It was originally associated with RAF Sutton Bridge, but in the 1950s was named Royal Air Force Holbeach before adopting its current name in the mid 2000s when control was passed to the Defence Training Estate.
History
The remote air range opened in 1926 as an air gunnery range attached to and established by Royal Air Force Practice Camp Sutton Bridge (later named RAF Sutton Bridge).[4][5][6][7] Use of the range began on 27 September 1926, with biplanes firing and dropping bombs over the area formally known as "Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range",[6][7] and colloquially simply as Holbeach Marsh Range.[5]
During the late 1950s, when RAF Sutton Bridge was reduced to a care and maintenance role, the coastal marshland air gunnery range was renamed to RAF Holbeach Bombing Range and it became later parented to RAF Marham as an Air Weapons Range (AWR) within RAF Strike Command. On 1 April 2006 the defence estates' administration was transferred to the Ministry of Defence—Defence Training Estate East (DTE East), located at West Tofts Camp in West Tofts near Thetford in Norfolk; now renamed Defence Infrastructure Organisation East (DIO East).[1]
DIO are responsible for operational support—planning, building, maintaining and servicing the 'Holbeach Air Weapons Range' infrastructure.[8] The air range estate is administered at a local level by a DIO Training Safety Officer (TSO), who is responsible for the day-to-day delivery of a safe training environment. RAF Air Command, who is the top level budget holder, control the core RAF station site which encompasses an area of 716 hectares.[9][10] RAF air traffic control personnel staff the air range control tower supported by civilian range staff outsourced to Landmarc Solutions.[11]
Facilities
The range extends over an area of 3,875ha (14.96sqmi), which includes 3,100 hectares of intertidal mudflats and 775 hectares of salt marsh,[1][2] the air weapons range provides facilities for RAF and NATO-allied aircraft to practise dropping bombs and firing their aircraft weapons, including pre-deployment training.[3] Since 1993 this has included night bombing and helicopter operations.[1] The range training facilities are used by air force squadrons stationed in the United Kingdom and occasionally by units flying directly from airbases in Europe. An array of eight static range targets,[1] include several retired merchant ships which have been beached on the sands of The Wash for this purpose. Observation towers ("Quadrants") parallel to the target line are manned and allow the fall of aircraft ordnance to be calculated for accuracy by means of triangulation.[11] The range includes a helicopter landing pad near the main control tower and since 2010 a new range headquarters building.[3]
Most of the air range, including the control tower and four observation towers (Quadrants)[11] are in the parish hamlets of Dawsmere and Gedney Drove End, but it does overlap with Holbeach to the west.[2] On UK Civil Aviation Authority issued aeronautical charts the military Danger Area is found marked and identified by the code WRDA D207/II[12] or the ICAO code EG D207 (Weapons Range Danger Area or United Kingdom Danger – 207), the danger altitude is usually up to twenty-three thousand feet AMSL.
USAF F-15E aircraft seen over the range discharging flares
RAF Holbeach also has facilities (strafing courts) for scoring aircraft strafing runs (aircraft firing runs on ground targets) using acoustic sensor scoring systems.[11] The ground strafing targets consist of several four-metre square nets, each with an orange centred square bullseye. The Acoustic Air Weapons Scoring System (AWSS) which is located beneath a protection berm focus on the target screen and run at high speed, catching the supersonic profile of the incoming projectile, and triangulating its position concurrent with counting the event. The AWSS sensor modes can display rounds per minute results and the location of the strafe projectiles in the target area. The angle of attack and the horizontal approach angle are also calculated. This result is transmitted to the control tower, where it is displayed to the Air Traffic Controller for relaying to the pilot. The range also has semi-automatic bomb and rocket scoring systems.[11]
Heraldic badge
The station's RAF heraldic badge features a vertical sword through a crown. The circular frame coloured with RAF blue reads 'Royal Air Force Station Holbeach' and the motto is Defend and Strike.[17]
Aircraft incidents
1941
4 December 1941 at 15:30, Fairey Battle Mk I L5784, operated by No. 56 Operational Training Unit at RAF Sutton Bridge, overshot its target during a training exercise at the Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range and force-landed in a nearby field. The pilot, Sergeant G. L. Bradley, was uninjured.[18]
1952
21 May 1952, Gloster Meteor F.8 WF745, operated by the Central Gunnery School (CGS) at RAF Leconfield, crashed at Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range after stalling during a simulated attack on a towed "flag" target. The aircraft entered an uncontrolled dive and impacted the sea. The pilot, Sergeant David Herapath Tinker of No. 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), was killed.[19][20]
