RAF Holbeach

RAF Holbeach / Air Weapons Range Holbeach
Royal Air Force Holbeach
Part of RAF Marham
Near Gedney Drove End, Sutton Bridge, Long Sutton and Holbeach in England
RAF Holbeach Bombing Range Control Tower
RAF Holbeach Location of RAF Holbeach Bombing Range within Lincolnshire
Coordinates	52°51′17.42″N 0°10′14.71″E / 52.8548389°N 0.1707528°E / 52.8548389; 0.1707528Coordinates: 52°51′17.42″N 0°10′14.71″E / 52.8548389°N 0.1707528°E / 52.8548389; 0.1707528
Type	RAF Air Weapons Training Range
Area	3,875 hectares (3,875 ha; 14.96 sq mi)
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
Operator	Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Controlled by	Royal Air Force
Open to the public	Yes (Public footpath only)
Website	DIO Holbeach Academic Weapons Range
Site history
Built	1926 (1926)
Built by	The En-Tout-Cas Co. (Syston) Ltd., (Aviation Dept.) of Leicester
In use	1926-Present ()
Garrison information
Current commander	Squadron Leader (retired) Christa Lawrence
Occupants	RAF ATC (TG9) and contracted staff from Landmarc
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: EGYH
Elevation	5 metres (16 ft) AMSL

RAF Holbeach, now DIO Holbeach AWR is a Royal Air Force academic air weapons range (AWR) situated between Boston and King's Lynn near Gedney Drove End on The Wash, in Lincolnshire, eastern England. Most of the range, including the control tower and four observation towers (Quads) are in Gedney, but it does overlap with Holbeach to the west. On UK Civil Aviation Authority issued aeronautical charts the military Danger Area is found marked and identified by the code WRDA D207/II 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).

The range opened in 1926 as an air gunnery range attached to and established by R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge (later named RAF Sutton Bridge). 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", and colloquially simply as Holbeach Marsh Range.

During the late 1950s, when RAF Sutton Bridge was placed on 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 control was transferred to the Ministry of Defence (Defence Estates East) and the range is now administered by Defence Training Estates (East) from their headquarters at West Tofts Camp near Thetford.