Letters from a Prime Minister

[1275psi]

Captain Smith joins John just before dawn.
Napier steams to the rear of the line, the low silhouette of Perth a mere 2000 yards to Port.
In the quiet, John can hear the surf, the seagulls.
A car moves down the beach road, as if oblivious to them.

If there are Japanese watching them, then that's all they are doing.
Perth lies quiet, in the shadow off a great many guns.

It will be hard, the Captain said.
One can but hope that Perths citizens are well aware of what is about to come.

The harbour begins to come into view, Napiers target for today, the wharf cranes, crystalizing.
Her guns swing, bounce.

Captain Smith lowers his glasses from Repulse. "Standby boys....here we go"


Nizam, Napier, Norman.

Dorcheshire, Australia, Hobart, Perth, Achilles

And, of course, Repulse.

One hour of noise, of thunder, of exhilaration.
One hour of disaster for Japan











40 oscars damaged
42 nates
14 Mavis

416 fires
3 manpower
Airfield 9
Aviation support 7
Runway 52
Port 20 hits
Port supply 3

And yes, Napier does get her cranes.

It takes nearly two hours, before the Japs come at them.

[1275psi]

22 June 1942

Credit, for where credit is due.
Heroes serve on the other side too. You want to kill him, destroy him, defeat him utterly.
And yet, because men, fighting men, ultimately are joined in the fraternal brotherhood
of war, you sometimes have to admire them

Its a brilliant attack, coming from the sea, coming in out of the sea mist, so low,
and almost silent, they must have glided in.
3 Nells.
3 torpedoes dropped before the japs have been spotted.
And Repulse swallows one.

It should not matter. She should shrug this off.
But with mounting Horror John sees the little black balls rise up the mast
'I am not under control'



Esperance draws its first attacks.
29 Zeros, 16 bombers.
They come in, seeking the transports, seeking fat helpless targets

They meet fat, not nearly so helpless wildcats.
Swarms of them

The convoy remains untouched, the bombers turned away, savaged.

Near Albany a small convoy, 3 AXL, a DD, attract another attack, 36 Vals, fighters.
The destroyer takes a hit, the 3 AXL will be lost.
A bearable cost. (Unless of course, you, personally, pay that cost)

And then, instead of bombing Jack, a dozen Lillies try for the Esperance invasion.
Without escort.
The carrier pilots are wracking up the kills. And surely Japanese air strength is waning?
Yes. But the day is still young.

[1275psi]

The three Japanese divisions facing Blamey are backed by up to 6 Artillery units.
Maybe its to keep Blamey pinned down while the 4th Jap division to his North (the 16th)
deals with the motorised brigade it faces. Maybe its a prelude to another attack.
Maybe, its a bluff.
It is short, not that heavy, this bombardment.
Short. And ineffectual.

Short.

Japan too, is way out in the middle of no where.

Blamey takes the reports from Esperance. The road north is cut. The town is occupied by
2 broken tank units, 15th Army HQ, an engineer unit.
Its going to fall, maybe not today, but its going to fall.

As the Japanese guns fall silent, the dust settles. New orders.
"March the Maltilda's" .......south, then west, then north. Time to do some surrounding of our
own.
A dash for Kalgoorlie its self.
And why not?.......what has Japan got out here that can stop them?

[1275psi]

And how, some continue to ask, can the allies cross the Indian ocean, and roam the coasts
of Western Australia un challenged by the Japanese, especially their carriers?

Because, other than Hiyo and its small sisters, the big buggars are in the gulf of Alaska.
Today, a definite sighting, many carriers, a great many , steaming due East, south of Kodiac.

Chiricoff island seems to be home for countless ships.

North Command strikes first.
Risking much, nearly everything that can fly has been transferred to Kodiac, and the strikes go out.

22nd of June.
War on all fronts, war climbing now to an inevitable climax.

The strikes go out.......and its still only the morning.

[1275psi]

Yes, its the morning still.
For Jason, a good mornings work.

If you can , in any sense of the word, call the horrors of war good.

And this is what Jason now views, a road of horror.
2 complete Japanese base force units, the shattered remains of Carnovans occupation force,
overtaken by 7th division, its armour, the British armour regiment.

The Japanese have simply been obliterated.
They line the roads edges now, float in the surf , lie strewn in the dunes between road and sea.
Dead
All of them.

As horrible the smell, the sights, the carnage is, Jason , as he motors on through the "battle"zone,
cannot help think just one thing

A bloody good days work.

