RAF Norton
{{Short description|Former RAF base in South Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = RAF Norton
| ensign =
| ensign_size =
| native_name =
| partof =
| location = Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire{{#tag:ref|The site operated between 1939 and 1965. The area it was located in was the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974, when the part that it was in became South Yorkshire.|name=Location|group=note}}
| country = England
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| type =
| coordinates = {{Coord|53.339|-1.438|display=inline, title}}
| gridref = SK355808
| pushpin_map = South Yorkshire
| pushpin_map_alt = Relief map of South Yorkshire showing location of RAF Norton
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within South Yorkshire
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_mark =
| pushpin_marksize =
| ownership = Air Ministry
| operator = Royal Air Force
| controlledby = Balloon Command
Signals Command
| site_area = {{convert|155|acre}}
| used = {{ubl|
- 1939–1943 No. 16 Balloon Centre (RAF Lightwood)
- 1943–1965 RAF Norton
}}
| builder =
| materials =
| height =
| length =
| fate =
| condition = Derelict
}}
Royal Air Force Norton (or RAF Norton), was a non-flying RAF station on the southern edge of Sheffield in Yorkshire, England. The base had two distinct stages in its RAF career, being known as RAF Lightwood between 1939 and 1943, and later RAF Norton between 1943 and 1965. On opening it was part of Balloon Command designated to protect the city of Sheffield, and in its second iteration, the base was part of Signals Command and an aircrew refresher school was also based there.
History
In 1915, land on the south-eastern edge of Sheffield, was prepared to become a landing ground for the use of No.33 Sqn in the Home Defence role across Northern England.{{cite book |last1=Lomax |first1=S. C. |title=The home front : Sheffield in the First World War |date=2014 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1781592960 |page=168}} The base was named Coal Aston and was to the west of RAF Norton by some {{convert|1.452|mi}}.{{cite web |title=Sheffield south |url=https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.5&lat=53.33448&lon=-1.44958&layers=168&b=1 |website=maps.nls.uk |access-date=22 November 2022 |quote=Coal Aston was located at SK306808, Norton was at SK376826. The measurement tool (for distance), can be found on the top right of the NLS map window}}{{cite map|title =Sheffield & Barnsley |map =278 |year =2019 |scale =1:25,000 |series =Explorer |publisher =Ordnance Survey |isbn =978-0-319-24475-3 }} An altar made from the propellers of crashed aircraft on the Western Front was made here by RAF apprentices in 1919. It was installed in the Airmens Chapel at Southwell Minster.{{cite web |title=Southwell Minster (1) The RAF, Katyn Forest Massacre and the Battle of Britain |url=https://faithinwartime.wordpress.com/2015/09/13/southwell-minster-1-the-raf-katyn-forest-massacre-and-the-battle-of-britain/ |website=faithinwartime.wordpress.com |access-date=11 May 2023 |date=13 September 2015}}{{#tag:ref|The altar is credited with being made at RAF Norton (Sheffield) in 1919, but the base did not exist until the late 1930s, and was originally RAF Lightwood, being renamed Norton in 1943. As the altar was used in the church at Norton Woodseats, it is assumed that this is how the error arose.{{cite web |title=Southwell Minster – Features and Fittings |url=https://southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/southwell-minster/hfitting.php |website=southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk |access-date=11 May 2023}}{{cite web |title=RAF Norton Camp |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/52992 |website=iwm.org.uk |access-date=11 May 2023}}|name=Confusion|group=note}} This location closed in 1919.{{sfn|Handley|Rotherham|2023|page=14}}
With the threat of another war, steps were taken for the defence of important industrial areas of Britain.{{cite book |last1=Collier |first1=Basil |title=The defence of the United Kingdom |date=1957 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=44|oclc=1001054300}} Sheffield was designated as No. 16 Balloon Centre with No. 33 Group, part of Balloon Command, and the {{convert|155|acre|adj=on}} RAF Lightwood site was opened in 1939 off Lightwood Lane in Norton to provide a base for training and deployment of a balloon barrage around Sheffield.{{cite book |last1=Bowyer |first1=Chaz |title=Royal Air Force handbook, 1939–1945 |date=1984 |publisher=I. Allan |location=London |isbn=0711013187 |page=57}}{{cite news |title=Remembering the RAF in Sheffield and South Yorkshire as centenary arrives |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/remembering-the-raf-in-sheffield-and-south-yorkshire-as-centenary-arrives-310364 |access-date=23 August 2023 |work=The Sheffield Star |date=29 March 2018}}{{sfn|Handley|Rotherham|2023|page=156}} The site had two squadrons, No. 939 and No 940 Squadrons who had 40 balloons (in five flights) and 32 balloons (in four flights) respectively. No 939 Sqn had a responsibility for Sheffield, and No. 940 had the responsibility for Rotherham.