yesterdays war

by gerald hall

  Chapter Six: Derby Township

  Western Territories, Australia March 19, 1923

  Harold sat in the living room of the modest home that he had built in the hills on the outskirts of Derby. The house was one of several dozen others in that particular area. But Harold’s home was quite different for a variety of reasons. First, the house had been built into the side of a hill and was largely underground. Because of this, for the casual observer, it was impossible to see the actual size of Harold’s home. A couple of small wooden buildings also were constructed on the twenty-five acre property to store Harold’s automobile and other items were far more visible to the public at large. The property had been fenced with a barbed wire fence for the two horses that Harold kept in a small barn that had also been built near his home.

  There was a small stream that ran through the property that Harold had placed a small dam on to create a pond for fishing. Finally, there was a windmill on top of a nearby tower. Everyone assumed that the windmill was being used to pump water out of a well. But Harold was harnessing the power of the wind for something more than that.

  An electric cable ran to the house from a simple DC generator attached to the drive shaft of the windmill. The cable was buried underground so that no one outside would see it. Inside an attachment to his house, Harold had installed a set of lead-acid batteries to store the power generated by his primitive wind power turbine. The room also held the disassembled remote-control probe that Harold brought with him from the future. Harold might not have been able to immediately set up a viable AC generating system to operate the equipment that he brought back with him from the future. But he could use DC current from the lead-acid batteries to recharge the probe’s internal batteries. That, in turn, allowed Harold to use the probe’s power circuitry to provide clean power for his portable computer. Eventually, he was able to obtain more lead-acid batteries that used contemporary technology. These replaced the high-tech batteries from the probe.

  Behind a wall in the study in the rear of the house, Harold build a special room that had no exterior walls. In fact, even the door to that room was concealed behind a set of bookcases. Of course, Harold refused to allow anyone access to that room for any reason. To prevent anyone from breaking in, Harold also specified that the adjoining walls to the room be heavily reinforced and a steel-lined door be installed during the design and construction of his house. But from the outside, there were no indications that there was anything special about the house beyond its location in the hillside. This hidden room is where Harold kept his portable computer and all of the other materials that he had brought back with him from the future timeline.

  Harold still had no way of printing out any information from his portable computer. But at least, he could use it much more frequently now that he had sufficient power available. What Harold was forced to do was to learn the old skill of manually drafting blueprints. He bought a drafting table and the necessary drawing instruments.

  Harold had to then painstakingly reproduce illustrations of equipment designs that he wanted to have produced. Harold did not have the time to do more than a small handful of blueprints each month, so he had to limit his drawings to only the most critically needed material for his engineers. He also had to leave out critical details that would reveal too much of future technology. Harold had to let the engineers that he hired fill in the gaps with their own expertise.

  Harold also produced a larger number of sketches that didn’t have the detail of a technical drawing, but were very useful in conveying ideas that he had pulled out of his computer database. These sketches would be used to give a more general direction for developing concepts in Harold’s new factories as well. But Harold did not limit his work to merely benefiting himself.

  In the town, Harold had set up a steam reciprocating engine connected to a second electric generator, this generator much larger and far more powerful than the wind-driven generator beside his house. It was powering the lights and other equipment in several buildings that he had built along the shoreline. The steam engine was fueled by coal brought in by barge from a nearby mine.

  Harold had purchased much of the land in and around Derby very shortly after his arrival back to Australia. The excess power from this first steam generator was being sold to several businesses in town as well as some residences that were wired for electricity. But this small electrical power station would soon be eclipsed by a much larger power production facility that Harold was planning to build further south along the Fitzroy River. It would be large enough to provide power for all of Derby and along with northwest coast. But first, Harold needed to obtain some important elements for the new power plant from an unconventional source.

  Derby Township

  Western Territories, Australia May 14, 1923

  “That is one hell of a big hole that you are digging out there by King South, Mister Cavill. What are you going to do with it? One of the local Derby residents asked while watching a pair of steam shovels digging into the ground near the shoreline.

  “I am building a new shipyard. First, I plan to use it to scrap old ships. But eventually, I want to build new vessels here. Of course, this is only one of my commercial concerns that I am developing currently.” Harold quickly answered.

  The heavy excavation equipment was moving large amounts of earth out of the pit. Much of the soil was being moved out into the south to create a pair of breakwaters that would also serve as additional jetties. The rest was being used to create a large earthen berm around the caisson pit. The interior of the pit was already over two-hundred and sixty meters in length. Based on the location of the berms being built, the width of the caisson would be at least fifty meters.

  “Well, it looks like you could put an entire bloody battleship inside of there, maybe even two of them. Are you planning to build one, Mister Cavill?” Clive O’Connor jokingly asked.

  Harold laughed out loud.

  “Of course not. Who would sell me big enough guns to properly outfit a battleship anyway? But it might be good business to be able to dismantle old warships with all of the disarmament treaties going on. They will have lots of good quality steel to melt down for other businesses to purchase.”

