by Stuart Slade
Newton grinned as Rachael gave way to hunger and started to wolf down the meal that some kind-hearted friends-of-friends-of-friends had sent over for her. Then, he wondered at the spirit of humanity shown by people who would give up a portion of their scarce rations so that a girl they didn’t know could have a decent meal.
Cabinet Room, Government House, Calcutta, India
“The armed forces are taking inventory of our assets now, Your Excellency. Put bluntly, we have an excellent Army, a small but capable Navy but no air force worth speaking about. We have not one single fighter aircraft in the region. Nor do we have any prospect of building any.”
The Marquess of Linlithgow took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. With every day that passed, the manifest unpreparedness of India to exist as an independent country was becoming more obvious. What had seemed like an intoxicating project eight weeks earlier was now a desperate struggle for survival. Even Nehru and his cohort from the Indian Congress Party were beginning to be demoralized by the sheer number of problems piling up.
“There are some Indian forces in the Middle East; can’t we withdraw them from there? That would solve at least some of the political problems we face as well as reinforcing us here.”
Sir Eric Haohoa shook his head. “The troops there are involved in stabilizing the administration in Egypt and the Horn of Africa. If we pull them out now, we will be inviting chaos in that region. This brings us to another problem that has so far gone unmentioned. There are a lot of Dominion personnel in the U.K. whose position is very uncertain, to say the least. There are not a few senior officers in the British defense establishment who come from Dominion backgrounds. This doesn’t affect us too much as far as the Air Force and the Navy are concerned, but there are many alumni of the Indian Army in the upper echelons of the British Army and their position is decidedly uncomfortable. I would say that whatever Halifax and his allies might wish government policy to be, I can’t see any of the services looking at the Empire and kicking it over the side without a qualm, if they can avoid it.
“I think it is safe to say that there is a widespread feeling in the War Office and Admiralty that they want to see us right. Oh, I doubt they will actively oppose Halifax at this time and openly defy the government to help out the Empire, but I can see a back room consensus developing, within the Imperial General Staff, and elsewhere, to try and do their best to set us up in terms of self defense. With Halifax cutting us off and leaving us out in the cold, I think they’d have a lot of support in that too.
“As far as the Dominion personnel in the UK are concerned, I think there will be a move to form them up into independent units and train them like any other British formation until forced to repatriate them. When they do come home, they’ll be arriving as useful units, if not equipped ones. That makes the aircraft purchased by London but currently held in the USA of critical value. The Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders will have trained fighter pilots to fly them. So will the South Africans. We’re out on a limb here. The fact we didn’t participate in the Empire Air Training Scheme means that we won’t have those cadres to build on.”
“We have had word from General Wavell on the matter of the security of Egypt and the Canal Zone. Our intelligence has projected an invasion of those areas by Italy at several times in the last two months. According to General Wavell’s staff, the order to invade was actually given ten days ago, on August 8th. The physical invasion is expected at any time. The same sources tell us that Herr Hitler is not supporting Mussolini in this matter, since he values the Armistice with Britain more than the alliance with Italy. Sir Eric, the Italians have reached almost fifty miles inside Kenya and General Wavell regards the Fourth and Fifth Indian Divisions there as being critical to maintaining the situation in that theater. We can’t withdraw them. Nor can we ignore the air component there. At the moment, Commonwealth forces in East Africa are fighting modern Italian warplanes with obsolete biplanes from the early 1930s. I believe the South Africans are even flying Hawker Furies there.”
“I think, Your Excellency, that Wing Commander Baldwin would look upon Hawker Furies as manna from Heaven. His best offering in the air defense sector is to convert some of the Blenheim bombers to fighters. I can think of nothing that more highlights how much we need those American aircraft.”
“So, it appears, do the rest of the Dominions. There will be a hard fight over them and that assumes they will indeed be made available to us. This may be an awkward question, Sir Eric, but who actually owns those aircraft?”
Sir Eric consulted the papers he had brought with him. They constituted an extensive file, one several inches thick. Fortunately, the lawyers who had prepared them had also made an executive summary. “That is an interesting question, Your Excellency. The aircraft were purchased by the French Government in the period 1937-1939 and the British Government from 1938 onwards. These aircraft were paid for in gold; the monies placed in an escrow account, from which funds were released by the escrow administration at agreed stages. In most cases, this represented 25 percent when construction of aircraft started, 25 percent when the aircraft was completed and the balance when they were accepted by the national authorities. Therefore, although the aircraft have actually been paid for, the manufacturing companies have only received half of the agreed sums. The rest is still sitting in escrow until somebody accepts those aircraft.
“Now, the question is, who owns those aircraft? The obvious answer is the British and French Governments. That then gives rise to a further question, who are the French and British governments? The United States officially recognizes the Vichy government of France as a successor to the Paris Government, but this is disputed by General De Gaulle, who has proclaimed himself the head of the Free French Government. He also has a claim to the French-ordered aircraft, although where he would put them is a very good question. The French overseas possessions have fallen in line with the orders from Vichy almost to a man. So, if delivery of those aircraft to the Vichy government is ruled out, there is no obvious successor to take possession of them. We stand as good a chance of getting them as anybody.
