancaster heavy bombers. He made these out of balsa wood and wire. They measured 12cm across the wings and looked very impressive when they were painted brown and green camouflage and had tiny wire guns stuck in their turrets. He went to bed a tired but happy boy, his happiness increased by the thought that he would see Thelma again within a few hours.

  She was almost the first person he saw when he got to school on Monday. As he walked towards her he noticed her face under go quite a dramatic change. Initially she appeared to frown; then she gave him a big smile. “Hi Graham! How was Sunday?” she asked.

  “Fine. We had lots of fun,” Graham replied. “What about you?” He was careful not to talk war games to her, suspecting she would not approve. They chatted away until the bell went. All the time Graham’s mind worked on the problem of when and how to ask her for another date.

  It was apparent that they were now an item of gossip in the class. That made Graham feel very good. He wanted Thelma to be his girlfriend and was happy that people were starting to assume they were. Thelma did not seem to mind as she sat with him at morning break and again at lunch time. This sent his hopes soaring that there might be more of those heavenly kisses not too far in the future. Memories of their embrace in the garden flooded his mind; along with the fact that he had overheard the demonstrators plotting. The thought that he should decide what to do about that niggled irritably till he consciously pushed it aside.

  After school he walked with Thelma. She seemed to accept this and appeared happy. As they walked along Graham really wanted to hold her hand, but he had to wheel his bike; and was not game anyway. All the time he was in a fever of anxiety about asking her for another date. Finally, when they reached her street, he asked her. She shook her head.

  “Sorry Graham. Not this weekend. I am already booked up with things,” she said.

  “What about during the week?”

  “No. My mum wouldn’t let me go out on week nights. I have to do my homework. What about the week after?” she suggested.

  It seemed a long way off to Graham in his disappointment, but he snatched gratefully at the crumbs he was offered. After all he had made great progress over the last few weeks. “OK, what about going to the movies again?” he asked.

  To his relief Thelma nodded. “Yes, all right. I’ll let you know.”

  With that Graham had to be content. His disappointment must have shown on his face for her expression softened and she put her hand on his arm. “Would you like to have afternoon tea at my place?” she asked.

  For a moment Graham was torn. He would have loved to say yes but he had to shake his head. “I’d love to, but I’ve arranged to go over to Peter’s straight after school.”

  Thelma gave a little curl of the lip and said, “Suit yourself.”

  Even to Graham’s inexperienced eye she was plainly miffed at his reply. He was also a bit annoyed. “Be fair Thelma. I promised Pete I’d come over. I can come to your place tomorrow if you like.” In his own mind he instantly
relegated games of Battleships to a low priority. If it meant being with Thelma he would never play again!

  Thelma gave a wry smile. “All right. I will see you tomorrow then,” she replied.

  Graham had been hoping there might be a little kiss for him as they said farewell but she just turned and walked off. He shrugged and went on his way to Peter’s, unsure whether he was happy or sad.

  ***

  Mrs Bronsky provided afternoon tea for the boys while they set up for another map battle. This time Graham was to adjudicate while Peter played against his little brother Paul. Adjudicating was a whole new experience. So was the type of battle. Peter had drawn maps which had land on both sides, and added a centre map to make the playing area bigger. The land had harbours and harbour defences were included on the price list. Paul had the job of getting a convoy of troop transports, supply ships and oil tankers across from one harbour to the other. Peter had the job of stopping them. To defend the convoy Paul had a fleet which included one heavy and two light cruisers, four destroyers, two anti-sub frigates and four corvettes. Peter’s force comprised only one heavy cruiser and eight submarines.

  It was an interesting battle for Graham as it gave him a new insight into Peter’s mental processes and personality. Peter was mathematical and ruthlessly rational, working to a definite plan. He soon located the convoy, then waited till so-called dark (each move being 15 minutes of time). The Panzer Kreuzer then charged in and wreaked havoc before it was sunk. Its primary targets were the small anti-sub vessels. Paul was left with only his cruisers and one destroyer and one corvette to beat off the U-boat pack. Peter won resoundingly.

  By then it was nearly dark. Graham thanked them and went down to his bike. Peter came out with him to say goodbye.

  “Are we playing again tomorrow afternoon?” he asked.

  That gave Graham a jolt. He hesitated then shook his head. “Sorry. I… I’m going over to Thelma’s after school.”

  It was Peter’s turn to shake his head. “You’ll be sorry,” he commented. Graham indignantly refuted this and said good night, then pedalled happily home, detouring to pass Thelma’s on the way. He hoped to get a glimpse of her but was out of luck.

  That evening he sat at his work table and resumed work on his model merchant ship. One of the weaknesses revealed in the Sunday battle had been the old one of not enough sea transport. Also watching the convoy battle had inspired him. He drew simple plans, then went downstairs and cut out the bows and stern of a cargo ship from a piece of redwood 30cm long x 6cm wide x 4cm high. Holes for masts were drilled and he then rasped and sanded it to shape. 1 cm thick balsa was glued on in three places to give the raised focsle, midships section and poop deck of an old fashioned Three Island steamship. By the time that was completed it was time for bed.

  At school on Tuesday Thelma again sat with him during the breaks and was very friendly. Janet scowled a bit but Graham didn’t mind. The good-natured jibes of his mates he just shrugged off. The day seemed to fly by. After school Graham walked with Thelma to the bike racks and then wheeled his bike beside her while they walked to her house.

  He had never been there; nor met her parents other than the one fleeting introduction after the movies, so he was quite nervous as he followed her in through the front gate. Her house looked to be an ordinary old Cairns type high block house and was very clean and pleasant inside. Thelma’s mum said hello and offered them afternoon tea so they sat in the lounge room; Graham feeling very self-conscious and nervous. He sat on the edge of his chair and sweated and Thelma did most of the talking. She put on some music and Graham tried to discuss it intelligently.

