Magestic 2, p.42
Magestic 2, page 42
People stepped off the boat to find neighbours from Germany, others knew no one and stood bewildered. ‘Hey you, come with me,’ the police would say. ‘That plot is yours. Tent, wood, shovel, goat, chicken. Get on with it!’
The signs were mostly in German, a few in English. Doctors set up shop and put up signs, as did dentists, musicians playing for a coin or two in the streets. Poverty was everywhere, but the Germans were nowhere near. Then one day, with none of us aware, Dr Astor turned up with fifty British nurses and thirty doctors, grabbing a newly finished building. There was some argument with the administration over the use of the building, but she would not budge. A new hospital was created, its doors opened, the service free.
She spoke German, so that was a bonus, and she had recruited German-Jewish doctors from London. Hell, they weren’t doing much in the east-end slums. On the second day she raised a flagpole, a large white flag with a blue Star of David, visible for a mile in any direction. The hospital was soon full of screaming kids and sick adults.
When Jack next visited, the administrative council protested her pinching their building, whilst applauding the good use that it was put to. Jack listened patiently, then said, ‘She’s Jimmy Silo’s mistress.’ The new lady doctor suddenly got anything she wanted, when she wanted, day or night, awarded a seat on the council as Deputy Health Minister.
Her first official act was to quarantine sick arrivals, a shed near the dock appropriated, an isolation ward created in the hospital. Anyone who was sick on arrival was checked thoroughly before they could start an outbreak in the main population. Seeing the slums growing, Dr Astor forcibly told the builders to create new settlements further away. Sanitation was looked at as a priority, some areas simply huge tented slums.
Refugee doctors, with little to do but raise chickens, were recruited by Dr Astor and given small satellite clinics in outlying regions, all reporting back to her. Stores were centralised, her own money used to bring in medical supplies and dish them out. She imported several trucks and turned them into ambulances, a dozen ex-British Army ambulances from Kenya bought cheap. More trucks were bought from Egypt and driven over in convoy, used for distributing anything that arrived at the port.
She asked Jack for radios, and he organised twenty thousand of them. To start with, all that people could get was the BBC Empire Service, later to become the BBC World Service. A transmitter was found, the first Jewish DJ hired, but most broadcasts were often appeals for missing family members, or simply government announcements. Dr Astor helped to start the national registry - a kind of census, and people could search for lost family members, friends or neighbours.
I heard about it in the spring of 1933, not long after Jack had informed Jimmy. I called Jimmy on scrambler. ‘Did you … ask her go there?’
‘No, but I told her the history of the Jews.’
‘She must have felt that she could do some good.’
‘She inherited a fortune, so … yes, doing some good. She’s also aware that it’s part of the plan.’
‘She is, apparently, their Health Minister,’ I mentioned.
‘She’s a bossy-boots when she gets going.’
‘Did we send more money to the Germans?’
‘Yes, and so far they’re keeping to the deal. They enjoy molesting the refugees at the dockside and pinching their stuff, but they are letting them go.’
‘Palestine is bursting, one big tented city,’ I mentioned.
‘By time war breaks out, Palestine will tip the Levant into the sea. I reckon on maybe a million people, maybe one point five. But the Americans are taking refugees.’
‘Is it stretching us, money wise?’
‘The Congo is making an obscene amount of money, so no. Britain is due to spend seventy million on re-armament over the next five years, something they’ve just agreed. We contributed twenty-four of that.’
‘So they’re happy little fuckers then.’
‘They’re both afraid of us, and afraid of losing us, in equal measure. I’ve asked them to hand control of Palestine over, and I’ve told the new Israeli administration that they only get my help if they request a British presence and cooperate with London, including a base for the Royal Navy on a fifty year lease.’
‘The Navy? In Israel?’ What you up to?’
‘Keeping the children playing nicely.’
‘Will they hand over?’ I asked.
