Untimely Designs

by gerald hall

  Beit Tikvah Synagogue

  Tel Aviv, Palestinian Mandate

  March 21, 1945

  While armed men and women from the Ergun guarded the outside of the synagogue, more than one hundred leaders of the various Jewish political and resistance organizations met for the first time as a whole. Security was especially tight because of the fear of an Arab attack on the assembly. There was a chorus of murmuring within the synagogue as everyone awaited one man to walk up to the microphone set up near the altar.

  “The British are leaving Palestine now. The Arabs will be turning their hatred completely towards us once again. However, their foolhardy intifada was part of the reason why the British have abandoned Palestine. The Arab uprising cost the British too much blood and treasure that they cannot afford any longer. But we will take advantage of this. We must assume full responsibility for our own self-defense now.

  Now is the time that we declare the State of Israel to be in existence as an independent Jewish state, now and for all time. We must take control of our own destiny before others can subjugate and slaughter us once again.” David Ben-Gurion proclaimed over the loudspeakers inside of the synagogue.

  Standing near the Jewish leader as he passionately spoke were several other notable figures from the Zionist movement like Golda Meir, Chaim Weizmann and Yitzak Rabin.

  “Today is the day for the Jewish people to have their own nation and declare independence from all of the nations that we had called home before we made Aliyah. Now is the time for us to build a place where our people can live without the threat of violence instigated by others who do not share our blood or our beliefs. This is the place because it is also the Promised Land where our ancestors like Abraham, Joshua and David lived.

  Today, we declare that the State of Israel to be in this place. The State of Israel will spread throughout all of Judea and Samaria because that land is a sacred place for all Jews that we will fight to protect and defend. We have now come home to stay.” Ben-Gurion said to the loud cheers of all inside of the synagogue.

  After the meeting at the synagogue, several men got into a nondescript Peugeot sedan. The men drove to an old, large warehouse on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Like the synagogue, the warehouse was guarded by heavily armed members of Irgun, Haganah and Lehi. Once they arrived, the men got out and quickly entered the warehouse through a side entrance.

  Inside the warehouse were more than fifty armored vehicles of various types and nations. Most of the tanks had obviously been salvaged from battlefields and refitted for service. Those included British Matildas and Crusaders as well as German Panzers and pre-war Italian tankettes. But there were also more than a company’s worth of relatively new tanks of Australian manufacture.

  One of these tanks sitting in the warehouse already had the scars of a dozen desert battles. This particular medium tank still had the name emblazoned on the turret that the tank’s former crew had painted there a couple of years earlier. ‘Jubilee’ was faded from long exposure to the desert sun in North Africa but still legible. A Star of David had been painted over where the emblem of a kangaroo used to be on the turret.

  “We have a patron who has promised us that he will provide us with the tools to help defend our new nation.” Simon Silverman explained. He met the group of men from the Jewish Brigade Group at the warehouse.

  “With a warehouse full of old tanks?” A bespectacled, chain-smoking Menachen Begin caustically inquired. His Irgun militia had fought both the Arabs and the British when he felt that the British were too eager to take the side of the Arabs.

  “This is only the beginning. He has committed to providing us with much more. We also just received over two thousand brand new automatic rifles just like the ones that the Australian Army uses. It is said that these rifles are the best infantry weapons in the world. Our new patron delivered them via one of those big six-engine flying boats that the Australians fly. We will also be receiving new tanks, artillery, even aircraft in the next few months.

  With all of this, we will reclaim all of Judea and Samaria for Israel. Then our people will finally be safe in their own land from those who would try to exterminate us as though we were insects. Soon, even the Temple will rise again in Jerusalem and our Promised Land will no longer be defiled by the Arabs or anyone else. ” Simon proudly said. What Simon did not tell the others was that the weapons had all been donated by Harold Cavill. Simon also knew that Harold would be the source of the new weapons through a variety of shell companies designed to conceal the true origin of the materiel.

  “Did this wealthy patron of ours send ammunition to go with these wonderful automatic rifles of his?” a teenage Ariel Sharon asked after picking up a CR-1 assault rifle out of a nearby crate.

  “Yes, my young friend. We have hundreds of thousands of rounds here in this warehouse and elsewhere. He has also supplied equipment so that we can make our own ammunition too.”

  “What about artillery? We must have artillery if we are to defeat the Arabs.” Began demanded.

  “We have artillery already in other locations. However, we will be receiving more soon. Then we will be able to fully equip all of the Brigade’s battalions in addition to the Palmach strike companies.”

  “It sounds like we are ready then to drive onward to Jerusalem.” A one-eyed Moshe Dayan commented with a fierce grin.

  Japanese Military Headquarters,

  Tokyo, Japan

  March 28, 1945

  “With the defeat of the Soviet Union, we have an opportunity here to crush the Russian forces in Manchuria and claim the riches there. The Americans and the Commonwealth will have a much harder time reaching us there. The Russians are now disorganized and no longer have the military resources to effectively resist us. Our Zeros have also decimated their air force in the east. We will be able to attack the Russians from the air at will.” Prime Minister Tojo told the other Japanese ministers in the conference room.