“With us, the situation is completely different. The Daventry Message clearly transfers authority and legitimate government away from London and places it in the hands of the Dominions and Colonies under the authority of their Governor-General. That is our interpretation of it, at least. Therefore, the ownership of the British aircraft goes with the legitimacy of the government and that means they are ours. How we divide them up between us is theoretically up to us, although I would suggest the Americans might have something to say about that.
“However, there is another complicating factor. The aircraft have not been delivered or paid for in full. Technically, both the British and French governments are in default on their payments for those aircraft and their actual owner is remains the companies that built them Primarily, that is Curtiss with the Model 75 and Model 81 fighters, Douglas with the DB-7 light bombers and Lockheed with the Hudson patrol aircraft. Not to mention Consolidated with the Catalina flying boats and the LB-30 long-range bombers. If any one of those companies went to war with us today, they’d win.
“Finally, there is the question of the interest on the funds held in escrow. Who does that belong to?”
“There needs to be a conference.” Lord Linlithgow shook his head. “These things need to be resolved face-to-face. The question is where? Whoever hosts that conference will be in a good position to claim leadership of the Commonwealth, pro-tem at least.”
“We’d better make sure it is either us or on neutral ground then. The Canadians and Australians will be locking horns over just that issue and the last thing we want is either of them lording it over us.”
Pembroke Dock, Wales, United Kingdom
“With respect, Sir, these aren’t our aircraft.”
Squadron Leader Joseph Alleyne looked at the line of twelve Sunderland Mark I flying boats. They were brand new, pristine and shining. A year earlier,
Number 10 Squadron’s Sunderlands had looked just like that, but a year of hard service patrolling around Great Britain had taken the gloss off their paint and the smell of newness from their cabin.
“They are now. Ruling from the Air Ministry. The Australian Government paid for a squadron of brand new Sunderlands, not a squadron that have already seen extensive service. So, you are to swap your used aircraft for an equivalent number of new-manufacture Sunderlands intended for 95 Squadron and then leave the country before anybody says otherwise. There’ll be some passengers coming down for you to take with you.”
Air Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill frowned mightily at the young Australian officer. In his opinion, the Commonwealth forces left much to be desired where conventional standards of discipline were concerned. On the other hand, if it hadn’t been for their streak of rebelliousness, the whole Empire might have caved in when Halifax pulled the blanket out.
“Where do we go? What do we do?” Alleyne was bewildered and felt frighteningly lost. Suddenly, he remembered an event long ago, when a lost dog had attached itself to him and followed him home. The look in the dog’s eyes all those years ago had been an eerie foreshadowing of how Alleyne felt at this moment. Lonely, dazed, disorientated, abandoned and vulnerable. When they had reached home, he’d seen a hopeless, forlorn look in the animal’s eyes; the expectation that he would, once again, be chased away. That was what Alleyne had expected his mother to do. But she took one look at the poor hound, took him in and fed him. Alleyne also remembered how the expression in the dog’s eyes had changed to joy at the realization he was, at long last, somebody’s dog again. Will we be that lucky? Or will we end up wandering lost and homeless?
“Away from here, as soon as possible. We have telegraphed the Australian Government, telling them that you and your aircraft have been ordered to leave Great Britain with immediate effect. If you receive no orders to the contrary, I would suggest you head for Gibraltar first, refuel there and then make your way to Alexandria. You can find a home there, for a while at least. General Wavell has repudiated the Armistice Agreement in view of Italian attacks on Egypt and the Sudan.
“As for what you do, you will have to consult your Government on that. As far as we are concerned, they have gone their own way.”
“Refuel, sir?”
“These aircraft are still technically assigned to 95 Squadron. All their paperwork refers to 95 Squadron. When you arrive in Gibraltar, you will be, as far as anybody knows, 95 Squadron. Any fuel you requisition will be charged to 95 Squadron. By the time the real 95 Squadron gets here, which will be 48 hours after we get word from Gibraltar that they have apparently arrived there, you should be well clear.”
Alleyne had a hard job stopping himself laughing. This was a deception worthy of anything he and his men had pulled off over the years. “Very good, Sir. Gibraltar and then Alexandria it is.”
“Good man. One other thing. Three G-class Empire flying boats will be going along with you. As far as anybody is concerned, they are route testing for the resumption of Imperial Airways flying boat services. When do you plan to leave?”
“Tomorrow morning, Sir. At dawn.”
“They’ll be here. Look after them, Squadron Leader.”
Cabinet Room, Government House, Calcutta, India
“The next item on the agenda is raising monies needed for the operation of the Government and investment in our national infrastructure.” Lord Linlithgow looked around the room. “I need hardly add that this is a most pressing problem and one that is critical for our success as an independent nation.”
