Air Commodore Sir Henry Nigel de Valery Norman, Bt., A.A.F.
(1897-1943)
Air Commodore Sir Henry de Valery Norman was a consulting civil engineer who specialised in airport design and was on the Board of Directors of Aerofilms Ltd between 1930 and 1935. He was also Chairman of Airworks Ltd, the company he founded in 1928 with F A I Munz, to construct and develop Heston Airport and, in 1935, he started the architectural consultancy firm of Norman and Dawbarn. Throughout his life he had interests in private flying, commercial and Service aviation and his early death in 1943 was a loss to the industry.
Sir Nigel Norman was born in London on the 21 st May 1897, the only son of Sir Henry Norman, a journalist, travel writer and Liberal politician, and Menie Muriel Dowie, an early feminist author. In 1903 Henry and Menie divorced; Henry petitioned that Menie’s request for access to her son be denied. Nigel was educated at Winchester College (1911 England Census) and Trinity College, Cambridge. Following officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he served as a subaltern with the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War, seeing action in France. In 1926 he married Patricia Moyra Annesley and they had three sons: Mark Annesley, Nigel Desmond, an aircraft designer and aviation pioneer who also designed, built and sailed racing yachts and Torquil Patrick Alexander ( Flight, 1943:559), who founded Bluebird Toys and was, as founder and Chairman of the Roundhouse Trust, the driving force behind the development of the Roundhouse Arts venue in Chalk Farm. It has been said that ‘derring do is in the DNA’ (BBC Desert Island Discs, 2010). Nigel succeeded to the title of 2nd Baronet of Honeyhanger in 1939.
1
Nigel became a private aircraft owner, having gained his Aviators’ Certificate, No.8000, at de Havilland Flying School, Stag Lane, on the 4 th June 1926 in a DH60 Cirrus Moth (Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910- 1950). In the same year he also co-founded the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with Sir Philip Sassoon and Lord Edward Grosvenor (The Telegraph , 2002) and served as a pilot officer with No 601 (County of London) Squadron. He was promoted to Squadron Leader in 1931. He commanded 601 Squadron for four years and resigned his commission in 1934, transferring to the AAF Reserve in 1934.
In 1928, with the aeronautical engineer Frederick ‘Alan’ Irving Munz, he founded Airworks Ltd, to construct and develop Heston Airport, on a flat and fog-free site, as a base for flying clubs and private aeroplane owners. Heston became a centre for amateur flying and one of the finest airports of the time. Airworks expanded steadily between the wars in all areas of aviation except aircraft manufacture and in 1939 its flying schools were used to train large numbers of aircrew for the RAF. They serviced military aircraft throughout the war and built assault craft and Bailey bridges (The Times , 1949).
Together with Graham Dawbarn, a First World War Royal Flying Corp pilot, Nigel founded the firm of Norman and Dawbarn in 1935. They designed airports in Europe, including Gatwick, Birmingham and Ringway (Manchester), North America, Africa and India ( Flight, 1943:559). After Nigel’s death Graham Dawbarn went on to design the BBC’s White City studios (The Guardian , 2011).
In 1940 Nigel was appointed Officer Commanding No 110 Wing, Ringway, with the temporary rank of Wing Commander and in July of the same year became Officer Commanding the Central Landing Establishment, also at Ringway, collaborating with the British Army to develop the use of airborne troops. He 2
controlled the air side of the first British paratroop raid on Italy shortly after it entered the war, not only arranging all the details, but taking a personal interest in the numerous training exercises before the raid, and accompanying the paratroops on the expedition. By the time of his death he had achieved the rank of acting Air Commodore. On the 19 th May 1943 Norman died in a post-crash fire when the Lockheed Hudson IIIA that was to carry him to North Africa force- landed after take-off from RAF St Mawgan. It was typical of the man that he went back to tell the passengers to take up the crash position but was unable to do the same himself.
His close friend, Frederick Arthur Montague ‘Boy’ Browning, in his tribute to Nigel, said ‘We who are left mourn an unmistakeable, beloved and distinguished personality. To one who worked with him in the closest intimacy he is irreplaceable; an efficient, loyal and gallant officer is lost to those of the Army and Royal Air Force for whom he gave his life. He and his work will not be forgotten; it will be an inspiration to those who come after’ (The Times , 1943).
Nigel was an inspiration to those who worked with him; a man of wit, a never- failing sense of humour and an ability to enjoy everything he did.
Sources 1911 England Census [database online], available at
BBC Desert Island Discs. Sir Torquil Norman. [Radio programme] Sunday 12 December 2010. Available at
3
Flight. (1943). Sir Nigel Norman. 27 May 1943, p559 [online], Available at
Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910-1950 [database online], Available at < http://www.ancestry.co.uk > [accessed 23 Sept 2014]; citing Index cards N; Nabih, Murad – Nyunt, Pyi.
The Guardian. (2011). How Television Centre started with a question mark. Monday 13 June 2011 [online], Available at
The Telegraph. (2002). Desmond Norman. 25 November 2002 [online], Available at < http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1414173/Desmond- Norman.html > [accessed 23 September 2014].
The Times. (1943). Air Commodore Sir Nigel Norman. Friday 28 May 1943; Pg. 8; Issue 49557 [online], Available at < http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/ > [accessed 27 March 2013].
The Times. (1949) Airwork Comes of Age. Tuesday 11 October 1949; Pg. 2; Issue51509 [online], Available at < http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/ > [accessed 22 January 2013].
© Lynda Tubbs, English Heritage, 2014.
4