Raf Wainfleet range to close 03 Dec.2009

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Dambusters training range to close
An RAF training range used by the Dambusters in the Second World War is to close to save money, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

RAF Wainfleet in East Anglia, which is used by the RAF, the USAF and other European air forces for bombing practice, was opened more than 70 years ago.

It will close on Dec 2, saving the MoD up to £350,000 million a year.

Frequent visitors to the site during the Second World War included the 617 Squadron, later known as the Dambusters, which dropped “bouncing bombs” over the Ruhr Valley in Germany during Operation Chastise.

The decision to close Wainfleet, one of the RAF’s five live weapons ranges, has been criticized by a senior RAF crewman, who told a newspaper: “MoD penny-pinchers think a simulator is the answer to everything, but it is not.”

A Wainfleet Range operator said unexploded bombs reported to be buried in its grounds could make it difficult to sell.

An RAF spokesman said: “It is one of five air weapons ranges and is not used for pre-deployment training. The site is now surplus to RAF requirements as there is capacity at other sites.”

The site was opened full-time in 1938 but was in use for artillery in the 1890s and during the First World War.

RAF Wainfleet
Pictures Wainfleet targets