  After half an hour they both seemed to run out of things to say. Graham fidgeted and felt uncomfortable. He groped in his mind for witty and funny things to say but dried up after a few more minutes. A glance at the clock showed him it was only 4:30 pm but he now decided he should not outdo his welcome.

  “I’d better be getting home,” he said.

  Thelma’s face brightened perceptibly. “Yes, I should get on with my homework.”

  Graham agreed. Now that he had made the move he couldn’t leave fast enough. He thanked Thelma’s mum and she smiled. Thelma did too but she looked very tired.

  “See you tomorrow,” Graham said.

  “Yes, see you. Goodbye,” Thelma replied. She walked to the front door with him but did not walk down the steps.

  No kiss again, Graham thought. Oh well, it is daytime and we don’t know each other that well.

  Feeling quite unsure of himself he mounted his bike and rode off, glancing back frequently to wave. Thelma stood in the doorway and watched him until he was out of sight. Freed from the bonds of social constraint, Graham’s spirits soared. “I think her mum likes me,” he told himself as he pedalled along. That had been a bit of advice from his dad: ‘Get the mother on side first son and you’ll be in like Flynn!’

  At home he settled to work on his new cargo ship model. A block of wood was glued on for the superstructure, and another on the poop. Cardboard was cut to form the wheel house and a thin balsa bridge with cardboard screen was glued across. A cardboard funnel, painted red and black, was glued on behind the wheelhouse, with a lifeboat either side. Wire davits for the boats were stuck on. Then balsa hatch covers and some small details like capstans, bollards and winches were added. Two masts of tapered bamboo were stuck in the holes and then derricks of thin bamboo (The type used for meat skewers in cooking) were fastened on with wire and black cotton.

  The cargo ship was finished by bedtime and he named her the SS Africa Star. She looked good and he liked her immediately. Before he climbed into bed he studied photos of destroyers, finally deciding that he would build a British Tribal-class ship of World War 2. The most famous appeared to be the HMS Cossack, so he started to sketch out some plans but his mother came out and chased him to bed.

  “You get some sleep my boy. These blasted battleships and models won’t get you a good job when you leave school,” she said.

  “But I’m going to join the navy mum,” Graham replied.

  “Hmmm. Maybe, but you need good maths for that,” she replied. “And let’s hope those eyes of yours are good enough.”

  That left Graham lying in the dark with the niggling worry that perhaps his eyes might let him down. He knew his left eye wasn’t perfect, and that sometimes it went a bit blurry, but he didn’t think it would matter.

  Wednesday was almost a repeat of Tuesday, except that when Graham hinted to Thelma that he might come over to her place again she shook her head and said she was going over to Janet’s. That gave him a bit of a jolt. Not only did it leave him feeling disappointed, but it reminded him that he had done nothing about telling anyone in authority about the demonstrator’s plans.

  It doesn’t matter if I don’t, he told himself. They aren’t doing any harm. They have every right to demonstrate. It is a free country after all. But he knew it wasn’t quite that simple. There was another side to the coin. The Americans are guests in Australia. We shouldn’t abuse them or give them a hard time. Besides, it was the US Navy that saved Australia from the Japanese in World War 2. We should be grateful, he rationalized.

  But he knew that wasn’t the whole story either. The real reason he felt he should do something, he had to admit to himself, was that he just liked navies and warships and therefore anyone opposed to them he saw as an enemy.

  That led to another uncomfortable train of thought: Thelma was opposed to navies and armies. He didn’t know what to do about that, sensing that he was unlikely to change her mind. That raised the issue of loyalty. I was with her when I overheard her friend’s plans. Do I want to hurt her and her friends? he thought. Then another worrying idea came to him. Gosh! I wonder if she and Janet are planning to take part in this demo on Friday when the American ships come in? he wondered.

  It was a question he knew he had to find the answer to but did not know how to broach the subject. Instead he went off to find Peter. To the query whet
her he was interested in playing another Battleships game that afternoon Peter replied ‘yes’.

  So after school Graham watched sadly from a distance when Thelma hopped into a car with Janet. Then he made his way to Peter’s. Peter had organized another game, with Graham pitted against Paul, while he adjudicated. This time the map was even bigger and had several islands drawn on it, as well as the nice safe harbours. Both sides were allowed to choose any fleet they liked from the price list. Graham chose a balanced mixture: two battleships, three cruisers, six destroyers, two corvettes, six subs and a boom defence vessel to keep his harbour safe.

  The tokens were deployed and the game began. Graham soon made a stunning discovery: Paul had purchased a minelayer and had laid a minefield in a narrow strait between two islands. Graham’s leading destroyer was blown up and his advance turned into a milling shambles, just as Paul’s battle fleet came into range.

  Graham had to withdraw out of range as fast as he could, but ran into a submarine ambush. He lost a cruiser and had a battleship damaged before his fleet won clear. Two subs were sunk in return. Then further disaster struck: another minefield. This time Graham lost a cruiser. Paul’s two battleships and three cruisers closed to gun range and opened with immediate fire.

  For a few moves Graham thought he was doomed but he managed to sink one of Paul’s battleships and the others withdrew out of range. But an attempt to use his subs to catch them also ended in disaster. Once again it was a minefield. A sub was blown up and Paul’s fleet retired safely out of range behind an island.

  The next move of Paul’s was for his fast minelayer to appear from behind an island well to the rear of Graham’s fleet. It proceeded to lay a minefield right across the entrance to his harbour, sinking the boom defence vessel in the process. Simultaneously, five of Paul’s subs were detected moving towards Graham’s big ships.