{{cite book |last1=James |first1=T. C. G. |title=The Battle of Britain: Air Defence of Great Britain, Volume II |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9781135273989 |page=334}}{{cite book |last1=Collier |first1=Basil |title=The defence of the United Kingdom |date=1957 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=477|oclc=1001054300}} The balloon squadrons soon were converted to being operated by the WAAF so that the men of the RAF could be released for active duty elsewhere. However, the women of the WAAF at Norton were billeted to two per bed, something which the director of the WAAF complained "bitterly" about in April 1940.{{cite book |last1=Escott |first1=Beryl E. |title=Women in air force blue: the story of women in the Royal Air Force from 1918 to the present day |date=1989 |publisher=Patrick Stephens Limited |location=Wellingborough |isbn=1852600667 |page=99}}
After the threat of Luftwaffe action had receded in 1943, the balloons were moved south to defend London and the squadrons at Lightwood disbanded. The base was renamed RAF Norton, and handed over from Balloon Command to Signals Command, with No. 3 Ground Radio and Radar Servicing Squadron (3GRRSS) taking over.{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Julia |title=The fascinating wartime story of Sheffield's former RAF base – as amazing aerial photo reveals demolition of site |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2507347067/citation/FA96304D29E24786PQ/2 |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The Sheffield Star |date=30 March 2021|url-access=limited}}{{ProQuest|2507347067}} 3GRSS used RAF Norton until its closure in 1965.{{cite web |title=No 3 Ground Radio Servicing Squadron (GRSS), Norton. With appendices |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4103051 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=11 May 2023}} Unlike nearby RAF Coal Aston, RAF Lightwood/RAF Norton was never furnished with a runway or active airfield.{{sfn|Handley|Rotherham|2023|page=1}}
Between 1943 and 1945, Norton was also the site of an aircrew refresher school, a place where those who were branded as having a "Lack of Moral Fibre" (LMF) within Bomber Command were sent to be "corrected".{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Edgar |title=LMF: The Use of Psychiatric Stigma in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War |journal=The Journal of Military History |date=2006 |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=439–458 |doi=10.1353/jmh.2006.0103|s2cid=159946853 |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/files/37843428/LMF_paper_J_Military_History.pdf }} Sometimes, those who endured the three-week course at Norton were sent there simply because their commanding officer believed they had lost their nerve.{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Kevin |title=Men of air : doomed youth of Bomber Command |date=2008 |publisher=Phoenix |location=London |isbn=978-0753823989 |pages=64–65}}
The role of the base post Second World War was to train and support the RAF Signals cadre; in 1956, No. 90 Signals Group sent a convoy from Norton to Famagusta in Cyprus.{{cite web |title=NORTON. Includes 15 photographs depicting: No 90 (Signals) Group, RAF Norton, Sheffield:... |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4099409 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=23 August 2023}} Between 1955 and 1961, Supermarine Spitfire F24 (no. PK724) was used for instructional purposes at Norton, having been sent from No. 9 Maintenance Unit at Cosford.{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=Andrew |title=SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE F.24 PK724/7288M MUSEUM ACCESSION NO.74/A/22 |url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/74-A-22-Spitfire-24-PK724.pdf |website=rafmuseum.org.uk |access-date=11 May 2023}} Another Spitfire (TB308) was also based at Norton in the late 1950s, like PK724, it was used as an instructional aircraft.{{sfn|Handley|Rotherham|2023|page=86}} TB308 was scrapped at RAF Bicester in the early 1960s, but PK724 was preserved in the national collection at the museum in Hendon.{{sfn|Handley|Rotherham|2023|page=87}} During the 1950s, the base held many air shows, but aircraft flew in from other bases as the site was not equipped with a runway (despite sometimes being referred to as an aerodrome).{{sfn|Handley|Rotherham|2023|page=1}}
The site was used to accommodate rescue and relief workers in February 1962 after storm-force gales had hit the Sheffield area killing four, wounding 250 and damaging 70,000 homes.{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Julia |title=Sheffield hurricane 1962: Four killed, hundreds made homeless and city declared National Disaster Zone |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2629508795 |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The Sheffield Star |date=16 February 2022|id={{ProQuest|2629508795}} |url-access=limited}}{{ProQuest|2629508795}} The ensign at RAF Norton was lowered for the last time on 29 January 1965, with complete closure happening in the same year.
