This large military training complex is centred at TR 0152 1807, to the south of Ferguson Road, on the Holmstone and The Wicks areas of Denge Marsh. As is often the case with these types of ranges; it was situated on the coast so that misfired rounds could fall into the sea beyond without causing any harm or damage. The site extends across an area measuring approximately 2km east to west, and 1km north to south. Vertical aerial photographs of 1941 and 1946 show the zig-zagging narrow railway tracks of an Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) range already in place. Tanks would have driven along a linear trackway to the north (centred at TR 0239 1818), while firing at moving targets on the tracks. The narrow tracks or rails of the range are just discernable on the vertical aerial photographs of 1941 and 1946, flanked on either side by banked-up shingle. Oblique aerial photographs of May 1941 show a line of four tank-shaped targets moving along these tracks, as well as people working on an area of the range under development. Another possible tank-track runs down the eastern edge of the firing range. Blockhouses adjacent to various points of the trackway may have housed equipment that controlled the moving targets. These structures were protected beneath substantial mounds of shingle. In an area centred at TR 0167 1817, some of these blockhouses appear to be linked by a system of linear banks. It is possible that these banks concealed a network of tunnels, although this is conjecture. Ordnance Survey maps of 1907 and 1909 record multiple gun targets, splinter-proof shelters and casemates across this area. Examples include the mounds and structures at the southern edge of the range on the shore at TR 0189 1753. As these features have been previously recorded, they have not been included in this transcription. It is possible however, that although they pre-date the Second World War AFV range, that they may have been reused as part of it. Two possible rifle butts which may be contemporary with these earlier features are located at TR 0151 1775 and TR 0119 1789. They are visible on the aerial photographs of 1941 and 1946 as extant mounds and banks. These possible features were not shown on the early Ordnance Survey maps, so were recorded as part of this survey. The main part of this Second World War training site occupies the Holmstone area. However, at TR 0149 1828 a single line of narrow railway track leads north-westwards along the Lower Wick Wall to a small extension of the range on the western side of The Wicks. This extension was not visible on the aerial photographs of 1941, which showed only three linear banks occupying this area of bare shingle. These banks may have served as rifle butts for a earlier phase of this training site, as the aerial photographs show that the shingle of this area has an intensely pock-marked appearance thought to have been caused by the repeated impacts of shelling or gunfire. These banks may be early Second World War in origin, or perhaps even earlier. They are not recorded on any of the late 19th Century or early 20th Century Ordnance Survey maps of the area. By the time of the vertical aerial photographs of 1946, the extension of the AFV range to the east had resulted in the northernmost of these three banks being levelled. The two banks to the south were not cut by the two new tracks, and can still be seen as faintly extant earthworks on aerial photographs of 2007. The extension to the AFV range included a sub-circular tank-track to the north (centred at TR 0102 1863). This was flanked in two places by a row of four mounds with central depressions. It is thought these were gun emplacements which formed part of the firing range. A group of six small circular weapons pits occupied the centre of the tank track, and barbed wire could be seen to the south-east. Modern aerial photographs of 2007 show that the area surrounding this tank-track, as well as the track itself, has been used and subsequently developed for military training. The hardstandings for the two rows of four gun emplacements can still be seen, but the central weapons pits and barbed wire are no longer visible. A modern linear rifle range aligned north to south from the south-western corner of the tank track cuts through the earthworks of the former AFV range. The earthworks of these target tracks, including the mound-covered blockhouses at their western ends can still be seen on the aerial photographs of 2007, although the track itself appears to have been taken up. Much of this extensive range is recorded on modern Ordnance Survey maps of this area. However, due to subsequent re-use of the site, some areas differ from the layout of the Second World War era. For this reason, all the features visible on the 1941 and 1946 aerial photographs have been transcribed as part of this survey, even if that duplicates some areas of track recorded on modern maps. However, it should be noted that only the part of the range which falls largely within the boundary of the South East RCZAS NMP project area has been transcribed from aerial photographs. The Holmstone area of the range appears to continue some way to the north of the area surveyed here, although this part seems to have been developed mostly during the post-Second World War periods and remains largely in use today. By the time of vertical aerial photographs of 2007, the majority of this AFV range (both the eastern part and the western extension) appear to have gone out of use, and the narrow railway track which carried the targets has been taken-up. However, the earthworks of the tracks are still clearly visible, as is the network of linear banks, and the mounds of the blockhouses (1-3).

<1> RAF, 1941, NMR RAF/26K/BR242 13-14 10-JAN-1941 (Photograph). SWX23853.

<2> RAF, 1941, NMR TR0217/1-2 RAF/GHQ/156 0616-7 27-MAY-1941 (Photograph). SWX23624.

<3> RAF, 1946, NMR RAF/106G/UK 1725 3100-3 10-SEPT-1946 (Photograph). SWX23793.