Walkie-Talkie

(1937) Invented by Donald L. Hings (19072004) Worked in Trail, British Columbia Donald L. Hings, an engineer and inventor, equipped the Canadian and British military with an early eearly version of the portable two-way wireless le radio (walkie-talkie) during the Second World War. In 1937 Donald Hings created a portable radio signaling system for his employer CM&S, which he called a “packset”, but which later became known as the “Walkie-Talkie”. He was working at Cominco in Trail, British Columbia. In 1939 CM&S sent Hings to Ottawa to redevelop his new invention for military use, and he worked there from 1940 to 1945. During these years, he developed a number of models, including the successful C-58 Walkie-Talkie which eventually sold eighteen thousand units produced for infantry use. Following the war, he moved to Burnaby, British Columbia, where he established an electronics R&D company, Electronic Labs of o Canada. He held more than 55 patents in Canada C and the United States.