yesterdays war

by gerald hall

  Some will have to learn to farm so that everyone will be well fed. But many others will have to learn how to work in factories, build vehicles and ships of steel, even construct flying machines. I will bring in the people necessary to train your people on these new tasks.

  Together, we are going to be building a new future for both our peoples. I hope that together we will be able to save our future from a great darkness that will swallow up all of our people.”

  “Will there also be white men working these jobs as well? Some white men do not want to work with us.” Another man in the growing crowd asked.

  “Yes, there will be. They will be judged by the same rules that you shall be, no more and no less. Anyone who causes problems will be asked to leave, white or black. I expect much from all of you. I will give much in return, of course.”

  “We have heard other white men make such promises, Mister Cavill. They never kept their word unfortunately.”

  “You already know that I am very different from other white men. Just as I have shown you the signs of the future, I will also keep my promises as well.”

  Harold could see heads beginning to nod in agreement. At first, there were only a few, but the numbers grew until he could see that virtually everyone there had accepted Harold’s offer and promise.

  Harold knew that he would be a very busy man doing all that he could to fulfill his promises. If he failed to do so, he already knew what a terrible sight that the world would look like nearly one hundred and twenty years later. History would proceed as before leading to the ultimate extinction of humanity.

  Chapter Four: Derby Aerodrome

  Derby, Western Australia May 14, 1922

  Harold Cavill got off the small aircraft that had just landed near Derby, Australia without much fanfare. The past two years have been extraordinarily hectic for him. Harold had been intimately involved with the search for numerous mining locations, then registering claims on them and hiring crews to work the mines. But most importantly, he had been getting acquainted with the Australia of the early nineteen-twenties. It was one thing for Harold to read about life in Australia during the time that he was in from the historical files on his portable computer. It was a totally different matter to experience it firsthand. The nation’s society, politics and economics were, in many cases, far different than what the history files on Harold’s computer had indicated. These circumstances varied dramatically from one area to another as well.

  Harold’s wealth had grown exponentially from the moment that he travelled back in time to 1918. The investments and the exploitation of the mines that Harold had ‘discovered’ added substantially to the financial resources that Harold knew that he would need to change the course of history. But it still wasn’t enough. Harold had to keep building upon his financial and business empire because what he wanted to do would take every dollar that he possessed and more. A terrible war was coming and with it, the potential for the ultimate demise of all humanity. In the satchel that Harold carried were a packet of handwritten notes that contained information from his portable computer.

  His database had indicated that one of the area’s diamond mining sites was located nearby. He had already established himself in the diamond mining business, including on a site that in his time was known as the Argyle Diamond Mine. In Harold’s time, everyone had heard of the massive Argyle Diamond Mine, but that site was, by far, not the only such mine in Australia. But Harold also saw something else in the Kimberley area that interested him greatly. The natural harbor formed by the King Sound would be perfect for a shipyard in his view. The high tides of the area had inhibited the use of the natural harbor an obstacle to large scale commercial use of the King Sound by shipping. Harold was already very familiar with the high tides in the area even during his timeline. But he saw that they could be quite useful in the construction and launch of newly constructed ships. Harold had quickly developed some ideas of how to make those tides work for him. This was the reason why Harold had decided upon Derby for the center of his new industrial complex.

  Even with the high tides, Harold felt that he could still use the King Sound as a route to bring in the materiel that he needed. It would also serve well in other ways in the years to come.

  Harold also knew that he would need to build much more than just a shipyard. A war would be coming to Australia, one way or another. If the Japanese were not defeated without the massive intervention of the Americans, then it would be highly likely that the Bomb would still be developed. Harold already knew what that would eventually lead to. New ships alone would not suffice. Harold would have to build or purchase a variety of industries that could be readily converted to war production when the time came.

  This would include vehicle, engine and aircraft production. Harold would need to purchase or build foundries to refine and process the metals from the ore coming from his mines. There were no weapons production facilities in Australia, so Harold would have to build a factory for that as well. There would need to be an oil refinery to turn the crude oil from the Sumatran oil fields into useable fuels like diesel and gasoline. Harold would even need to build electric power production stations to provide the electricity needed to operate all of these new facilities as well. The growing use of electronics would also be a field where Harold would need to invest. Radio technology during the time between the First and Second World Wars was very primitive compared to the sophistication of the twenty-first century, but absolutely vital for Harold’s mission. Harold would also have to develop and produce his own radio communications and detection equipment without obviously exceeding the historical state of the art for this period.

  But all of this would not come without obstacles. Even in a country as young as Australia, there were entrenched interests who had no interest in what was best for the world or even Australia, only in their own pocketbooks and prejudices. So Harold realized that he would have to use his wealth and knowledge, sometimes quite ruthlessly, in order to achieve his personal mission, regardless of the cost.

