Most of the rest of Stanley Baldwin's time as Prime Minister was occupied by colonial policy. Concerned that Britain's far flung empire would be vulnerable in the event of war, Baldwin enacted a number of reforms to strengthen imperial defense. The most most important of these was the Overseas Service Program, in which British officers would be regularly rotated through various different colonial outposts, allowing them to gain important experience and intelligence about the various different fronts...
May 21, 1936, Delhi, British India
Captain Charles Wellesley supposed he should have expected this when he signed up for the Military Academy. He'd hoped for a nice comfortable post. He had a wife and a young daughter after all. But he should have realized that comfortable places usually didn't need nearly as many troops as uncomfortable places, and as far he was concerned, India fell decisively into the latter camp.
But as uncomfortable as it was, it was also fascinating and exotic, just as he'd imagined as he read those Kipling books as a boy. The people, the music, the buildings, the food, the constant tribal bickering (well, all right, he could have done without that bit) all mesmerized him.
He was less enchanted with having to deal with the people though...
"ATTENTION!" He shouted, and his Indian troops rather clumsily snapped into shape, or something vaguely resembling it. Many of their khaki uniforms were somewhat ill fitting. Many of them worse turbans, except for the Christians, who preferred to wear British style helmets. More than a few of them slouched a bit, and nearly all of them held their rifles quite clumsily. It would be up to Captain Wellesley to try and turn these tramps into a proper army, and he could already tell it wouldn't be easy.
"Permission to speak Captain?" One of the Hindus asked.
"Granted."
"Captain, I am afraid I cannot serve alongside these men."
"And why is that?" Wellesley demanded.
"Because sir, they are..." He lowered his voice, "Untouchables. To associate with them brings dishonor upon me. I would like to request that..."
Wellesley marched right up into the upstart Private's face.
"REQUEST DENIED! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BLOODY BACKWARDS RELIGION'S RULES! AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN THE BRITISH ARMY YOU WILL FOLLOW BRITISH RULES, AND THAT'S AN ORDER!"
He turned to the rest of them.
"Now, time for drill. Lieutenant McGregor!"
"Yes sir?" A redheaded man with an Ulster Scots accent replied.
"See to it that these men are properly drilled."
"YES SIR!" McGregor snapped to attention. "ALRIGHT MEN! HUP 2 3 4..." They all marched off behind him as Captain Wellesley retired to his quarters. When he entered his old style bungalow, he was greeted by his Indian Maid, Ms. Singh dusting the walls, while his wife Elizabeth held their sleeping baby daughter Diana as they listened to very British music on the radio. Charles mused for a moment that his daughter had been born here, and had never known any other country. "Some place to raise a child..." He murmured.
"Aw Darling!" Elizabeth said, "How were things at the barracks?"
"Alright." He said. He didn't care to trouble her with what had happened earlier.
Just then the song on the radio ended, and the very posh voice of an announcer began speaking.
"Welcome to the BBC News Program! The British Parliament recently passed a new act, allowing for the finest minds in the colonies to be brought to study together in London. What eactly they will be working on there is unknown..."
Wellesley didn't know either, but being a military man, he suspected that it was some sort of secret weapons project as likely as not.
"In other news, Prime Minister Baldwin has hired Phillip Kerr as his Foreign Minister. Mr. Kerr previously worked in the Lloyd George and Ramsay MacDonald governments, and played a large role in drafting the Treaty of Versailles. He has been a well known peace activist, and it is expected that this desire for peace will have a large influence on his foreign policy."
Wellesley wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. He liked peace as much as anyone, but if peace meant giving in to people like Adolf Hitler, he wasn't sure it was worth it.
"Mr. Kerr has also announced his plans to strengthen Britain's ties with our Dominions: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, as well as our other colonies like India and Malaya. According to Kerr, this will involve aiding them in further developing their infrastructure and defenses."
Aw, that was more like it! Anything that furthered the cause of imperial unity could only be a good thing!
Elizabeth reached to switch the radio off. "Well" she yawned, "I'm ready to retire to bed. What about you Charles?"
"That sounds lovely dear." He replied. After Elizabeth handed Diana to Ms. Chandra, he followed her to bed for the night.
-
So, let me know in the comments what you thought of this more character based chapter.
No comments:
Post a Comment