‘They have no choice at the end of the day; they’ve already spent what we’ll contribute for the next five years.’
And in a move that made the news the world over, Britain relinquished its rights to Palestine, a five-year handover period signed. The move was condemned by many in the Arab world, but they were powerless to do anything at the moment.
The next ship to arrive offloaded five hundred Kenyan Rifles and their NCOs and officers, the black soldiers a shock to the locals. The soldiers marched out, and took up station around the borders and in several camps, and would stay until replaced. The following ship also disgorged Kenyan soldiers, but they simply offloaded dozens of boxes of gold bars destined for the central bank. The administration could now buy whatever it wanted.
Jack encouraged a Borders Police to be created, and an increase in the numbers serving in the militia, the slums not short of people looking for work. Thousands of men were signed up, uniforms issued. And east of Gaza, in the Negev, the Rifles set up a secret and unpublicised training camp; assault course, barracks, canteen. The first young recruits stood in a line a week later. They spoke little English, and the Kenyans spoke no German.
In Libya, fifty of Ngomo’s best snipers, and fifty of Abdi’s best men, were killing one Italian a day each – their maximum allowed. They could wound two, and kill one. They could also blow up one truck a week, using a landmine.
Life for the Italians would be miserable for as long as our snipers remained, and the enlisted men were soon convinced that they were being shot at by ghosts. Small calibre sniper rounds would crack past sentries and hit someone, no sniper ever seen, shot back at, or killed.
Having killed thirty men, our soldiers would be rotated out, back to the train track and a holding camp, many getting back and forth on camels or horses, half-tracks used on occasion. The local tribesmen had been bribed, and Italian patrols were shown false trails in the sand.
The Italians also developed a problem with their aircraft, in that their spotter planes rarely came back. Any aircraft flying below a thousand feet was hit by accurate sniper fire, plummeting to the desert floor and disturbing the camels. Wreckage was often found by Italian patrols, snipers were not found.
In May, the US President was out electioneering for his party, and would be in Los Angeles. I received a note, and he would like to meet.
I sent a note back. ‘Hoping to be photographed with a good looking and successful man like me? After a few votes?’
I received another note. ‘A private chat, if you have the time.’
I agreed, but called Jimmy, scrambler on. ‘President wants to meet.’
‘Be your normal charming self.’
‘Any clues?’
‘No.’
A week later I met the President in a hotel, the Secret Service frisking me. Well, someone had tried to assassinate the poor guy recently.
‘Paul, come on in, have a seat,’ he urged, waving me over.
‘No photographer?’ I teased.
‘You have a cynical view of us politicians.’
‘I’ve spent a lot of time around politicians,’ I said. ‘They’re creatures I know very well.’
He took a moment to study me. ‘You know, some bright young fellows we employ believe that you and Mister Silo are worth more than twenty million English pounds.’
‘They’d be wrong. We’re worth way more than that.’
He took his glasses off and cleaned them. ‘Yet Mister Silo lives in a small hotel room, and you yourself live in a modest house.’
‘Like a President, we care nothing for ourselves, and work tirelessly for others.’
He looked at me over the top of his glasses. ‘Like the Jews.’
‘Like the Jews. This Hitler fanatic is expelling people, rounding them up and putting them in camps, and you, sir, are sat on your hands.’
‘You’ve not asked me to get involved, Paul.’
‘Do you need a kick in the pants, or do you get reports each day?’
‘You don’t mince your words, Paul, unlike most of those around me.’
‘I’m not a politician, I work for a living.’
He again looked at me over his glasses. Looking away, he said, ‘Your new telephone gadget is clever; it means that phone calls can be private. And your planes, they’re very clever.’ He faced me. ‘At the risk of upsetting you, I’d like to ask a few direct questions.’
‘Fire away, you won’t upset me.’
He took a moment. ‘There are some of our best engineers that have looked at a wing section from one of your planes, a crashed one, and they can’t make head nor tail of it. They say it’s impossible. Still, I flew here on such an impossible plane. I also had a flight on a plane that flew itself, the pilot coming back for a coffee.’
