RAF Norton

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.

RAF Norton
Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire[note 1] in England
Relief map of South Yorkshire showing location of RAF Norton
Relief map of South Yorkshire showing location of RAF Norton
RAF Norton
Location within South Yorkshire
Coordinates53.339°N 1.438°W / 53.339; -1.438
Grid referenceSK355808
Area155 acres (63 ha)
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Controlled byBalloon Command
Signals Command
ConditionDerelict
Site history
In use
    • 1939–1943 No. 16 Balloon Centre (RAF Lightwood)
    • 1943–1965 RAF Norton

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.[1] The base was named Coal Aston and was to the west of RAF Norton by some 1.452 miles (2.337 km).[2][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.[4][note 2] This location closed in 1919.[7]

With the threat of another war, steps were taken for the defence of important industrial areas of Britain.[8] Sheffield was designated as No. 16 Balloon Centre with No. 33 Group, part of Balloon Command, and the 155-acre (63 ha) 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.[9][10][11] 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.[12][13] 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.[14]

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.[15] 3GRSS used RAF Norton until its closure in 1965.[16] Unlike nearby RAF Coal Aston, RAF Lightwood/RAF Norton was never furnished with a runway or active airfield.[17]

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".[18] Sometimes, those who endured the three-week course at Norton were sent there simply because their commanding officer believed they had lost their nerve.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21] Another Spitfire (TB308) was also based at Norton in the late 1950s, like PK724, it was used as an instructional aircraft.[22] TB308 was scrapped at RAF Bicester in the early 1960s, but PK724 was preserved in the national collection at the museum in Hendon.[21][23] 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).[15][17]

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.[24] The ensign at RAF Norton was lowered for the last time on 29 January 1965, with complete closure happening in the same year.[10]

Based units
Unit Dates Notes Ref
No. 939 Squadron 1939–1943 Part of 16 Balloon Centre, No. 33 Group, Balloon Command [25]
No. 940 Squadron 1939–1943 Part of 16 Balloon Centre, No. 33 Group Balloon Command [25]
No. 2616 RAF Regiment RAuxAF Squadron 1950s Disbanded at Doncaster in 1957 [26]
No. 3 Ground Radio and Radar Servicing Squadron 1943–1965 Moved to RAF North Luffenham [27]
No. 35 Maintenance Unit 18 May 1943 – 1 December 1943
1 October 1951 – 28 February 1953[28]		 Sub-site of main contingent at RAF Heywood [29]
No. 241 Maintenance Unit 1 December 1943 – 30 December 1949[30] [29]
Air Crew Refresher School 1 July 1943 – 26 July 1945 Disbanded [31]

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.[32] The motto was test and prove.[33]

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.[34] It has also been used as a filming location for the TV series Full Monty.[35]

Notable personnel

Notes
  1. 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.
  2. 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.[5][6]

References
  1. Lomax, S. C. (2014). The home front : Sheffield in the First World War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. p. 168. ISBN 978-1781592960.
  2. "Sheffield south". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022. 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
  3. "278" (Map). Sheffield & Barnsley. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2019. ISBN 978-0-319-24475-3.
  4. "Southwell Minster (1) The RAF, Katyn Forest Massacre and the Battle of Britain". faithinwartime.wordpress.com. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. "Southwell Minster – Features and Fittings". southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  6. "RAF Norton Camp". iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  7. Handley & Rotherham 2023, p. 14.
  8. Collier, Basil (1957). The defence of the United Kingdom. London: HMSO. p. 44. OCLC 1001054300.
  9. Bowyer, Chaz (1984). Royal Air Force handbook, 1939–1945. London: I. Allan. p. 57. ISBN 0711013187.
  10. "Remembering the RAF in Sheffield and South Yorkshire as centenary arrives". The Sheffield Star. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  11. Handley & Rotherham 2023, p. 156.
  12. James, T. C. G. (2013). The Battle of Britain: Air Defence of Great Britain, Volume II. London: Routledge. p. 334. ISBN 9781135273989.
  13. Collier, Basil (1957). The defence of the United Kingdom. London: HMSO. p. 477. OCLC 1001054300.
  14. Escott, Beryl E. (1989). Women in air force blue: the story of women in the Royal Air Force from 1918 to the present day. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 99. ISBN 1852600667.
  15. Armstrong, Julia (30 March 2021). "The fascinating wartime story of Sheffield's former RAF base – as amazing aerial photo reveals demolition of site". The Sheffield Star. Retrieved 11 May 2023.ProQuest 2507347067
  16. "No 3 Ground Radio Servicing Squadron (GRSS), Norton. With appendices". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  17. Handley & Rotherham 2023, p. 1.
  18. Jones, Edgar (2006). "LMF: The Use of Psychiatric Stigma in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War" (PDF). The Journal of Military History. 70 (2): 439–458. doi:10.1353/jmh.2006.0103. S2CID 159946853.
  19. Wilson, Kevin (2008). Men of air : doomed youth of Bomber Command. London: Phoenix. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0753823989.
  20. "NORTON. Includes 15 photographs depicting: No 90 (Signals) Group, RAF Norton, Sheffield:..." discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  21. Simpson, Andrew. "SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE F.24 PK724/7288M MUSEUM ACCESSION NO.74/A/22" (PDF). rafmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  22. Handley & Rotherham 2023, p. 86.
  23. Handley & Rotherham 2023, p. 87.
  24. Armstrong, Julia (16 February 2022). "Sheffield hurricane 1962: Four killed, hundreds made homeless and city declared National Disaster Zone". The Sheffield Star. ProQuest 2629508795. Retrieved 11 May 2023.ProQuest 2629508795
  25. "Norton in Wartime chapter 2" (PDF). btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/. p. 14. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  26. "RAF Regiment Unit: No 2616 Field Squadron (R Aux AF Regt), Norton. With appendices". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  27. "Norton in Wartime chapter 2" (PDF). btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/. p. 15. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  28. Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 177.
  29. "Stations-N". rafweb.org. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  30. Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 183.
  31. Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 44.
  32. "RAF Norton | RAF Heraldry Trust". rafht.co.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  33. Pine, L. G. (1983). A Dictionary of mottoes. London: Routledge & K. Paul. p. 231. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
  34. Mitchinson, James, ed. (15 November 2022). "270 homes for former airfield". The Yorkshire Post. p. 8. ISSN 0963-1496.
  35. "Norton Aerodrome Sheffield: Nearly 300 homes planned at abandoned former RAF site". The Sheffield Star. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  36. "Barrage Balloons Protecting Sheffield Before and During The War". bbrclub.org. Retrieved 23 August 2023.

Sources
  • Handley, Christine; Rotherham, Ian D., eds. (2023). WW1 Airfield to City Suburb: Meadowhead, Norton, Greenhill. Sheffield: Wildtrack Publishing. ISBN 9781904098737.
  • Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J. (2007). Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 978-0851-3036-59.
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