Based units
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Unit !Dates !Notes !Ref |
| No. 939 Squadron
|1939–1943 |Part of 16 Balloon Centre, No. 33 Group, Balloon Command |
| No. 940 Squadron
|1939–1943 |Part of 16 Balloon Centre, No. 33 Group Balloon Command |
| No. 2616 RAF Regiment RAuxAF Squadron
|1950s |Disbanded at Doncaster in 1957 |
| No. 3 Ground Radio and Radar Servicing Squadron
|1943–1965 |Moved to RAF North Luffenham |
| No. 35 Maintenance Unit
|18 May 1943 – 1 December 1943 |Sub-site of main contingent at RAF Heywood |
| No. 241 Maintenance Unit
|1 December 1943 – 30 December 1949{{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|2007|p=183}} | |
| Air Crew Refresher School
|1 July 1943 – 26 July 1945 |Disbanded |{{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|2007|p=44}} |
Badge
A badge was approved and issued for Norton in June 1954. The blazon on the badge shows two gauntlets grasping a chain being crossed by a flash of lightning. The symbolism was the signals and communications nature of the base which tested and provided mobile radar and radio convoys.{{cite web |title=RAF Norton {{!}} RAF Heraldry Trust |url=https://www.rafht.co.uk/index.php/2018/04/11/raf-norton/ |website=rafht.co.uk |access-date=11 May 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Holliss |first1=Barry R. |title=Knights of the sky: the link between the heraldry and history of the Royal Air Force Part 3 |date=1988 |publisher=Enthusiast Publications |location=Newport Pagnell |isbn=0907700144 |page=43}} The motto was test and prove.{{cite book |last1=Pine |first1=L. G. |title=A Dictionary of mottoes |date=1983 |publisher=Routledge & K. Paul |location=London |isbn=0-7100-9339-X |page=231}}
Post closure
After the RAF vacated in 1965, the site had many uses, including up to 2019 as a driver training area. In 2022, an application was made to build 270 homes on the site.{{cite news |editor-last1=Mitchinson |editor-first1=James |title=270 homes for former airfield |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=15 November 2022 |page=8|issn=0963-1496}} It has also been used as a filming location for the TV series Full Monty.{{cite news |title=Norton Aerodrome Sheffield: Nearly 300 homes planned at abandoned former RAF site |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/norton-aerodrome-sheffield-nearly-300-homes-planned-at-abandoned-former-raf-site-3916421 |access-date=23 August 2023 |work=The Sheffield Star |date=13 November 2022}}
Notable personnel
- Norman Mawle, a First World War fighter ace, was in charge at RAF Norton during the early 1940s{{cite web |title=Barrage Balloons Protecting Sheffield Before and During The War. |url=http://www.bbrclub.org/Barrage%20Balloon%20Sites%20in%20Sheffield.htm |website=bbrclub.org |access-date=23 August 2023}}
Notes
{{reflist|group="note"}}
References
{{reflist}}
= Sources =
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Handley |editor1-first=Christine |editor2-last=Rotherham |editor2-first=Ian D. |title=WW1 Airfield to City Suburb: Meadowhead, Norton, Greenhill |date=2023 |publisher=Wildtrack Publishing |location=Sheffield |isbn=9781904098737}}
- {{cite book |last1=Sturtivant|first1=R.|last2=Hamlin|first2=J.|title=Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912 |year=2007 |publisher= Air-Britain (Historians)|location= UK|isbn=978-0851-3036-59}}
External links
{{Royal Air Force}}
{{RAF stations in Yorkshire}}
- [https://maps.nls.uk/view/196757960 Map of the site from 1952 showing the site located at gridref SK376826]
- [https://projectsheffield.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/norton-aerodrome-is-the-site-of-a-former-raf-balloon-barrage-station-during-ww2/ Images of the derelict site]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton}}
Category:Royal Air Force stations in Yorkshire
Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
Category:Military history of South Yorkshire
Category:1939 establishments in England
Category:1965 disestablishments in England