“If I might make a proposal to the Cabinet, I believe that it might go some small way towards addressing this grave problem, while also righting an injustice that afflicts so many of our fellow countrymen.” Nehru spoke gravely; his eyes flickered around the Cabinet. With the departure of Sir Richard Cardew, the most outspoken opposition to the presence of the Indian Congress Party in Cabinet had gone, but there were other, less overt opponents. “I refer, of course to the activities of money-lenders in every small village and town across India. Their depredations bring poverty and hunger wherever they go. They drain away the lifeblood of our farmers and keep them in perpetual debt bondage. They are an evil that we must remove from our midst.”
“Surely you overstate the harm these people do?” George Edward Parkes was responsible for agriculture in the Indian Central Legislative Assembly. In Nehru’s eyes, the very fact that he could say that showed how out-of-touch he was with the sector of the economy he was supposed to oversee.
“I think not,” Nehru was speaking slowly and carefully. This was, after all, his first substantive contribution to a Cabinet meeting. “In the farming villages, the money lenders advance the cost of the seed to the farmers. They take payment of that loan in the form of a share of the crops grown from that seed. That share is never less than half and is often two-thirds or three-quarters of the total crop.
“What is left is barely enough to keep the farmers and their families alive through the rest of the year until the next crop comes in. They are unable to save money or seed for their next crop. So, once again, they must return to the money lenders. And where do the money lenders get the seed they sell to the farmers with the funds they so expensively loan? Why, from the share of the crop that they took the year before! These men do nothing but live off the labors of others. It is time we ended their activities, once and for all.”
“Up to three-quarters, you say?” Parkes was shaken by the revelation. “That does sound excessive. Damned excessive, if you ask me. But how will doing something about this raise money for the Government?”
“The key to the power of the money-lenders is that they have a grip on the seed for the next year’s crop and can charge what they will for it. In a nutshell, they lend money and then take it straight back as payment for the seed. Now, few of those money-lenders pay the proper tax on their incomes. If we inspect their declared earnings, we will find that they only allow for interest rates of perhaps ten percent instead of several hundred.
“So, before the next planting, we audit those money-lenders and confiscate their supplies of seed in lieu of payment on back-taxes owed. We distribute that seed, free of charges, to the farmers explaining to them that this is a once-only compensation for prior over-payment. Come the harvest season, the share of the crop that would once have been taken by the money-lenders is now theirs. Some, they will store as seed for the next harvest. The rest they will sell and turn into money. Ahh, my friends, but what will they do with that money? They will wish to save it, but where?”
“A bank, of course.” To Parkes, that was an obvious answer, but it was one that again showed he understood little of the living conditions of the Indian country dwellers.
“There are no banks outside the big cities.” Nehru astonished himself by how patient he could be. “But there is one thing that is in every village. A post office. I propose we set up a system of post office savings accounts. They will be suited to the small investor and will pay a small but reliable rate of interest. After all, the money-lenders are, I am ashamed to say, Indians. But, when an Indian wishes to make a solemn oath, he will say ‘I give you the word of an Englishman.’ A savings account backed by the word of the English will be considered as safe as gold. The farmers will save their money in the post offices, where it will earn interest. While it is there, we can use it for our own purposes, paying off any withdrawals with monies deposited by others.”
“That’s called a Ponzi scheme. I rather think it is illegal.” Sir Eric Haohoa was impressed by the idea. The money coming into those post office accounts would not be any great sum individually, but there would be millions of such accounts and cumulatively they would provide a healthy income.
“In the final analysis, is not every government a Ponzi scheme?” Nehru looked around the cabinet room with a broad smile on his face.”
“Yes, but it’s not considered good form to say so too loudly.” Lord Linlithgow sounde
d amused. “This scheme does sound as if it would solve some of our problems. I move that the Treasury and Post Office form a joint committee to adopt and enact Pandit’s suggestion. Any objections?
“Very well. So moved.”
Dining Room, The City of London Club, Old Broad Street, London, United Kingdom
“The smoked trout please, followed by the breast of pigeon.” Sir Edward Bridges put down the menu and looked over at his host. Reading the elaborate menu had been a formality for him; the trout and pigeon were his established favorites here.
Sir Desmond Glasebrooke was hard put to make his decision. Eventually, he ordered the potted shrimps and applewood smoked venison. The wine waiter had brought the first of their bottles and poured for them. Then, they were discretely left on their own.
“Edward, old chap, how are things going in Downing Street?” Sir Desmond gave a strong impression of a walrus that had just learned of the death of a much-loved relative.
Bridges shook his head sadly. “Very difficult, I fear, Desmond. The truth is, I don’t think that the Prime Minister quite understands how everything fits together. He really isn’t one of us, you know.”
Glasebrooke shook his head sadly. “Between us, Edward, the chaps in the City aren’t terribly happy with the current course of events. I might even go as far to say the chaps are perturbed.”
Bridges put down his fork. “As bad as that? They’re not concerned, are they?”
Seconds ticked by while Glasebrooke thought very carefully before answering. “No, not concerned. Not yet. If things don’t settle down soon, though, they might reach that point. A major row like this within the Commonwealth, well, it makes the chaps unhappy. Some of them are beginning to think that the current administration may well be just a little bit unsound.”