It was with great interest I read Chris Fanning’s article about the Avro Arrow. He used the phrase, “with strong ties to PEC,” in his article. I thought maybe more than most know. The radio system for the Avro Arrow was designed and built by Collins Radio of Canada by PEC native Harry B. Dulmage. Harry was born here 100 years ago this week. He passed away at the age of 92. The son of Will and Florence (nee Welbanks) Dulmage, he was a graduate of Prince Edward High School. He went on to educate himself through a correspondance course in Radio from the Radio College of Canada while he earned a living working at Walker’s Hardware and later delivering bread.

When the war broke out he joined the RCAF, eventually becoming an Instructor at No. 1 Wireless School in St. Hubert, PQ.

After the war he used his veterans’ benefits to earn a degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 1950. ( I was at his graduation, two weeks old, with my mother). He was hired by General Electric of Canada to a project called Giving FM Radio its Commercial Voice.

Collins grabbed him a few years later and assigned him to the Arrow Radio project. At his funeral the Collins/Rockwell group listed his design accomplishments. When the Arrow was cancelled something in him also died. He left Collins vowing to never work on politically sensitive government contracts again. Us boys had Arrow for breakfast, lunch and supper during its construction. I have been to the Collins Radio plant with Dad many times on a Saturday when he had to go in and shut down and evaluate a relay cycle test or some other thing. If you find a photo of the rollout of the first Arrow at the AVRO plant you will find him there, standing under the end of the delta wing. I saw the Arrow twice. Which number I don’t know. The last time was a week or so before they were cancelled and destroyed. At the time we were living in Altona near Stouffville. Dad did return to his beloved Prince Edward in the late ’60s and a couple of his boys are still here.

Don Dulmage

Ameliasburgh