  “I see that you have begun construction of several industrial facilities here as well. Will they be the recipients of the salvaged steel from the ships that you scrap, Sir?”

  “Some of them may be. But I have not finalized all of my plans just yet, especially not the ones that I wish to keep confidential. I can’t be revealing important details that could find their way to my competitors, now can I?”

  “No worries. I was just curious.”

  “Of course, this is only the first excavation here. I want to have at least three large dry docks constructed as well so that I can build ships also. I will be able to employ thousands of people here and provide customers with modern, versatile ships to replace their antiquated vessels.”

  Of course, Harold didn’t mention his ultimate goal for the shipyard that he was building. He wants to use it to build up the Royal Australian Navy in anticipation of the coming war against the Japanese Empire. But until he can get the Australian government to pay for warships and other military equipment, Harold would have to find other ways to finance his work here.

  That will mean going back to his computer database and finding a few more mine locations to ‘discover’ and exploit to pay for everything that Harold is working on.

  Two months later, the caisson was finally finished along with the breakwaters. All that was left now was to open the caisson to the waters of the King Sound. Harold’s workers had left a narrow piece of land intact at the mouth of the caisson to hold the water out while the rest of the excavation work continued. The caisson was only one of several excavation projects in the Derby area that Harold’s workers had been digging.

  Harold stood at a safe distance away from the caisson while a demolition crew finished wiring up a detonator a few feet away from him. When they wer
e done, they gave Harold a quick signal.

  “Alight, Mates. Let’s finish the job.” Harold told everyone standing there by him.

  They all took cover behind a makeshift bunker on the back side of the berm. With a nod from the demolition crew leader, Harold pushed down hard on the detonator handle. Less than a second later, a series of huge explosions rocked the narrow sliver of earth that held back the water that was now at high tide.

  Large clouds of smoke and dust filled the air. At the same time, rocks and other debris showered down for nearly thirty seconds before the area finally went silent. Then a quiet rumble could be felt from the ground below. That last remaining strip of land began to finally collapse from the shock of the explosions and the tremendous force of the water at high tide.

  First a trickle of water started to leak through the wall of earth. Then a few moments later, that trickle rapidly great to a flood as huge streams of water began to pour through gaps in the earth. Then with a great roar, the entire center of the earthen wall holding back the waters of the King Sound collapsed. The sides of that wall followed within a minute. The great caisson rapidly filled with water.

  “OK, everyone. Great job. For now, we let the next few high tides finish the work for us.” Harold told his workers.

  “What do you want us to do next, Sir?” The demolition foreman asked.

  “I need for some of you to go to our excavation sites north of town to finish that job.

  For now, the caisson would work as it is for the purpose of shipbreaking. But Harold was already making plans to have the sides lined with concrete and for a permanent steel and concrete lock to be built to make the caisson a real construction dry dock.

  But for now, Harold has to arrange for the first occupant of this critical element of his new shipyard.

  Government House Sydney, Australia January 5, 1924

  “We are going to have to dispose of Australiain order to meet the Commonwealth’s obligations under the Washington Naval Treaty, I’m afraid. The Commonwealth just can’t afford to keep an obsolescent battle cruiser in commission when it would force us to exceed our treaty limits.” Rear Admiral Joseph Harper explained as he looked at a photo of the battlecruiser HMASAustraliathat was hanging on the wall in his office. He had served on the battlecruiser as a gunnery officer shortly after she had been commissioned.

  “ Australia’sreally not all that old either. How do you propose that we dispose of her, Sir?” The head of the Australian Admiralty’s Plans Division, Captain Porter Jones asked.

  The British already have enough of their overage capital ships allocated to be used as target ships to meet the new treaty obligations. That leaves us with only two other options. We either have to scuttle the old girl or we have to break her up for scrap. We were going to scuttleAustraliain the ocean depths,but now we have been given another option by that Harold Cavill fellow.”

  “He’s that young mining magnate whose aborigine workers all seem to worship as some sort of shaman, isn’t he?”

  “The very one. It appears that he is branching out into other industries as well as mining. He has proposed purchasingAustraliafrom the government and scrapping her at the shipyard facilities that he is building at Derby on the northwest coast.” The admiral noted.

  “Lord knows that we need the funding that sellingAustraliawould generate. It would be a lot better than scuttling her. But would Mister Cavill be able to demilitarize that battlecruiser within the required six months?”

  “He claims that he can. With what all that he has achieved after appearing out of nowhere a few years ago, I actually believe that he can.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I understand that Mister Cavill has already excavated a rather large caisson along the shoreline that could accept a vessel at least as large asAustralia. He simply dug out the hole and allowed those bloody high tides that Derby is famous for to come in and completely fill this caisson afterwards.

  Our wealthy friend intends to use a tug to shoveAustraliainside the caisson, close off the coastal opening with a cofferdam, pump out the water and then start dismantling the ship. Once the turrets, armor and engines have been removed, then the treaty requirements will have been met. He is also building a variety of other shipbuilding and repair facilities within the same area as well.”

