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Contact Info
Home Town Bayse, VA
Last Address Bayse, VA
Date of Passing Dec 06, 2004
Location of Interment West Point Cemetery - West Point, New York
LTG John Norton died of cancer in his home in Basye, Va., on 6 Dec 2004, at age 86. General Norton was born at Fort Monroe, Virginia, and grew up in Norfolk.
General Norton, who was known as Jack, spent nearly 40 years in the Army. He joined in the mid-1930s and, after two years as an enlisted man, won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. At West Point, the faculty named him first captain of the Class of 1941, an honor bestowed on one cadet a year for academic achievement and leadership. The future general was the cadet commander of the corps at the academy.
During World War II, General Norton was a paratrooper with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the famed 82nd Airborne Division, jumping behind German lines into the French village of St. Mere-Eglise on D-Day. A museum honoring the airborne efforts on D-Day now stands in St. Mere-Eglise.
General Norton also participated in the Battle of the Bulge and saw combat in Sicily, Italy, Belgium and Germany. In January 1946, he helped plan a victory parade in New York, leading the troops of the 82nd Airborne.
In the late 1940s, General Norton assisted Army General James M. Gavin in planning policies to coordinate airborne activities with the newly formed Air Force. From 1950 to 1953, he was executive officer to Army Secretary Frank Pace Jr. He spent the next several years in Yugoslavia, administering a federal aid program.
After receiving certification as an airplane and helicopter pilot in 1956, General Norton had a major role in shaping aviation within the Army. In 1962, he was a member of the Howze Board, directed by Lieutenant General Hamilton Howze, that devised the Army's modern doctrine of using airpower in wartime. Among other things, it outlined the future use of helicopters in combat.
General Norton became commanding general of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam in 1966, putting into practice the air cavalry recommendations he had helped frame four years before.
From 1970 to 1973, he was commanding general of the Combat Development Command at Fort Belvoir, where he oversaw the early steps of building the Black Hawk helicopter and the M1 Abrams main battle tank. In his final military post, from 1973 to 1975, Gen. Norton was deputy commander in chief of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command in Naples.
After his retirement from the Army, he worked with other military leaders in advising Pentagon officials and members of Congress. He also closely followed developments at West Point. He assisted in preparing three documentaries about airborne operations during World War II for the History Channel.
He is a member of the Army Aviation Hall of Fame and the Army Field Experimentation Hall of Fame. On 22 Sept 2004, he received the Doughboy Award for his contributions to combat Infantry.
His wife of 46 years, Cheyney McNabb Norton, died in 1992.
His second wife, Leslie C. Smith, whom he married in 1992, died in 2002.
Survivors include three children, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel John Norton Jr. of Berryville, Virginia, Alexandra Norton of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and Cheyney Edwards of Warrenton; a sister; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Other Comments:
Army Aviation Hall of Fame 1977 Induction
Lieutenant General John Norton became associated with Army Aviation in 1955 when he was assigned to the Office of the Chief for Research and Development in the Department of the Army. He served as chief of the Airborne, Aviation, and Electronics Division, and of the Airmobility Division. During that three-year tour, he attended the Army Aviation School, earning a dual rating as a fixed and rotary wing aviator.
He was assigned as the Army Aviation Officer, Headquarters, USCONARC, Fort Monroe, in September 1960. In that capacity, he was twice selected to serve on high-level boards. The first was the Hoelscher Committee which was formed to study and make proposals to the chief of staff regarding the reorganization of the Army.
The second board General Norton served on was the Tactical Mobility Requirements, or air assault doctrine while using simple, rugged aircraft. In September 1962, he returned to USCONARC headquarters and worked until May 1963 as chief of the Aviation Division, DCSUTR.