‘Auto-trim.’
‘Yes, clever again. And there are rumours of a secret base in Canada, where you have planes that fly very fast and very high.’
‘They fly at over a thousand miles per hour, at thirty thousand feet.’
He stopped dead. Looking away and fiddling with a pen, he said, ‘I should have just come and asked you. And these planes, these incredible planes, are not for sale to anyone?’
‘They’ll be for sale to you if you should need them - such as in a war, and they could be delivered quickly.’
‘Might I ask … why we have not been shown them?’
‘If you have a pistol, and your enemy has a bow and arrow, will you show him what you have? Will he not go away and come back with a pistol. And if you then invent a rifle, will he go away and come back with a rifle. But if you have a pistol, and he has a bow and arrow, you wait till he attacks you, then you shoot him dead.’
‘Showing my pistol … may prevent a war someday.’
‘How much faith do you put in mankind, in Herr Hitler or the Japanese? How much faith do you put … in them acting in a rational manner, when some of them state they are the chosen people to rule this world, that they’re doing the world a favour by invading poorer countries and civilising them.’
He stared at me.
I continued, ‘Someone once said, if you want peace prepare for war. Well, you can prepare for war by letting the other guy know exactly what you have, or you can be coy … and trick them, offering a knockout blow, not a long drawn out conflict between equally matched sides, where the working man becomes cannon fodder.
‘Jimmy and I make money by seeing trends in things, especially in people. Radios, fridges - we see what’s needed, and we’re good at seeing what’s around the corner. What is around the corner … is the rise of Germany, and the rise of Japan. We’re making plans, as much to make money as anything else. You, sir, should be making a few plans on behalf of those you’re supposed to represent.’
He took a moment. ‘I must admit, I’m at a loss to figure you out. You make more money than anyone else, live modestly, run soup kitchens, and lecture me as if you have all the answers.’
‘Our relationship would be no fun at all … if you understood me,’ I quipped, making him laugh.
‘True, true. So might I conclude that your clever aircraft would be made available to us in a time of war, but not before?’
‘We’ll supply you with aircraft that will keep you just ahead of the competition, not allowing you to fall behind. That way, your enemy’s bow and arrow is transparent to us. But should America be attacked, or provoked, or find it necessary to enter a war, we would use all of our means to assist you, and all of our resources.’
He nodded. ‘I won’t claim to understand your motives, but at least it’s nice to know that your clever planes would be available to us. Might I ask who else … they would be available to?’
‘Britain, since we are British, and enjoy good relations with our parent state. No one else.’
‘And I’m reliably informed that you have clever rifles as well.’
‘Again, they would be available to you, and have been stockpiled ready.’
‘It’s an odd arrangement, and it’s apparent that you could make a great deal of money by selling such aircraft. But I can see the logic behind holding them back, which suggests that you’re about more than just making money. But you wield a great deal of power, and that frightens some folk around Washington. I tell people that you’ve never involved yourselves in our political arena - save criticising a few Congressmen who criticised your Jewish policy. Still, they fear your potential.’
‘They can always come and talk to me, buy me a beer, sit and be civilised.’
‘Is there … anything I could be doing for you?’ he asked.
‘Is there anything I … could be doing for you?’ I countered.
‘Fix the economy,’ he joked.
‘How much would you like?’ I asked.
He stopped dead and stared at me. ‘Would there be some sort of … trade–off?’
‘Not necessarily. I’d like you to take a few more Jews, but we’re on top of that. And we’d like you to keep an eye on Herr Hitler, for your own benefit. So, speak your mind, what would you like?’
He took a moment. ‘Anything that creates jobs, or boosts the stock market, would help.’
‘And you’ll take more Jews?’
‘I’ll work to that aim, yes.’
