Research Enterprises Limited
Research Enterprises Limited (REL for short) was a short-lived Toronto-based Crown Corporation that built electronics and optical instruments during World War II.
After REL was closed, their factories formed the basis of a Corning Glass plant, Philips Electronics, and a variety of other firms.
[1] Howlett returned a report on 11 September, stating that the first task should be to visit their US counterparts in the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and ask their advice.
[2] In Washington, Howlett found that his counterparts at the NBS had faced exactly the same problem in WWI, and were happy to provide complete details of their solutions.
On his way back to Ottawa, Howlett visited Bausch and Lomb (B&L) in Rochester and Spencer Lens (of the American Optical Company) in Buffalo, both of whom were equally forthcoming with information.
He was convinced the easiest solution was to simply get the Americans to do it, and they approached the Spencer Lens to set up shop in Canada, but they proved skeptical.
[3] The fall of France and the Dunkirk Evacuation convinced the authorities immediate action was needed, and the Optics Section received a request for the floor plan of a complete factory on 11 June 1940.
After short consideration, the decision was made, apparently by C. D. Howe,[1] to build the factory as a Crown Corporation known as Research Enterprises Limited.
Early consideration was given to building the factory in the Ottawa area, close to the NRC, but Sweny convinced them that Toronto's labor pool was more suitable.
[6] When he asked about radar, knowing they had been briefed on the topic by famous Canadian explorer Charles Wright in early 1939, Tizard was saddened to learn that only a small amount of money had been spent on studying the matter, and this only started in September 1939.
Although several rounds of funding had followed, including $40,000 in May 1940, the NRC efforts had been somewhat bumbling, successful only in developing a Coast Defence radar that was state-of-the-art for 1938.
Tizard told Fowler that they should immediately begin to work on starting production of the air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radar, used to search for ships and submarines.
[9] An office was opened in Toronto on 3 September 1940 to oversee the expansion, and the week of 14 to 20 October saw "much activity" by Howe, Sweny, Phillips and R.A. Hackbusch.
Northern Electric was placed in charge of starting production of the micropup tubes used in the ASV sets as well as the cavity magnetron used in more modern designs.
However, the company quickly fell behind on their deliveries, and put the blame on a number of engineering changes ordered by the Radio Branch of the NRC.
[12] A round of fingerpointing soon broke out, which had to be smoothed over by McNaughton, who made notes in his diary about his correspondence with Phillips: and said there was a general deterioration of the nerves these days, people were tired and there was a lot of loss of control.
On 11 November 1942, Col. Wallace visited REL with two of the NRC section heads and began interviewing people on the shop floor.
[13] During a visit to Ottawa in March 1943, Phillips met with Mackenzie and Wallace and agreed the problem was real, admitting "all the weaknesses of Hackbusch and [said] they are going to make a fundamental change which we all know is overdue by at least two years.
Among these were the Chain Home Low systems for the US that were rushed into service in the Canal Zone,[16] as well as being the primary supplier of the UK's GL Mk.
[17] To support their construction, the company also ran a training facility in concert with the NRC, located near today's Bluffer's Park in Scarborough.
The US had brought their own massive production capacity to bear, and were no longer placing large orders with Canadian firms.
[22] Some of the vacated factory area was later used by another Crown Corporation, Turbo Research, but like REL they found their funding was dwindling as the war effort wound down.
Turbo Research was purchased by Avro Canada in 1946 and became Orenda Engines, moving to Malton on the west side of the city.
[23] With the ending of the war there was some political debate about keeping the larger Crown companies under government control, selling them whole, or simply closing them as rapidly as possible.
Portions of the electronics factory were taken over by Honeywell Controls, others were used by Rogers-Majestic (the original Rogers Communications) until that was sold to Canadian Radio Manufacturing and then again to Philips.
[22] Philips built a new three-story executive office building on the site known as "The White House", which was officially opened by Paul Hellyer and Ontario Premier William Davis in 1966.
I, but deliveries were slowed due to demands for glass and production facilities for the wide variety of instruments then under construction, everything from gunsights for tanks and artillery to observer's telescopes to the binoculars.
