English Electric

English Electric was a British industrial conglomerate formed in 1918 through the merger of several electrical and engineering firms, becoming a major manufacturer of diesel and electric locomotives, aircraft, guided weapons, and heavy electrical equipment. Its railway traction business built locomotives for British Railways and export markets, including the diesel-electric classes that helped power the dieselisation of Britain's railways in the 1950s and 1960s, while its aviation division designed and built the Canberra bomber and the Lightning supersonic interceptor. English Electric's aircraft and guided weapons interests were absorbed into the British Aircraft Corporation in 1960, and the remaining company later merged into GEC in 1968, ending English Electric as an independent manufacturer while its locomotive and engineering designs remained in service for decades afterward.