‘Then leave it with me, and I’ll chat to Jimmy. We’ll let you know soon. So, would you like a boost right now?’
‘Right … now?’
‘There are reporters outside.’ I stood, and shook his hand. ‘We’ll be in touch, Mister President.’ Outside, I approached the bank of reporters, several hand-cranked cameras pointed my way.
‘I’ve just met with the President, and we’ve being working hard to try and find ways to boost jobs here in America. The President is assisting us greatly in trying to create jobs, to boost factories, and to be innovative with our products and services. Having met the President, I feel renewed and invigorated, keen to try and find ways to create new jobs, and I was mightily impressed by the President’s passion for helping the little guy. Rest assured, that with the President urging us on, we’ll find more ways to boost American trade, and jobs for the little guy. Thank you.’
I flew back down to San Diego in a Goose, calling Jimmy on scrambler from my home. ‘I told him we had fast planes, and he hinted that there are those who fear us. He’ll take more Jews if we can boost jobs.’
‘We could easily absorb ten thousand American workers into the mines in Africa, as well as recruit another forty thousand soldiers, and I’ll boost the Dow Jones.’
‘You expected this?’
‘Of course I did, I’m me.’
Smiling, I sent the President a telegram. ‘May we sponsor another forty thousand soldiers? And we’ll hire ten thousand for African mines to start with.’
I received a “thank you” telegram within an hour. Jimmy then made the President’s eyes water, a huge buying programme into stock we knew would do well, even buying into some of our own companies. The Dow Jones rallied strongly, the largest one-day rise in years. And Jimmy kept buying that week, optimism returning in the financial press.
Given the millions unemployed, our contribution was not huge, but it all helped to take men off the streets. Jimmy then commissioned our shipyards to develop six prototype submarines, work that would keep a few thousand men busy. The designs were handed over, basic wartime designs with a few improvements, quite a few. A few new alloys would be involved as well.
When I received a copy of the designs from the shipyard, I noticed something odd. These subs were double-hulled, reinforced with alloy rims, and were almost twice as long as normal subs of this period. They would be leviathans of the deep. They offered no gun on the deck, and were streamlined. Several add-on bulges were shown, but not their use. The propeller was enclosed, and the sub possessed large planes at the front.
Studying the drawings, I could see that our subs would be sliced into ten compartments, each watertight, and that they offered six escape hatches. The nose was more pointed than round, the conning tower trim and thin, this sleek fish designed for speed. No less than ten torpedo tubes were shown on the diagrams, plus two at the rear. Since I was just down the road from the yards I went and visited, grabbing the senior staff.
‘Kinda hoping you’re going to explain some of the strange stuff on this sub,’ they said.
‘Our … people will be coming down to explain it all,’ I said, taking a guess. ‘But, first things first. This sub will contain a few design secrets, so I want security tightened. And I mean … tightened, armed guards everywhere. No one photographs it under construction or in the dry dock. Ever.’
They glanced at each other.
‘Put up signs. I also want you to start checking staff, all your staff, and to look for Germans especially, then any Italians or Japanese. I’ll have the FBI go through all of the names.’
‘Why the security?’
‘As with our aircraft, we don’t want our research to be copied by others; if these subs are effective we’ll want to sell them to the Navy. If others copy them, then we lose out. So tighten security, or I’ll replace you with someone who can.’
They got the message.
‘Now, I want three eight-hour shifts devised -’
‘Three shifts? You … in a big hurry, sir?’
‘Always. Now, with three shifts of eight hours, when could they be ready?’
They glanced at each other. ‘Flat out busy, eighteen months.’
‘You have a year, or I’ll sack the lot of you. Hire more staff, and better staff, and spend some money. I’m not short of money, I am short of patience.’ As I said it, I realised I was becoming Jimmy. ‘And make sure that there’s a canteen for each shift, and plenty of coffee; I like to look after my staff. And a doctor or two in the yard for accidents. Is there a union?’