1953
28 July 1953, de Havilland Venom FB.1 WE261, operated by the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE) at RAF West Raynham, suffered a catastrophic in-flight breakup during a ground-attack trial at RAF Holbeach Bombing Range. The aircraft had been airborne for approximately eleven minutes following take-off. During a firing pass over the range, witnesses observed an explosion in the starboard wing root area. The starboard wing mainplane detached, followed by the complete disintegration of the airframe. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Michael Edward Whitworth-Jones DFC, aged 27, was killed. Whitworth-Jones had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in the Korean War, during which he flew Gloster Meteor F.8s with No. 77 Squadron RAAF in 1952–53. The incident was attributed to structural failure; however, the precise cause could not be determined. It remains possible that the explosion reported by witnesses was the result of a premature detonation of one of the rocket projectiles (RPs) carried under the wing.[21][22]
4 April 1960, North American F-100 Super Sabre56-2994, operated by the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing (20 TFW) at RAF Wethersfield, United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE), crashed at RAF Holbeach Bombing Range during a training exercise. The pilot was killed. No further details of the incident are known.[24]
1979
8 November 1979, Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 XV756, operated by No. 1 Squadron RAF at RAF Wittering, crashed at the Holbeach Air Weapons Range during a training exercise. Flight Lieutenant Ross Boyens successfully ejected.[25] Following an RAF investigation, Boyens attributed the incident to engine failure caused by damage from a 30mm target practice (TP) "ball" ammunition round fired from his own aircraft during a strafing run.[26] Unlike high-explosive (HE) or armour-piercing (AP) variants, target practice (TP) "ball" ammunition is solid and prone to ricochet.[26] The round struck a hard object near the target area and deflected back into the aircraft, damaging the engine blades and causing disintegration.[26] At the time, the aircraft was firing from a position outside the RAF's designated minimum ricochet range—at approximately 610 yards (1,830ft)—and the incident was subsequently attributed to misfortune.[26] Boyens later served in the Falklands War and, in 1984 at the age of 33, joined the Red Arrows as Red 3.[27] In 1985, he flew as Red 6, one of the Synchro Pair. Originally from New Zealand, he resided in Scothern.[28][29]
1983
28 October 1983, Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 XV742, operated by No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, crashed during a training exercise at Holbeach Air Weapons Range.[30][31] The pilot, 24-year-old Flying Officer John Richard Sewell, from Blundellsands, was killed.[30] The aircraft had departed from RAF Wittering and was reportedly struck by a ricochet—possibly from its own 30mm ADEN cannon—during weapons practice.[30] No attempt to eject was made, and the aircraft impacted the ground, resulting in a fatal outcome.[30][32][33]
2006
24 October 2006, at approximately 11:04 am, Panavia Tornado GR4AZG711, operated by RAF Marham, crashed into the intertidal mudflats of Holbeach Air Weapons Range during a routine weapons training exercise.[34][35] The incident was attributed to multiple bird strikes.[34] Both aircrew—pilot and navigator—ejected safely and were recovered by Westland Sea King search and rescue helicopters from RAF Wattisham and RAF Leconfield. They were transported to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, with non-life-threatening spinal injuries.[34][36][37] Ejection was initiated approximately four seconds prior to impact. According to the official investigation report, the crew's injuries were attributed to the limited time available to adopt an appropriate ejection posture.[34]
↑ Publication: FLIGHT, 26 May 1938, Page 516, "A pair of Gloster Gauntlet single-seaters over the ranges at No. 3 Armament Training Station, Sutton Bridge"
↑ Newdick, Thomas (20 July 2017). "AFGSC IN THE UK". Stamford, Lincolnshire: Key Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
1 2 3 4 Boyens, Ross (27 June 2023). "WONZ 276 – Wings Over Britain: Ross Boyens". Wings Over New Zealand Show (Interview). Interviewed by Dave Homewood. Cambridge, New Zealand: Dave Homewood. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
↑ Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 9 February 1984, page 1
↑ Skegness Standard Friday 16 August 1985, page 61
1 2 3 4 Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry (19 March 2007). Aircraft Accident or Incident(PDF) (Report). RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Marham: Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
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