[1275psi]

Pilot Officer Taylor leads the first attack.

As he guides his Dauntless higher into the skies, he hunkers down into the cockpit.
Cold is an inadequate word for the skies about him.
He's known snow, for sure, but this is ridiculous. How Brett, his gunner, is handling it, he
does not want to know.
Poor barsted comes from Florida.

The skies are clear, deep blue......the ocean dark, grey, violent.
The flight to Chiricoff is short...and easy to find.
The B17's have left a wonderful column of smoke from the field to arrow too.

4 of the escorting wildcats suddenly peel away, dicing down. A lone zero.......
And suddenly Taylor does not feel the cold....there in the shelter of the island,
ships, ships, more bloody ships.........

Now for the moment.
Stick forward....sharply, the stomach rising, left hand wrenching out the dive flaps....
the nose plunging down, a touch of rudder,, the fat transport square in the sights.
Flack bursts, somewhere......
The transport grows, grows, impossible to miss.....

Bomb gone, the wrenching, crushing pull out, the crump behind.

Taylor banks his bomber hard away from the shipping, hugging the coastline of Chiricoff, bending
his flight back to the north, the angry waves mere feet below.
Exhilaration, excitement, satisfaction.......
"We got four of the $#@$%êrs." Brett yells, "four of....Jesus! look to Port, God, look to Port!"

Port. There to Port.......4 transports hit, but now he knows, four bombs wasted.
Battleships.....at least 5 of them, and amongst them a giant no recognition sheet has
ever displayed....

And all steaming North. Straight for Kodiac. Straight for his home.

[kaleun]

4 transports hit, but now he knows, four bombs wasted.

Although I believe command would prefer the transports over useless hits on the battlewagons[;)]

[1275psi]

Its still the 22nd.
A day where the minutes drag into hours for some, the hours go in minutes for others.
The sun is well up, high in the sky over Esperance, the men and equipment still trickling ashore.
Resistance is almost nil in the town. For many of the men coming ashore, the greatest fear
seems to be of sharks, these are, apparently, white pointer waters

They will remain un disturbed through out the day, the CAP will see to that.
The wildcats, in fact, have a fantastic day. Somehow, the Japanese manage to send
no less than every Kate bomber in Australia at the beach head.

36 beautiful un escorted targets.


Over Perth, however, a different tale.

[1275psi]

Napier races at full speed, Captain Smith weaving a desperate dance around Repulse.
John stands beside him, facing aft, staring straight into the sky.
Bedlam is bursting about them, Napiers guns are barking, barking, hammering.
So are Normans, Nizams. Repulse too barks in defiance.
The sky is filling with Flak, dark bursts drifting across the blue, blue sky.

The Japs, with reckless courage, ignore them.
Somebodies guns claw the first Val out of the sky, and John grins.
It lasts but a moment , this grin, turning to a taunt grimace.
There are too many of them, too many.

And these barsteds are too good.

40 plus Vals stoop, and too many, too many, score.
In short, shattering moments (or an eternity of moments for her crew), repulse is turned
into a burning shambles, her light guns silent, her upper decks a slaughterhouse.
Moments later, ss some bloody thing, puts 2 fish into her as well.

Her Captain turns her slowing hulk towards the coast 20 odd miles away, intending to beach.
20 miles, 200. All the same.

[1275psi]

22 June

A long, long day

Much happening, many losses, yes, but much achieved.
At Carnovan, we continue to unload,, now the heavy stuff.
And the journey south has begun ( and we note at perth, troops moving North)

A, beyond a doubt, successful landing.
At Esperance, another successful landing, tomorrow, or the day after, its ours

and best of all, the back of Japanese air Brocken in Western Australia, and our Carriers remain
undamaged.

In reply, Japan moves towards Kodiac. With all it has in carrier air.

The plan is simple now. The STRATEGIC application of Naval power. Blockade Western Australia
Pound the remaining coastal bases, and land everywhere, or threaten to do so.....
His carriers pursue a TACTICAL operation, and let him continue to do so.

If I lose Kodiac, I lose nothing strategic.
Killing 5 divisions, is.
Papua New Guinea grows, and grows.
Soon, soon, time to flex the strength gathering there.

[1275psi]

23rd June
Nothing can fly from from Kodiak, nothing.
Regretfully the wild winds and driving rain do nothing to prevent the Japanese
invasion fleet coming into the sheltered bay.