  “The Russians may not be able to effectively resist us. However, they are still resisting in spite of their defeat in the East at the hands of our former German allies. Will we be able to sustain our forces out there with our shipping taking so many losses from enemy submarines and aircraft?” Minister Masayuki Tani asked.

  “Perhaps. We will need to salvage as much equipment from the Russians as possible to make up for the lack of supplies coming from Japan. Food and fuel will also be a major problem as well. Our troops will have to live off of the land as much as possible.” Munitions Minister Shigeru Yoshida production noted.

  “Find whatever industrial equipment that you can in the areas that we still occupy in China, Korea and Manchuria. I will arrange for scientists and engineers to be flown from Japan to assist in setting up manufacturing there. If we cannot send supplies to you because of the naval blockade that the gaijin have imposed upon us, then we will see about making what you need there. You certainly will have enough labor available with the new subjects of the Japanese Empire there.” Tojo demanded.

  “I agree. These lands also have tremendous mineral wealth. All we need to do is locate the richest mineral deposits and then draft enough men from the local populations to work the mines. They will either work or find themselves on the end of a bayonet.” General Sadao Araki declared.

  Chapter Twenty-Five:

  Cavill Industries Headquarters

  Derby, Western Australia

  1 April, 1945

  Harold was busy in his new office that had been built within the new underground complex when his chief naval architect Alexander Portman came in for a visit. With him was Captain Nigel Wilkes. Harold remembered Captain Wilkes from the latter’s earlier visit to Derby.

  “Good Morning, Alex. You too, Captain Wilkes. What brings you back out here to Derby, Captain?” Harold pleasantly asked.

  “I was asked by the Admiralty to inquire about your naval construction in progress here. The admirals there seldom come this far west because of the distance, of course.”

  “Of c
ourse. I’m sure that they have quite a bit on their plate to deal with already.

  “We are making good progress on the six new destroyers that the Australian Admiralty ordered. Our motor torpedo boat construction is nearly complete for all of the boats that have been ordered by our Coalition customers in addition to the boats that I have had built for our local coastal defense force.”

  “My superiors wanted to learn more about your advanced submarine program. They were very pleased with the two submarines that you delivered to our navy earlier. The admirals had heard rumors about advanced German submarines and were very interested in learning how they compared with our two new boats?” Captain Wilkes asked.

  “The Kriegsmarine isn’t the only navy with advanced submarines. Obviously the Japanese have some very advanced designs as well as our own boats. I have learned about this from a variety of sources, including my friends within the Royal Navy. But they are not as capable as the two submarines that I built for our navy.” Harold replied, not mentioning that his other sources came from a twenty-first century computer database hidden inside his home.

  “My shipyard had built two new designs as an experiment for our navy, as you already know. One was a general purpose patrol or fleet submarine that was roughly similar to the German Type XXI U-Boat. The Type XXI is probably the German submarine that you were referring to. The other submarine design that I built was specifically optimized for hunting enemy submarines. The two original submarines built proved themselves to be extremely effective, each in their particular mission.

  I informed Prime Minister Churchill of the two submarines and their successful operations in the Pacific. This was an informal information sharing agreement that I had with Prime Minister Churchill. In spite of his own personal dislike for submarines, Churchill instructed the Royal Navy to order four more of my new designs, two of each class. The Royal Navy sent submarine crews to train with our initial submarines while construction proceeded with the new boats. Within two months of delivery of the submarines and their new acoustically guided torpedoes that my people also designed, the Royal Navy had destroyed seven U-Boats and damaged an eighth boat using the new submarines. The operations of the new submarines had been kept secret from the world so that the Germans would not know about our new weapon operating in the North Atlantic and Baltic. The unexpected losses were a mystery to the Germans who were forced to further curtail U-Boat operations, especially of their older vessels.” Harold continued.

  “Are these boats the reason why so many of the Coalition’s submarines were converted to lay mines, Mister Cavill?”

  “In part, yes. Several dozen submarines from the various Coalition navies were brought into my shipyards to repair and upgrade them. This included fitting new batteries, a snorkel, improved hydrophones and even removing deck guns to improve streamlining underwater. The submarines that were not particularly well suited for offensive operations received most of the minelayer modifications. Of course, they were still quite capable of conducting torpedo attacks against Japanese shipping even while undertaking mine-laying missions.

  However, it was still better to focus our more capable boats for the anti-shipping missions. Even our dedicated submarine hunting design proved to be quite capable against surface vessels as well as against enemy submarines. The Japanese Navy has already discovered this the hard way when it encountered Bandfish.“

  “I would imagine that if the Japanese knew just effective your boats were, they would be attacking Derby again with those kamikaze missiles much like what they did to Pearl Harbor and San Diego.”

