“Perhaps we will have the honor of flying you there, Sir.” Privately, Alleyne doubted that. He already had a strong suspicion that his flying boats would be a key part of the power equation now being written in the Middle East.
His suspicions were confirmed when Freeman shook his head. “I strongly suspect you will be remaining in the Middle East for some time to come, Squadron Leader. Whatever the future may hold, and I sadly suspect that future is grim indeed, the Middle East at this point is time is the single most crucial area in play. It is the actual point of action and will remain so until the Italian question there is resolved.”
Smuts nodded magisterially. “Deterrence against further aggression has to be the bed rock of the Commonwealth position. We have to face the truth; we are a collection of weak powers looking to assume a mantle of strength, and that can only be achieved through success in war. The Middle East is a running litmus test of our real resolve, both internally and internationally. It is our collective shop window and we’ll be judged to a large extent by our deeds there. If we limp-wrist the conflict with Italy, we not only look weak to the rest of the world, but we’ll also feel weak as a collective and with the individual dominions, and so be weak.
“Squadron Leader, the Dominions rejecting Halifax was just words. The Middle East is the critical point for the Commonwealth where we must turn words into deeds.” Suddenly Smuts smiled. “It is not often that a mere Squadron Leader hears such matters of great political strategy discussed. But then, it is not often that a mere Squadron Leader gets to be a critical part in such strategic considerations. Your twelve flying boats may well become the key to all our futures.”
“What bomb load do you carry?” Harris sounded as if he hadn’t bothered to listen to Smuts.
“On paper, two thousand pounds Sir, but Shorts are very conservative in their loaded weight figures. As long as we don’t exceed maximum take off weight, we can carry up to five thousand pounds of warload. Usually depth charges but we have carried mines and torpedoes.”
Harris grunted. “And the Italian ports in North Africa are within range of Alexandria.” Without further word, he climbed into the barge that was ready to take the passengers out to the anchored Sunderland.
“What do we do with them? Somebody better come up with an idea fast before Congress finds out about them and makes us take them.”
“We impounded all of them on the grounds that the United States believes delivery to the governments in London and Vichy would be destabilizing to European security.”
“With all due respect, Cordell, that’s just made matters that much worse.” Henry Stinson and Cordell Hull glared at each other.
“There are really two problems here.”
“Just two? You do realize that if the manufacturers don’t get paid for those aircraft, they’ll go bankrupt and that won’t do our aircraft industry any good at all?” Phillip Stuyvesant smiled benignly at Robert Jackson, who glared back in response. Casting an eye around the meeting, Stuyvesant noted that everybody seemed to be glaring at everybody else. This meeting he thought has promise.
Attorney-General Jackson was actually grinding his teeth. “I said two problems. There are two categories of aircraft: one owned by the British and the other by the French. The French and British orders represent entirely different legal situations. Both countries have actually paid for the aircraft in question, although the final payment for them is still in escrow. The British case is easy. In the Daventry Message, King George VI, who is the legitimate head of state in Great Britain, transferred authority and legitimacy from London to the Governor-Generals in the Empire. So, the various bits of the Empire own the aircraft and they have to settle amongst themselves who owns what. Nothing to do with us. As soon as they’ve made their minds up, the aircraft get delivered, the remaining funds are released from escrow and your precious aircraft manufacturers, Stuyvesant, get their money. It’s the French that are the problem.”
“Aren’t they always?” Stimson was staring at the ceiling. He looked around, caught Stuyvesant’s eye, and gave him a surreptitious wink.
“Henry, please.” Jackson was getting exasperated. “The Vichy government has no legitimate successors outside Metropolitan France. Therefore there is nobody to whom we can deliver the impounded French orders. Indeed, we cannot deliver them to anybody without legally purchasing them. We can refund the purchase money to the French and hold that in escrow until there’s a government over there we approve of, or a legitimate alternative arises. But we’re still stuck with the aircraft. And Congress might find them.”
Henry Morgenthau pressed his fingertips together. “There is a way around this. We refund the monies paid by the French, thus transferring the aircraft to our control. We can then sell them to the British Empire countries, thus ensuring that they are used against Nazi Germany, the purpose for which they were produced.”
“The Dominions can’t afford them.” Cordell Hull shook his head. He knew all too well that the now-severed parts of the British Empire were in desperate financial straits.
“Then loan them the money.” Jackson was impassioned. “We loan them the money in dollars, but allow them to make repayment in these new Sovereigns they are announcing. In doing so, we support their new currency and wean them away from the pound sterling and thus put a pistol shot through the head of the British Empire. We also give them the tools they need to reinforce their independence and stabilize their economies.”
“The latter is too much to ask.” Morgenthau shook his head. “Their economies need a lot more than a few dollars to stabilize them. They need industry, investment and so on. There’s a killing to be made there for the right people. For a far-sighted man who is prepared to wait for a return on his investment, the rewards will be rich indeed. But I agree with the basic proposal. We make a very soft loan to any of the Dominions that are prepared to buy the ex-French aircraft from us. Low rate of interest; we loan money in dollars, accept payment in Sovereigns.
“This way, those aircraft get put to good use.” Morgenthau’s voice hardened; a note of almost fanatical hatred came into it. “And anything that hurts the Nazis is a good use. They must suffer for what they have done. Germania delenda est. Phillip, I look to you for knowledge on how to reduce Germany to a desert.”
“I’ll do my best, Henry.”
“Australia? Everything is poisonous there.” Igrat put a note of distress into her voice.
“The salt water crocodiles and great white sharks aren’t.” Stuyvesant sounded remarkably unimpressed by his daughter’s feigned misery. “But what really upsets you is that there are no decent shops in that part of the world.”
“Well, that too.” Igrat looked at her father and lifted her eyebrows.
“But, no shops for me to spend my travelling companion’s money in means half my cover is gone before I even start. Who do you want me to see, anyway?”
“There is a man called Mister Essington Lewis, who runs Broken Hill Proprietary Company. He’s an odd character, Iggie. You’ll have to be careful in how you approach him. He’s strictly formal and he hates using the telephone. That’s why I want you to go and see him personally. He makes an absolute fetish of punctuality, so bear that in mind when you make appointments.”
“That’s how, not why.” Igrat made the observation completely deadpan.
“Lewis is a gifted operator. He knows the steel and mining industries inside out; and, more importantly, knows how to make companies in that sector work. I want to offer him a partnership. We’ll provide backing for a joint investment in India. If that country is going to succeed in standing on its own feet, it will need its own heavy industry, something it painfully lacks at the moment. The country even lacks the people needed to work out what it needs. So, Lewis is the right person to get involved out there. If we get in on the ground floor, the investment we make will grow. I happen to know that he wants to see the Commonwealth as the largest steel producer outside North America.”