[1] The base was named Coal Aston and was to the west of RAF Norton by some 1.452 miles (2.337 km).

[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.

[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.

[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".

[19] The role of the base post Second World War was to train and support the RAF Signals cadre; in 1956, No.

[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.

The symbolism was the signals and communications nature of the base which tested and provided mobile radar and radio convoys.