The WS27 was developed in 1943 by Donald Hings. He was the same person that developed the WS58. They were made by Rogers-Majestic in Toronto.
It was the Canadian answer to the WS38. It was government policy to procure Canadian made equipment as much as possible. The First Canadian Army ordered 6000 units in 1943 with the first 3000 to be delivered in two drafts.
Like the WS58, Hings developed the set around a unique battery and lack of supply of said battery caused it's demize. With a field life span of 12 hours of use the DND estimated a need for 36,000 batteries per month. This wasn't available. In July 1944 the Canadian Army Overseas cancelled the order. It's estimated that about 900-1000 units were made but the highest s/n I've seen is in the 500 range.
There was a last ditch attempt by UK Combined Operations to purchase 600 sets but the order was declined.
The cost of each unit was $70. The only service parts were spare tubes and coils. If anything else failed the set was to be destroyed.
I still have one (I think that photo is my set) and have done a fair bit of research on it (along with all the other Canadian sets).
Bruce
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