  Harold told himself that he would try to be as fair as possible. But he was determined to overcome any obstacles in front of him. The fate of humanity depended on it.

  Harold had already started building an infrastructure to support the industries and people that he would have to rely upon to make his vision possible. To achieve this, Harold spent millions of Australian Dollars on infrastructure, primarily around the town of Derby. He even had engineers studying the nearby May and Fitzroy Rivers as well as Doctors Creek for locations to construct dams. Harold wanted the dams for hydroelectric power production and to provide irrigation water for farming. New and larger farms would be badly needed in the area to feed the growing population working for Harold.

  All of this development created a tremendous construction boom in the area. To support this activity, Harold had a narrow gauge railroad line laid down between King Sound and Derby. Harold created his own bank and used it to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars to local businessmen to build stores, places for lodging and other business enterprises. Harold also built a small hospital, a school for young children in addition to a trade school.

  The trade school was oriented around adult students. There, the teachers taught basic literacy and math in addition to trade skills like welding, metal working and other mechanical skills. Harold wanted his workers to be completely prepared for whatever tasks that would be assigned to them.

  Harold hired the best people that he could find to run all of this. Naturally, there was some resentment from the places where Harold did his recruiting because of all of the people that he passed over. Many of them thought that he should have hired them for one reason or another. But, Harold had his own criteria for who he selected. Still, Harold paid top dollar for the people that he hired. All Harold expected was the best efforts that they had to offer and a personal commitment to being loyal to him. A candidate had to fulfill both requirements to work for Harold. The nature of what Harold’s plan was dem
anded no less.

  Cavill Industries Corporate Headquarters Derby, Western Australia

  December 21, 1922

  He saw a thin stream of smoke as the small steam locomotive pulling a line of rail cars on a narrow gauge railway running from the pier towards the town approached. Harold had the rail line constructed to move the increasing amount of materials to and from the pier as his business enterprises continued to expand. Barges and freighters were docking at the pier at least once every week now, but the visits by cargo vessels were growing in frequency with each passing week.

  Harold had bought up much of the land on the peninsula just north of the town. Much of the land was either hilly or consisted of salt flats with multiple streams running through them. It was here that Harold started building his factories. One of the first things that he did was to have the railway built from the peninsula to the town as well as to the nearby pier.

  Less than a month after the first rails for the railway had been laid, there were more than a thousand aborigine men living there in Derby along with many of their families. New houses were springing up all over Derby as the town began to rapidly expand. Harold brought in over a hundred experienced tradesmen from elsewhere in Australia and other countries to apprentice the aborigines and the hundreds of whites who also came to Derby seeking work.

  At the same time that the houses were being built for Harold’s new workers and their families, surveyors were preparing sites for a school, a hospital, a church as well as more than a dozen future factories. Much of the focus for the industrial complexes was around the peninsula as well as the shoreline of King Sound and the nearby Derby aerodrome. Land was also being surveyed for farms on the outskirts of the town. All of this land had already been previously purchased by Harold in preparation for this development. A series of lines running from poles already marked the beginning of a local telephone network connecting the town with the various outlying industrial sites.

  At the same time, more than a hundred people a month came to Derby looking for work. While many of the newcomers were aborigines, some were also white Australians. They joined Americans, Britons and others from several European countries that Harold had brought in to work for him. In the latter cases, the majority of the people that Harold had brought in were engineers or skilled tradesmen that he needed to design new products or to train the other new workers.

  Unfortunately, a few of the new arrivals were less than happy about having to work with the Australian aborigines.

  Billy McGuire was one such person. He had traveled to Derby from Melbourne two months earlier after hearing about the new jobs there. The big Irishman quickly found himself assisting in the construction of several buildings alongside hundreds of other men, mostly aborigines. The work was hard, but the pay was decent. At least it seemed decent to Billy until he found out how much the aborigine men were earning.

  “What the hell do you mean that the Fabos are getting the same pay as the white men working here?” Billy loudly complained to one of his fellow workers while working that day building a metal structure near the new railroad spur that was also being constructed from the King Sound towards Derby.

  A couple of others echoed Billy’s sentiments, directing additional verbal insults towards the aborigines who were working nearby. But not everyone felt the same way about their co-workers.

  “Hey, Mate. Just leave these fellows alone. They are just doing their job, just like the rest of us.” Another one of the white workers named Simon Collins said after walking up to Billy.

  “They are just darkies. They don’t deserve the same pay that we get. Look at that ugly ‘goggles’ over there.” Billy said while pointing at one of the aborigines with particularly large nostrils while continuing to insult him. “He’s got to be one of the ugliest and most stupid looking bastard that I have ever seen in my life. How can you possibly work alongside these ‘animals’?”

  “Some of these MEN have been working for the boss now for over a year. From what I see, they do just as much work as we do, maybe even more.” Simon replied.

