Holbeach Air Weapons Range is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence air weapons training range (AWR) situated between Boston and King's Lynn, in the civil parish of Gedney on The Wash, Lincolnshire, eastern England.
The site was originally associated with RAF Sutton Bridge, but was designated Royal Air Force Holbeach in the 1950s. It adopted its current name in the mid-2000s, when operational control was transferred to the Defence Training Estate.
History
The remote air range opened in 1926 as an air gunnery facility established by the Royal Air Force Practice Camp Sutton Bridge (later named RAF Sutton Bridge). Operational use began on 27 September 1926, with biplanes conducting live firing and bombing runs over the area formally designated as "Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range", Local administration is managed by a DIO Training Safety Officer (TSO), who ensures the safe delivery of daily training operations.
RAF Air Command, as the top-level budget holder, retains control of the core RAF station site, which encompasses 716 hectares. The air range control tower is staffed by RAF air traffic control personnel, supported by civilian range staff contracted through Landmarc Solutions.
Facilities
The range covers , comprising 3,100 hectares of intertidal mudflats and 775 hectares of salt marsh. or the ICAO designation EG D207 (Weapons Range Danger Area or United Kingdom Danger 207). The designated danger altitude typically extends up to 23,000 feet AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level).
Past activity
Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range has historically supported intensive training activity by a wide variety of British and foreign military aircraft.
Early operations involved now-historic propeller-driven biplanes such as the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin, Hawker Woodcock, Gloster Grebe, Gloster Gamecock, Fairey III, Fairey Flycatcher, Bristol Bulldog, Hawker Fury, and Gloster Gauntlet. These were followed by monoplane and twin-engine types including the Bristol Blenheim, Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito, Westland Lysander, North American P-51 Mustang, and Grumman Avenger.
In the jet era, the range hosted aircraft such as the Gloster Meteor, English Electric Canberra, de Havilland Venom, Hawker Hunter, United States Air Force (USAF) F-100D Super Sabre, Avro Vulcan, Blackburn Buccaneer, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, USAF General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, Harrier jump jet, SEPECAT Jaguar, USAF A-10 Thunderbolt, and Panavia Tornado. Rotary-wing activity has also included the AgustaWestland Apache AH1 (Army Air Corps) and the USAF HH-60G Pave Hawk (56th Rescue Squadron), the latter typically operating in combat search and rescue (CSAR) training scenarios. Boeing Chinook helicopters (RAF); and Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters (Army Air Corps) regularly operate on the range.
Additional activity includes occasional flights by the USAF Bell Boeing CV-22B Osprey (7th Special Operations Squadron); USAF Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II (495th Fighter Squadron); Leonardo AW159 Wildcat and Merlin helicopters; and legacy Aerospatiale Puma HC variants.
More recently, aircraft making occasional appearances on the range have included the Belgian Air Component and USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon; USAF Boeing B-52 Stratofortress; USAF B-1 Lancer; USAF B-2 Spirit; and Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-35.
Aircraft incidents
1941
On 4 December 1941 at 15:30, Fairey Battle Mk I L5784, operated by No. 56 Operational Training Unit at RAF Sutton Bridge, was engaged in a training exercise at the Holbeach Air Gunnery and Bombing Range. During the sortie, the aircraft overshot its intended target and subsequently force-landed in a nearby field. The pilot, Sergeant G. L. Bradley, was uninjured. The sortie occurred in late afternoon light, shortly before sunset, with conditions approaching civil twilight. Reduced daylight may have affected target acquisition and contributed to the overshoot.
1952
On 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.
1953
On 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.
1957
On 13 May 1957, Republic F-84F Thunderstreak 52-7103, operated by the 81st Fighter-Bomber Wing at RAF Bentwaters, United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE), crashed at RAF Holbeach Bombing Range during a training exercise. The aircraft entered a steep dive and impacted the ground; the pilot was killed. Further details of the incident are not known.
1960
On 4 April 1960, North American F-100 Super Sabre 56-2994, 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.
1963
On 15 July 1963 at 12.45 pm, two North American F-100 Super Sabre aircraft from the 492nd Fighter Squadron, based at RAF Lakenheath, collided mid-air over the RAF Holbeach Bombing Range. First Lieutenant Donald Ware, aged 27, from Idaho, was killed. The surviving pilot, First Lieutenant Marshall, aged 26, was rescued by an RAF helicopter from RAF Coltishall. He resided in Isleham, Cambridgeshire. The RNLI Skegness lifeboat was deployed as part of a search and rescue operation and remained active for four hours.
1979
On 8 November 1979, Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 XV756, operated by No. 1 Squadron RAF at RAF Wittering, crashed at RAF Holbeach Bombing Range during a training exercise. Flight Lieutenant Ross Boyens successfully ejected. Following an RAF investigation, Boyens attributed the incident to engine failure caused by damage from a 30mm target practice (TP) ammunition round fired from his own aircraft during a strafing run. Unlike high-explosive (HE) or armour-piercing (AP) variants, target practice (TP) ammunition is solid and prone to ricochet. In 1985, he flew as Red 6, one of the Synchro Pair. Originally from New Zealand, he resided in Scothern.
On 12 December 1979, at approximately 7:00 pm, USAF General Dynamics F-111E Aardvark 68-0045, assigned to the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Upper Heyford, crashed into the sea in The Wash, within the RAF Holbeach Bombing Range, during a low-toss night practice bombing sortie. Range personnel witnessed the aircraft dive into the water before the crew could activate the escape capsule. Gale-force conditions delayed the discovery of wreckage for two days. Both crew members were killed: Captain Randolph P. Gaspard, aged 31, of Harvey, Louisiana, and Major Frank B. Slusher, aged 35, of Cincinnati, Ohio. A search and rescue operation was conducted involving the RNLI Skegness lifeboat and RAF helicopters from Manston and Coltishall.
1983
On 28 October 1983, Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 XV742, operated by No. 233 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, crashed during a training exercise at RAF Holbeach Bombing Range. The pilot, 24-year-old Flying Officer John Richard Sewell, from Blundellsands, was killed.
2006
On 24 October 2006, at approximately 11:04 am, Panavia Tornado GR4A ZG711, operated by RAF Marham, crashed into the intertidal mudflats of Holbeach Air Weapons Range during a routine weapons training exercise. The incident was attributed to multiple bird strikes. 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.