On 1 September 1926 the Air Ministry established R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge As a gunnery training camp, it was to operate ground and towed targets for live practice machine gun fire and bomb dropping by aircraft, its principal gunnery range was located along the Lincolnshire coast marshland on The Wash around 8 miles North-Northeast of Holbeach. Becoming well established and expanded, R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge was renamed to No. 3 Armament Training Camp Sutton Bridge and later simply RAF Sutton Bridge. In October 1939 No. 266 Squadron RAF was reformed at RAF Sutton Bridge as a fighter squadron operating the Fairey Battle light bomber aircraft before taking delivery of the Supermarine Spitfire in January 1940, becoming the RAF's second Spitfire fighter Squadron after RAF Duxford’s No. 19 Squadron RAF.