His assignments in Vietnam included commanding the 1st Air Cavalry Division. He left that position in June 1967 to become commanding general of the Army Aviation Materiel Command, St. Louis, MO. Lieutenant General Norton retired from active duty at Fort Monroe, VA, in July 1975.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Sicily Campaign (1943)/Operation Husky
From Month/Year
July / 1943
To Month/Year
August / 1943
Description The decision to invade Sicily was agreed by the Western Allies at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. 'Operation Husky' was to be a combined amphibious and airborne attack scheduled for that summer under the supreme command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Allies began air attacks on targets in Sicily and Italy in the early summer of 1943. They also attacked the Italian island of Pantellaria, which surrendered to the British 1st Division who arrived there on 11 June.
The Allied convoys concentrated near Malta on the 9 July and headed for Sicily's southern beaches. The careful planning of the landings was slightly hindered by a storm, which slowed down the landing craft. The Italian defenders believed such weather conditions would deter any attempt of an invasion and were on a low state of alert.
The British 1st Airlanding Brigade mounted in 137 gliders, were the first to land. They were to seize the Ponte Grande Bridge south of Syracuse. These landings were, on the whole, unsuccessful. Of the 137 gliders, 69 came down in the sea, drowning some 200 men. A further 56 landed in the wrong area of Sicily and just 12 reached the target area and managed to take the bridge. The US paratroopers had difficulties too, the pilots were inexperienced and dust and anti-aircraft fire resulted in the 2,781 paratroopers being scattered over an area 80km radius.
The main amphibious landings involved three British divisions in the east and two US divisions in the west, all supported by heavy fire from off shore warships.
The British did not meet strong resistance from the Italian coastal troops and were able to bring tanks and artillery ashore ahead of schedule. By the end of the day 13th Corps had taken Syracuse and 30th Corps had secured Panchino.
The US divisions had a far more difficult landing, with stiff resistance from the Italians and German air attacks. Later in the day the Hermann Goering Panzer Division, with it's 56 ton Tiger tanks, joined the defence, but the US 2nd Armored Division and US 18 Regimental Combat Team landed in the evening and the Americans managed to stand firm against the fierce fighting. Eventually, naval supporting gunfire forced the tanks to disperse.
The sudden appearance of so many paratroopers gave the appearance of a much greater invasion and the Axis defenders called for reinforcements.
By 12 July, the British had captured Augusta and Montgomery decided to head northwards, to the east of Mount Etna, to take Messina. The Commander of the US 7th Army, Lieutenant-General George S Patton, unhappy with this change of plan, was to fight westwards, towards Palermo. The Americans advanced well. They captured 53,000 prisoners and also the port of Palermo on July 22. This enabled the US 9th Division to land there, instead of on the southern beaches, and was valuable for receiving Allied supplies. Alexander ordered Patton to advance to Messina.
Meanwhile the British Eighth Army was making slow progress. The German paratroopers, with 88mm anti-tank guns, were a formidable enemy and the mountainous Sicilian countryside was hard to negotiate. The Highlanders fought hard for Biancavilla and the XIII Corps eventually took Catania and then Paterno.
The Canadians of Lord Tweedsmuir's Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment managed to take the hill town of Assoro by scaling a cliff and taking their enemy completely by surprise and advanced to Leonforte, which fell to them on 22 July.
By August, the invasion of Sicily was almost complete. The race for Messina continued; the British were helped greatly by airborne forces landing ahead and saving bridges from destruction by the Axis troops. On 17 August, the US 3rd Division entered Messina at 10am, just 50 minutes before the arrival of the British Army. The Germans had been evacuated, but had left huge amounts of weapons, ammunition and fuel. The historic city of Messina had been ravaged by Allied bombs and after the invasion, by shells from the Italian mainland.
Operation Husky was a success. The Allies achieved their goal - the 'soft underbelly' of Europe had been exposed and the Mediterranean could be fully used as a sea route. The cost of casualties was high, though less than anticipated. The Allies lost more than 16,000 men and estimated that 164,000 Axis troops were either killed or taken prisoner.
