The training estate was established in 1942 originally as a tank gunnery range and tanks still use it to this day. On 19 October 1944 a Short Stirling bomber (LK 488), crashed on Mickle Fell whilst on a training flight from its base at RAF Wratting Common in Cambridgeshire; of the seven crew, only one survived. On 4 June 2014, one soldier died and two others were injured in a training accident when a military vehicle rolled over at 11 am.