Editing RAF Transport Command (section)

===Second World War===
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], it at first ferried [[aircraft]] from [[factories]] to operational units and performed air transport.  Later it took over the job of dropping [[paratroops]] from [[RAF Army Cooperation Command|Army Cooperation Command]] as well.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}  Transport Command was the only RAF command in to which aircrew originating in the Caribbean were not posted due to the fact that they might be required to fly to the United States where racial discrimination was legally entrenched at the time.<ref>Air Force Blue, Patrick Bishop, William Collins, London, 2017, Page 310</ref>

In June 1944 the Command was made up of [[No. 38 Group RAF]]; No. 44 Group RAF; No. 45 Group RAF; [[No. 46 Group RAF]]; [[No. 216 Group RAF]]; No. 229 Group RAF;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2459097|title = Catalogue description India: Formation of 229 Group}}</ref> No. 114 Wing RAF, and No. 116 Wing RAF at [[RAF Hendon]].

'''[[No. 44 Group RAF]]''' - HQ at Gloucester{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}}
* "In the early days of the North Atlantic route, there was ..at the eastern end ..the Overseas Air Movements Control Unit (OAMCU) which in August 1941 was up-rated to become No 44 Group, thus becoming the second piece of the Transport Command jigsaw. With its Headquarters at Barnwood (near [[RAF Innsworth]]) in Gloucester, [the group] organised the receipt of all aircraft arriving from across the Atlantic, as well as the despatch of those going out to the Mediterranean and the Far East; it also co-ordinated the massive influx of USAAF aircraft and crews under [[Operation Bolero]]."{{sfn|Stephens|2000|p=32}} 
* Controlled airfields such as Bramcote (where 105 Operational Training Unit was located), Filton, Hendon, Hurn, Kemble, Llandow, Lyneham, Melton Mowbray, Pershore, Portreath, Prestwick, St Mawgan and Talbenny

'''No. 45 Group RAF''' - HQ at [[Dorval]] in Canada,{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}} (the former [[Atlantic Ferry Organization]])
* No. 112 Wing at Dorval
* No. 113 Wing at Nassau
* became No. 45 Wing for a short time before disbanding

'''[[No. 46 Group RAF]]''' - HQ at Harrow Weald{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}}
* Controlled airfields such as Blakehill Farm
* Units included Nos 233, 512 575 Squadrons

'''No. 216 Group RAF''' HQ in Egypt

'''No. 229 Group RAF''' HQ at Delhi,{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}} India (formed 1943–44);<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2459097|title = Catalogue description India: Formation of 229 Group}}</ref> controlled '''No. 177 Wing'''{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}}

'''No. 114 Wing RAF''' - HQ at [[Accra]] in the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]],{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}}
* Controlled airfields such as Heliopolis
* Units included No. 284 Wing

'''No. 116 Wing RAF''' at [[RAF Hendon]], which supervised scheduled services to India.<ref>Leo Niehorster, [http://niehorster.org/017_britain/44-06-06_Neptune/Air/z-air_Transport.htm Transport Command, 6 June 1944], accessed June 2020.</ref>

On 17 February 1945 [[No. 87 Group RAF]] was formed in Paris{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=128}} to control units in Paris and southern France. It was disbanded by being reduced to [[No. 87 Wing RAF]] on 15 July 1946.<ref name=HO6>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Organsation/Grp06.htm|title = Groups 70-106_P}}</ref>

====Accidents====

Operating as it did under wartime conditions, Transport Command had a relatively high accident rate. Prominent accidents included a [[1943 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 crash|July 1943 crash at Gibraltar]], killing the Polish leader [[General Sikorski]] and several other senior figures in the exile government; a [[1945 Avro York crash|February 1945 crash in the Mediterranean]], killing eleven members of the British delegation to the [[Yalta Conference]]; and a [[Commando (aircraft)|March 1945 disappearance over the North Atlantic]] involving the aircraft formerly used as a private transport by Winston Churchill. 

Following these and other losses, in April 1945, concerns were raised in Parliament about the experience of crews and the maintenance of aircraft within Transport Command. One frequent issue reported was that VIP passengers were said to put pressure on crews to fly in difficult conditions; the Air Ministry reported that it had tried to put in place orders to prevent this.<ref>[https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1945-04-10/debates/57cdc224-9a0e-4375-b82a-a03c66ca479e/TransportCommand(SafetyOfPassengers) "Transport Command (Safety Of Passengers)"], ''Hansard'', 10 April 1945</ref>