  “Our anti-aircraft defenses here at Derby are much better that what the Americans had. That has largely deterred any additional attacks here, I believe. I’m sure that the Americans have also significantly improved their defenses since those Japanese attacks, however.”

  “Are you going to build any more submarines for the Australian Navy?”

  “No. Not unless you know something that the men in charge of things in Canberra haven’t told me so far. The biggest problem is a lack of available manpower for additional submarine crews, I would imagine. Our country has devoted most of its available manpower to the Army. The Navy’s new personnel are mostly going to crew several new destroyers and HMAS Melbourne. It takes an especially brave and dedicated sailor to want to serve aboard a submarine anyway. Those kinds of men are hard to find in the first place and badly needed by the other ships in any event.”

  “Yes, Mister Cavill. You’re probably right. I know that I wouldn’t want to spend weeks on end cooped up inside of a narrow steel tube while underwater. It was challenging enough being aboard HMAS Perth in the middle of a squall when I was a lieutenant.”

  “Do you have any other questions, Captain?” Harold asked.

  “Not at the moment, Sir. Mister Portman was about to take me aboard one of the new destroyers that is on the slipway. They do look very impressive with the large number of guns in their main battery. Their torpedo battery and their antiaircraft guns are superior to anything else that I have seen on a destroyer, even from a distance.”

  Harold spent the rest of the day going over reports from his numerous businesses and enterprises as well as the latest reports from the war. Then he drove home to find a brand new luxury sedan sitting in front of their home. The Cavill’s almost always drove a truck or some other business-related vehicle, even when they were travelling with their children. Harold was obviously very curious about the large black sedan that now sat in front of their home.

  Harold walked in the front door to find Dorothy waiting on him with a proud smile on her face.

  “Whose car is that sitting in front of the house, Dorothy?” Harold quickly asked.

  “It’s our new car. I just had a new Cadillac shipped in from America. The Americans are among the few countries that are still producing new automobiles. Isn’t it wonderful?”

  “But we don’t need a new car, especially something like this. We have gotten along very well with the trucks that we make here or the ones built at the Ford assembly plant. Besides, that automobile had to cost a small fortune.”

  “We have more than enough money now though. I made a deal that will earn us even more money than before.” Dorothy’s smile seemed to be bursting at the seams with excitement as she spoke.

  However, the more that she said, the more worried that Harold became.

  “What have you done, Dorothy?”

  “I was flying one of our Cavaliers down to Sydney on one of our regular commercial runs a few months ago. I was carrying a few bits and pieces that had been left over when you took apart that motorized cart that you called a robot years ago. I found a few pieces from it and looked them up on the computer data base.

  The computer said that these things were something called transistors. But the computer also said that it is only five years earlier than your original history reported that transistors started being produced, Sweetheart. That shouldn’t be that big of a change for our history. Plus, the contract says that we have significant control over the use on the transistors that this company makes as well as a large royalty. The company has already given us a substantial advance payment. That’s how I could afford to buy us a car worthy of someone as important as you.”

  Harold knew that five years might not seem like too much of a technological advance to a novice. But it is a critical five years in the development of this technology, especially since the transistors that Dorothy provided were decades ahead of the first primitive transistors that were manufactured in the early fifties.

  Moreover, it wasn’t just the people that would be building these copies of electronic components that were many years in advance of the state of the art that Harold worried about. It was the fact that these devices would eventually fall into the wrong hands and reverse-engineered into weapons that could easily upset the balance of power. The advances in electronics could even create computers decades ahead of their time. Those could be used to design the very nuclear weapo
ns that Harold had tried for the past quarter-century to prevent. It would be like the bicycles that Harold built for his children, being turned around and used by enemy soldiers, only much worse.

  Harold could only sit down on a nearby sofa and put his head in his hands, still asking the same question as before.

  “What have you done?”

  Cast of Characters:

  The Australians:

  Harold Cavill : Originally James Stevenson from the year 2040

  Dorothy Cavill: Harold Cavill’s English-born wife

  Captain Nigel Wilkes: Australian Navy officer

  Corporal Andrew Harper: Gunner for the Australian Army tank Jubilee

  Private Steven Coale: Loader and Radio Operator for the Australian Army tank Jubilee

  Private Aiden Dalton: Driver for the Australian Army tank Jubilee

  Sergeant Matthew Ryan: Commander for the Australian Army tank Jubilee

  Captain Fred Winters: Captain of the Cavill Shipping Lines cargo ship Miraculous

  Captain Joseph Burnett: Captain of the light cruiser HMAS Sydney

  Alexander Portman: Mechanical Engineer and Chief Naval Architect for Cavill Shipyards

  Adam Findler: American-born mechanical engineer for Cavill Industries

  Alex Boyd: Cavill Industries Industrial Supply and Sales Manager

  Major Harlan Burke: Australian Army Officer and Commander of Derby Militia