There is barely room for them.
24 large AKs, 3 cruisers, 5 destroyers.
The defenders open up, and soon a good number are burning.
The Japanese, 2 divisions strong, begin to pour ashore.

Seeward, allied airbase to the North, cannot help. It is pounded by Japanese Carrier planes,
The full strength of the Carrier arm.

There is no despair at Kodiak. We are dug in, deep. We are well supplied.
And maybe, just maybe, we are stronger than the enemy thought.

[1275psi]

Repulse goes down.
Another SS strike.

Napier takes on her share of survivors, turns North for Carnovan.
This for now, will be home.

[1275psi]

From
POTUS
to
Prime Minister Australia

It is apparent that the entire weight of Japans carrier air arm is in action
in the gulf of Alaska.
I am, of course, now receiving considerable heat from various parties who retain
a very narrow view of the war.
Japan boasts that Kodiak is just the start.. I think it a massive mis calculation.

I want to make very clear that Australia, the destruction of the invaders in your
fair land, remains the number one priority. The carriers will remain, until this is done.
It may all come down to a matter of who holds their nerve longest.. Based on the war
so far, I doubt that it could ever be Australia..........

[1275psi]

From
Prime Minister Australia
to
Winston

The invasion of Esperance appears to be successful. I am pleased to say that your
request to have your Carriers back can be fulfilled, but can we keep the R's???
Very much share your sorrow at loss of Repulse. A valiant ship doing her duty.
On your questions on future trade..............

[1275psi]

From Winston
to
Prime Minister Australia

Your offer of 1 million sheep carcasses gratefully accepted. Pleased with progress
of operations Western Australia.
In light of current situation, if shipping can be found, intend to send 2nd Division
to you.
Winston

[1275psi]

24th June

Do your duty
War demands it.
Your comrades about you demand it
Your inner self demands it

This is bravery, to do your duty

CL Helena, her Captain, the destroyer captains that follow her, do theirs
In this terrible weather, they pound back into Kodiak
The invasion convoy is there, but its a forlorn hope.
Hiei, Haranua??, bar the way
Some transports are hit, not enough.

Then doom, the Giant returns. Yamato shoots terribly well, terribly............

Helena sunk, all hands lost.
Duty done.

The Japanese carriers strike, 113 Kate, strike the field at Kodiak, followed by yet more
battleship fire.
A Japanese triumph.80 aircraft destroyed or damaged on the ground.
Allied air shattered in the Alaska gulf, what remains is evacuated.

The troops continue pouring ashore.

[blueatoll]

Time to free up the Canucks?

[1275psi]

25th June
Johns mind is actually a thousand miles away when the call comes.
he is daydreaming of the station, the rolling green paddocks.....The call yanks him rudely
back into the real world
"Sir!!!, Nizam rëports submarine contact!"
"Äction stations!..............." that's the easy part, but where the hell is Nizam??

Its dark, bloody dark, blowing a stiff breeze, the seas are coming over the bow every 30 seconds.
This will not be easy.
"Port 20!, "Starshell port!"

Carnovan is only 4 hours away, arrival due at dawn. The next 4 hours instead will be
spent fruitlessly hunting for the sub. 4 hours of fuel expenditure, of further effort, of no sleep.
Napiers crew are at the limits of exhaustion. Her fuel tanks are all but empty.
Carnovan, that pimple, is hardly going to be the place to replenish both.

[1275psi]

Port Moresby flexes it first muscles

12 B17's strike Lae, brushing aside a few zeros
18 hit Rabual. . There is no CAP. 2 CM, 2 SC, an AV, a DMS, a APD, 2 AK all hit.
The Alutiens are a long way away.

he sends 163 Kates against Kodiak. Troops ashore now 2 divisions, 2 Engineer units.
Kodiak is held by a tank regiment, a normal regiment, a lot of artillery, under 6 forts.

We think it will hold.

[1275psi]

East of Kalgoorlie.

Blameys tanks crawl westward , a hundred or more steel beetles trailing
clouds of dust.
The Maltildas form a solid wedge in the middle, the lighter stuarts on the flanks.
Near midday, Japanese positions come into view, a series of gun pits, black pimples spread
across the sands

Artillery.
No Antitank
No infantry

The seel beetles spit fire, the Japanese.......the Japanese die.
Crushed.
The beetles keep on moving west, at dusk they change course, North West, towards Kalgoorlie.
They are in the Japs rear.