  “Where did you get the information on Cavill’s new shipyard, Sir?”

  “There have been a few disgruntled workers who had been working for Cavill that have provided my people with some very interesting information about his operations. I suppose that these former workers didn’t like that Cavill had been so accommodating to the aborigines. I have learned that he not only pays the aborigines the same wages for the same work as he does for whites, but that he has built a series of private schools and hospitals for the aborigines as well for anyone else who works for him.

  If Cavill wasn’t so hawkish about national defense, the folks from liberal side of the aisle would probably put him up for Prime Minister. They have always been very supportive of such progressive social ideas.”

  “What do you mean, Sir?”

  “Somehow, I think that Mister Cavill is interested in playing politics, at least not the sort of politics that you and I are familiar with. In fact, he has actively disinvited any of the local socialists, much less anyone with any Bolshevik leanings. He is certainly not giving his money away to the Aborigines or anyone else there. He is most definitely expecting everyone to work for their money. Anyone who is not willing to work is on their own, it seems. Whatever he is, capitalist or socialist, Harold Cavill is a very strange fellow indeed.”

  “Yes. From what you are saying, Sir, it certainly appears to be the case.” The captain replied.

  “But Mister Cavill is also damned wealthy at the moment. So he can’t be ignored either.”

  “So are we going to sell himAustraliato scrap, Sir?”

  “I’m afraid that we don’t have much of a choice. It’s either sell that obsolete battlecruiser to Cavill to send to the breakers and make a little money or spend money that we can ill afford to spend to sink her ourselves.”

  “When is it going to happen?”

  “The agreement is going to be signed tomorrow. Mister Cavill’s people are already at the naval base waiting to escortAustraliato his facilities at King Sound the following day.”

  “That’s very quick, Sir.”

  “Apparently, Harold Cavill does not like to waste any time.” The Admiral said before preparing to leave his office for the day, preceded by Captain Jones. Neither of them were very happy. But they did not have any alternatives at this point either.

  Sydney Harbor Sydney, Australia March 17, 1924

  HMS Hood, the largest battlecruiser in the world, sat at anchor in Sydney Harbor during a part of its world tour from west to east. Her crew lined the decks while thousands of civilian onlookers watched from a nearby pier. Not far from her was also anchored HMASAustralia, the Australian Navy’s sole capital ship.

  “Isn’t that one incredible sight, Mate? What a beautiful ship, that Hoodis. There is nothing else in the world like her. There’s a special magic in the name ‘battlecruiser’, I have to admit. It gives off a feeling of power and glory whenever you hear it.” Eric Portsmouth said as he watched from a nearby pier.

  “It’s a bloody shame that we have had to break up the one battlecruiser that we had in our navy. I knew a few mates who had sailed on HMASAustralia. The officers onboard may have been asses, but the crew still loved their ship.” His friend Simon Kirk replied.

  “You know what they said in the newspapers. If we hadn’t sent Australiato Mister Cavill’s ship breakers,Hoodhere would be escorting her out to deep water to be scuttled. That would have been a terrible fate for the old girl. Maybe this way, the steel fromAustralia’shull might end up being part of a new and better warship for our navy.”

  “You know, that Mister Cavill is hiring a lot of people to work for him out there. Most of the work is out in
the Western Territories, but he has bought mines and businesses elsewhere in Australia too. Have you ever considered working for him?”

  “Working with all those primitives? I’m not so sure about that. I heard that there are thousands of aborigines moving from half the country to the Western Territories to work for him. That just sounds like trouble to me.”

  “I don’t care who I would be working with, mate. If Mister Cavill’s money is good, the work is reasonable and the people that I have to work alongside are decent.”

  “Are you going to go work for him?”

  “I think so, mate. There are damned few decent jobs left around here outside of what he is offering.”

  “Good luck to you then. At least,Australiawill still get a decent sendoff. I heard thatHoodwill be escorting her on her final voyage to the breakers.”

  “I suppose that soon, I will be joining her. Not to the breakers, of course. But to where she is going in Western Australia to be dismantled.” Simon responded as he stared out towards the ocean towards the two battlecruisers.

  King Sound

  Derby, Western Australia March 24, 1924

  It was near high tide when the three tugs pushed the retired battlecruiser HMAS Australiainto King Sound towards the entrance of Harold’s newly excavated caisson. HMSHoodhad just turned back seaward towards her next leg of its world tour after she had escortedAustraliato the mouth of King Sound. Harold watched from the nearby pier asHood’solder and much smaller predecessor was slowly maneuvered towards what everyone thought would be its final destination. All but a tiny remnant of Australia’screw remained on board to help steer the old battle cruiser. The rest had been evacuated by small boats to another Australian Navy ship lying offshore.

  “They’ll have to move quickly to get that bloody big ship in before the tide goes back out.” One of Harold’s aborigine workers standing nearby said.