The Archaeology of Norfolk’s First World War Airfields

The First World War was the first total war to be fought between industrialised nations. It would be a conflict like no other. Not just in terms of its scale and human suffering, but also how the war itself would be fought; the first truly industrial war. Opposing forces applied industrial methodologies and techniques, invented and adapted during the previous century, to produce a range of weaponry (and subsequently new tactics) which could kill and deliver terror on a scale unimaginable to earlier generations.

The introduction of new technologies, such as military aviation, would not only completely transform how the conflict was fought but would go on to change how all subsequent wars throughout the following century would be waged. However, the impact of military aviation within the War also extended deep into the British Home Front.

This book examines how the nascent technology of aviation transformed the landscape of Norfolk. From defending the skies above the county from enemy attack through to ‘feeding the fight’, helping to supply Britain’s unquenchable demand for newly trained pilots, and the aircraft that they flew. New airfields were required for defence, training, and aircraft production.

The author not only explores the different types of airfields used across the county but how they, along with their range of architecture and features, quickly developed throughout the War. Volume II of the book offers the reader a comprehensive gazetteer of Norfolk’s First World War airfields, examining not only their history but also the archaeological evidence.