311:. His secretary, Audrey Underwood (given the name Claire in the CBC mini-series), left AVRO Canada for New York to escape from her relationship with Crawford, who had refused to divorce his wife. Crawford pursued her to New York in an attempt to win back her love (as verified by Arrow Expert Greig Stewart and by the Underwood family). Underwood was the daughter of Canadian Unarmed Combat and Self-Defence legend Bill Underwood, who created the first Unarmed Combat system for the Canadian Forces in WW2, known as COMBATO (documented by the Canadian Forces). Crawford's drinking problems and depression then served to exacerbate his distrust of the Diefenbaker government into outright abuse. That abuse did not help with the government's disdain for the Arrow program while it was under
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219:(1957) and Canadian Steel Improvement Ltd. By 1958, A. V. Roe Canada was an industrial giant with over 50,000 employees in a far-flung empire of 44 companies involved in coal mining, steel making, railway rolling stock, aircraft and aero-engine manufacturing, as well as computers and electronics. The companies generated annual sales in the $ 450 million range, ranking A.V. Roe Canada as the third largest corporation in Canada.
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Gordon may have clashed with the
Diefenbaker government due to a number of pressures, including the unexpected delays in getting the Avro Arrow into production, and the threat to the Arrow from the rise of the missile (it was designed to intercept manned bombers). There may have also been a
251:: during the only meeting between the two, Gordon was described as "drunken, rude" and "puffed (cigarette) smoke in the old man's face". Gordon was a heavy drinker and Diefenbaker a
121:. He was perhaps one of the greatest industrialists and business minds in Canadian history; Gordon bought two companies and held one CEO position, but eventually lost it all.
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Gordon continued to ask for further funding as the interceptor program for the CF-105 Arrow proceeded, particularly as the program scope expanded to include the new
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Gordon was born in
Winnipeg in 1914. He was the first child of Crawford Gordon Sr. and Ethel Flora Fortune, the latter of whom had survived the sinking of the RMS
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In
October 1951, Howe arranged for Gordon, now with the Department of Defense Production, to take over as president and general manager of
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on 26 January 1967 of liver failure. Friends said he drank himself to his death; he could handle success, but not failure.
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During
Crawford's tenure in the 1950s, A.V. Roe Canada was restructured into two separate divisions: Avro Aircraft Ltd. and
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Gordon's battles and gambles finally lost out when the Arrow program was canceled on 20 February 1959. Gordon was fired as
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fighter interceptor. Under Gordon's encouragement to Avro's designers, Avro offered to design and build the new
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advanced turbojet engine, when other manufacturers' engine designs were dropped or proved inadequate. When the
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threat. In 1953 the government commenced funding of a study for what would first be the design for the
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By the summer of 1966, his net worth of $ 3 million had mostly evaporated. After a long battle with
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president not long after the Arrow cancellation. Gordon's life was on a downward spiral afterward.
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Grattan O'Leary, quoted by
Palmiro Campagna, preface to the third paperback edition, p. 18.
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37:(LāR) Sir Roy Dobson and Crawford Gordon Jr. Note: Avro Arrow in background, c. 1957
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Arrow
Through the Heart: The Life and Times of Crawford Gordon and the Avro Arrow.
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The Avro Arrow Story: The
Revolutionary Airplane and its Courageous Test Pilots.
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government in which Howe served was defeated, Gordon had to deal with the new
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Shutting Down the
National Dream: A.V. Roe and the Tragedy of the Avro Arrow.
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Dan
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Crawford Gordon was portrayed, with a good visible likeness, by
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Storms of
Controversy: The Secret Avro Arrow Files Revealed
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Requiem for a Giant: A.V. Roe Canada and the Avro Arrow
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348:, 18 January 1997, A2, quoting J.L. Granatstein.
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477:St. Catharine's, Ontario: Vanwell, 2002.
411:. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979.
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196:delta-wing aircraft, and eventually the
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113:under Minister of Munitions and Supply
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441:. Toronto: Stoddard Publishing, 1992.
393:There Never Was an Arrow (CBC TV 1980)
315:pressure to make just one choice for
492:Calgary: Altitude Publishing, 2005,
475:Avro Aircraft and Cold War Aviation.
463:Toronto: McGraw-Hill-Ryerson, 1991.
448:Toronto: McGraw-Hill-Ryerson, 1998.
384:Bothwell and Kilbourn 1980, p. 266.
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357:Bothwell and Kilbourn 1980, p. 95.
296:Crawford Gordon in popular culture
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344:"The legacy of the Avro Arrow."
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539:Canadian industrialists
185:as needed to counter a
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249:clash of personalities
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16:Canadian businessman
437:Campagna, Palmiro.
422:Campagna, Palmiro.
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25:Crawford Gordon Jr.
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143:Gordon was one of
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488:Zuk, Bill.
319:defense of
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302:Dan Aykroyd
259:Final years
179:interceptor
159:Avro Canada
125:Early years
117:during the
95:Avro Canada
523:Categories
327:References
317:aeronautic
272:alcoholism
253:teetotaler
173:supersonic
145:C. D. Howe
49:1914-12-22
309:The Arrow
288:The Arrow
135:in 1912.
115:C.D. Howe
57:Winnipeg
291:(1996).
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132:Titanic
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65:Died
43:Born
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