The Defence Research Board of Canada, 1947 to 1977 by Jonathan Turner A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology University of Toronto © Copyright by Jonathan Turner 2012 The Defence Research Board of Canada, 1947 to 1977 Jonathan Turner Doctor of Philosophy Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology University of Toronto 2012 Abstract The Defence Research Board of Canada existed from 1947 to 1977. It was created because of the successful contribution of scientific management and specific military technologies to victory in the Second World War, and it was dismantled during a period of review and renewal of the government’s science and defence policies. The demise of the Defence Research Board demonstrated the triumph of business and public administration models over scientific management in spite of the successful defence research program. Among the successful projects of the Defence Research Board were satellites, research rockets, hydrofoils, nylon pile clothing, the wind chill factor, the strategic distinction between first and second nuclear strikes, open heart surgery, and blast trials. The strengths of the Defence Research Board were the scientific management practices that united the four Chairmen (Omond Solandt, Hartley Zimmerman, Robert Uffen and Léon L’Heureux) and the bench scientists. Over the course of its existence the Defence Research Board was shaped by six chains of events. 1. Solandt’s ability to recruit veterans from 1947 to 1953, 2. The election of John Diefenbaker and the ensuing conflict between Diefenbaker and civil servants, particularly over nuclear weapons, which led to the Royal Commission on ii Government Organisation and a decade of review of national defence policy (including two White Papers, integration and unification, and the Management Review Group), 3. The science policy review that followed from C.D. Howe retiring from politics and the reports of the Royal Commission on Government Organization, 4. The Defence Research Board’s brushes with francophone nationalism and separatism, 5. The criticisms leveled against the Defence Research Board by the Voice of Women, and 6. The changing of Canadian demographics and values in general. This thesis documents the story of the Defence Research Board against its international, national, scientific and historical contexts. iii Acknowledgments For their help and support during the process of researching and writing this dissertation I would like to thank the following people: Kate Turner, my family (the Turners and Oates), my extended family (the Pettifers and Heathcotes), Janis Langins, Chen-Pang Yeang, Robert Bothwell, Steven Penfold, Edward Jones-Imhotep, archivists and librarians, co-panelists and conference commentators, the Gerstein Gang, my history teachers and professors, and, of course, defence researchers past, present and future. Without all of you this dissertation would not have happened. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Defence Research in Canada ...............................................................................................1 1.1.1 Peaceful Attitudes ....................................................................................................1 1.1.2 The Board and the DRB ...........................................................................................2 1.2 Pieces of the Puzzle .............................................................................................................4 1.2.1 Internal Histories ......................................................................................................4 1.2.2 Secondary Sources ...................................................................................................6 1.2.3 Primary Sources .....................................................................................................10 1.3 Interpretative Narration ......................................................................................................11 Chapter 2 Canadian Defence Research before the DRB ...............................................................12 2 Andrew McNaughton and C.J. Mackenzie, 1935-1947 ............................................................12 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................12 2.2 Organizing Government Science .......................................................................................13 2.2.1 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research .................................................13 2.2.2 National Research Council ....................................................................................14 2.2.3 Anticipating the War ..............................................................................................17 2.3 The Second World War .....................................................................................................20 2.3.1 Mobilizing Science and Technology: The Fall of France ......................................20 2.3.2 Wartime Projects: Radar ........................................................................................20 2.3.3 Wartime Projects: Operational Research ...............................................................23 v 2.3.4 Wartime Projects: Canadian Contributions to Tripartite Work .............................25 2.3.5 Canadian Scientists and Engineers in the War ......................................................30 2.4 Preparing for the Postwar World .......................................................................................31 2.4.1 Canada at War’s End .............................................................................................31 2.4.2 Science and Technology at the End of the War .....................................................32 2.4.3 Preparing for the Cold War ....................................................................................33 2.4.4 Towards an Establishment for Defence Research in Canada ................................35 2.5 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................38 Chapter 3 The Golden Age of Canadian Defence Research ..........................................................39 3 Omond Solandt, 1947-1956 ......................................................................................................39 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................39 3.1.1 Biography ...............................................................................................................39 3.1.2 Themes ...................................................................................................................40 3.2 Getting Started, 1947 to 1950 ............................................................................................41 3.2.1 Administrative Formalities ....................................................................................41 3.2.2 Converting the Wartime Establishments ...............................................................44 3.2.3 Initial Recruitment .................................................................................................47 3.2.4 The Selection Committee .......................................................................................54 3.3 Canada, 1947 to 1950 ........................................................................................................56 3.3.1 Domestic Politics and Board Membership ............................................................56 3.3.2 Demographics ........................................................................................................58 3.4 Germans and Missiles ........................................................................................................59 3.4.1 Expatriates..............................................................................................................59 3.4.2 Renewing Wartime Liaison ...................................................................................63 3.4.3 Guided Missiles .....................................................................................................65 3.5 The DRB within the DND .................................................................................................67 vi 3.5.1 Departmental Duties – Scientific Advising ...........................................................67 3.5.2 In Enemy Territory ................................................................................................69 3.6 The Atlantic Triangle .........................................................................................................70