  “I don’t care. No black man deserves to make as much as a white man. It’s just not proper.” Billy angrily answered back, pushing his way towards the aborigines as though he was preparing to attack.

  But before he could do anything, four armed men in uniform came rushing in, breaking up the brewing fight before it could really get started. These were men armed with pistols and shotguns whose job was to be the police for the property that Harold owned. Harold paid for the training, equipment and payroll of this police force that included both whites and aborigines. Obviously someone had picked up a telephone and called the police as soon as the argument began.

  The policemen then started asking questions about what happened and who started the disturbance. Billy soon found several fingers being pointed directly at him.

  “Could you come with us please, Sir?” One of the aborigine policemen politely but firmly asked Billy.

  At first, Billy attempted to resist. But a shotgun muzzle pointed at his face quickly convinced Billy to comply with the policeman’s request.

  The policemen then marched Billy all the way to Harold’s main office in Derby. They went inside to what appeared to be an administrative office with several large file cabinets surrounding a desk in front of an interior door. The door had a name plate with Harold’s name written on a brass placard on the door.

  “Sit down here and wait.” The head aborigine policeman told Billy before begin led inside Harold’s office by the latter’s assistant. Billy was less than happy when he saw that Harold’s assistant was also an aborigine.

  The policemen stood there silently while Billy sat in a chair for over an hour before Harold’s assistant came out of Harold’s office and told Billy to come in.

  Harold was sitting there looking down at some papers when Billy walked in. Harold’s assistant was silently standing by Harold’s desk. After a few moments, Harold looked up and spoke to the worker standing in front of him.

  “I understand that you had a problem at your worksite today, Mister McGuire.” Harold flatly noted. He personally wanted to nip these problems in the bud before tensions escalated between his white and aborigine workers.

  “I didn’t have any problems, Sir. I just expressed my opinion about the unfairness of the pay situation here.”

  “Did you feel that you weren’t getting paid adequately?”

  “I don’t like that the Abos were getting paid as much as the whites working there, Sir.”

  “I pay people on the basis of their skills and their productivity, Mister. I don’t care about the color of their skin. Neither should you.”

  “But they are just primitives, Sir. They can’t possibly do as good a job as a white man.” Billy said, almost pleading in tone. He already could see that Harold wasn’t going to accept Billy’s arguments.

  “Mister McGuire, I have quite a few of the aborigines here who have gone to my schools, have apprenticed with the best craftsmen that I could find and have learned to do just as good of a job as any white man here. What I can’t have here are people of any color who are going to cause problems.

  You can pick up your pay on the way out. I will pay you up to the end of the week. But I want you out of here immediately. If you come back or try to cause any more problems, I will have you arrested, put into jail and sent out in irons on the first boat out of Derby. Do I make myself clear, Mister McGuire?” Harold said while looking Billy squarely in the eye.

  Harold’s tone left no question as to his determination either.

  Utterly dejected, there was nothing more for Billy McGuire to do but to quietly turn around and skulk out of Harold’s office, followed by Harold’s assistant, Thomas. A few moments later, the assistant walked back in and closed the door.

  “Mister McGuire is on his way out, Sir. He’s been paid and given a ticket for passage on the next freighter going out.” Thomas told Harold.

  “Please have our police keep
a close eye on Mister McGuire until he actually gets on that boat, just to be safe.

  I hate losing another trained worker, but this is the third incident like this in the last two months. I have to fight to keep tensions down somehow. The work that we are doing here is far too important to allow petty, ignorant racists like Mister McGuire to destroy the teamwork necessary.

  Our aborigines have had a few problems themselves with some of their people being unwilling to learn their jobs or working with the whites. But the tribal leaders are dealing with these issues internally. In any event, I badly need for both groups to learn to work together. I am hopeful though that people like Billy McGuire will very soon be the exception, rather than the rule.” Harold noted.

  “I hope so too.” Thomas replied.

  Chapter Five: Nationalist Party Headquarters Sydney, Australia

  February 19, 1923

  “How did that young fellow manage to get so wealthy in such a short period of time? He just seemed to appear out of nowhere.” Melvin Hunter asked. The National Party state organizer had been searching for more financial supporters for the party when he came across Harold’s name in the newspaper.

  “Howard Cavill currently owns a large number of mines in Western Australia, as you know. It seems that just about every month, he would file a claim on a site with the government, pay the necessary fees, hire a crew and begin digging. Then his crew would always strike ‘pay dirt’ without fail. These mines have been incredibly profitable for him. It is also my understanding that Mister Cavill made a tremendous amount of money in foreign stock markets over the course of less than two years. There were a few news reports of Australian and British government officials having suspicions of improprieties in Mister Cavill’s business dealings. But no one was able to prove anything. The stories went away almost as quickly as they appeared.” Nigel Toland replied. Nigel was one of the party’s senior officials who had been involved in politics since before the turn of the century.