On 1 September 1926 the Air Ministry established R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge on acquired farmland bordering Sutton Bridge village, adjacent the River Nene, in close vicinity to Crosskeys 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.

On inception, training combat pilots of biplanes such as the Gloster Gamecock, Bristol F.2 Fighter, Armstrong Whitworth Atlas, Armstrong Whitworth Siskin, Bristol Bulldog and Fairey Flycatcher, Sutton Bridge later became accustomed to the intense activity of aircraft such as the Boulton Paul Defiant, Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Bristol Beaufort, Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, Airspeed Oxford, Miles M.19 Master II, P-51 Mustang, A-35 Vengeance, Lockheed Hudson, Vickers Wellington and Avro Lancaster bombers, to name a few, stationed at RAF Sutton Bridge over the course of its operational life.
In 1937, the village of Sutton Bridge also attracted some 5000 people to its open day flying display on Empire Day, which included amongst its highlights, bombing a moving car and attacks on towed targets.

RAF Sutton Bridge not only trained British combat pilots but also the RAF's commonwealth and foreign allied pilots, especially trainee Polish, Czech and French pilots.
Many distinguished Second World War combat pilots passed through RAF Sutton Bridge training, such as Air Marshal Sir Richard Atcherley, Group Captain Billy Drake, Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader serving with No.
23 Squadron RAF and Dam Busters legend Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
Along with RAF Sutton Bridge came also a stream of local crash landing incidents and mid-air collisions, many resulting in pilot fatalities.
At the end of the Second World War, RAF Sutton Bridge was also used for dismantling aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington bomber, Avro Lancaster bomber and other British combat aircraft scheduled to be sold as scrap metal.

Today, small remnants of RAF Sutton Bridge airfield exist, in 1958 RAF Sutton Bridge was closed, its land site transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and continues to be used by the Potato Marketing Board as one of the UK's leading agricultural experiment stations.

In 1947, a memorial in Saint Matthew's church was dedicated in memory of Commonwealth and Allied airmen who gave their lives whilst serving at RAF Sutton Bridge.
The church also includes a Roll of Honour as well as a war grave cemetery.
A memorial plinth-mounted propeller blade situated at the side of Crosskeys Bridge was also erected in 1993 in memory of all that served at RAF Sutton Bridge; the propeller blade came from a crashed Hawker Hurricane that was based at RAF Sutton Bridge.
The marshland gunnery range itself, located along The Wash, survived as RAF Holbeach Bombing Range becoming parented to RAF Marham, it continues active service as a practice bombing range for the RAF as well as NATO-allied air forces.
On 1 September 1926 the Air Ministry established R.A.F. Practice Camp Sutton Bridge on acquired farmland bordering Sutton Bridge village, adjacent the River Nene, in close vicinity to Crosskeys 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.
On inception, training combat pilots of biplanes such as the Gloster Gamecock, Bristol F.2 Fighter, Armstrong Whitworth Atlas, Armstrong Whitworth Siskin, Bristol Bulldog and Fairey Flycatcher, Sutton Bridge later became accustomed to the intense activity of aircraft such as the Boulton Paul Defiant, Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Bristol Beaufort, Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, Airspeed Oxford, Miles M.19 Master II, P-51 Mustang, A-35 Vengeance, Lockheed Hudson, Vickers Wellington and Avro Lancaster bombers, to name a few, stationed at RAF Sutton Bridge over the course of its operational life. In 1937, the village of Sutton Bridge also attracted some 5000 people to its open day flying display on Empire Day, which included amongst its highlights, bombing a moving car and attacks on towed targets.
RAF Sutton Bridge not only trained British combat pilots but also the RAF's commonwealth and foreign allied pilots, especially trainee Polish, Czech and French pilots. Many distinguished Second World War combat pilots passed through RAF Sutton Bridge training, such as Air Marshal Sir Richard Atcherley, Group Captain Billy Drake, Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader serving with No. 23 Squadron RAF and Dam Busters legend Wing Commander Guy Gibson. Along with RAF Sutton Bridge came also a stream of local crash landing incidents and mid-air collisions, many resulting in pilot fatalities. At the end of the Second World War, RAF Sutton Bridge was also used for dismantling aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington bomber, Avro Lancaster bomber and other British combat aircraft scheduled to be sold as scrap metal.
Today, small remnants of RAF Sutton Bridge airfield exist, in 1958 RAF Sutton Bridge was closed, its land site transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and continues to be used by the Potato Marketing Board as one of the UK's leading agricultural experiment stations.
In 1947, a memorial in Saint Matthew's church was dedicated in memory of Commonwealth and Allied airmen who gave their lives whilst serving at RAF Sutton Bridge. The church also includes a Roll of Honour as well as a war grave cemetery. A memorial plinth-mounted propeller blade situated at the side of Crosskeys Bridge was also erected in 1993 in memory of all that served at RAF Sutton Bridge; the propeller blade came from a crashed Hawker Hurricane that was based at RAF Sutton Bridge. The marshland gunnery range itself, located along The Wash, survived as RAF Holbeach Bombing Range becoming parented to RAF Marham, it continues active service as a practice bombing range for the RAF as well as NATO-allied air forces.
Sutton Bridge