Nigel Norman

Air Commodore Sir Henry Nigel St Valery Norman, 2nd Baronet, (21 May 1897 – 19 May 1943) was a consulting civil engineer and Royal Air Force officer during the first half of the 20th century.

Early years Nigel Norman was the only child of journalist and travel writer Henry Norman, and novelist Ménie Muriel Dowie. Following officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he served as a subaltern with the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War. He later transferred to the Royal Corps of Signals. In 1931, he was appointed Officer Commanding of No. 601 Squadron. In 1934, he transferred to the Auxiliary Air Force Reserve of Officers in the rank of squadron leader. He later commanded No. 110 Army Co-operation Wing based at RAF Ringway.

In 1935, in partnership with architect Graham Dawbarn, Norman founded the consultancy firm of Norman and Dawbarn, responsible for designs of buildings and lay-outs of many municipal airports in the UK and overseas, including those at Gatwick, Birmingham, Ringway, Jersey and Guernsey.

In 1939, Norman succeeded as 2nd Baronet. He was buried in Clifferdine Wood, Rendcomb, Gloucestershire.

Postscript Norman was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a member of the Aviation Committee of the London Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Council of the Air Registration Board, of which body he was also chairman of the Design and Construction Panel.

Norman's eldest of three sons was Mark Annesley, born on 8 February 1927, who succeeded him as third baronet. Mark Norman worked for Bristol Siddeley Engines as company secretary. Nigel Norman's second son was Desmond Norman, co-founder of the aircraft manufacturer Britten Norman. Torquil Norman, third of Sir Nigel's sons, founded Bluebird Toys and the Roundhouse Trust.