Editing RAF Transport Command (section)

===Post war===

As the Second World War ended, on 7 May 1945, [[No. 4 Group RAF]] was transferred into the command, from [[Bomber Command]], but disbanded in early 1948; No. 44 Group disbanded by being amalgamated into No 46 Group on 14 August 1946; [[No. 48 Group RAF]] was established,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2459084|title = Catalogue description H.Q., 48 Group: Formation}}</ref> but then disbanded on 15 May 1946; and No. 216 Group was transferred to [[RAF Mediterranean and Middle East]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C749062|title = Catalogue description No.216 Group: Transfer of control from Transport Command to Mediterranean and Middle East}}</ref> On 1 November 1949, [[No. 47 Group RAF]] disbanded by being renumbered 46 Group.<ref name=HO6 />

Overseas, two groups had been formed in India and Australia towards the end of the war.{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=128}} [[No. 232 Group RAF]] disbanded, now in [[Singapore]] on 15 August 1946, and 300 Group (24 April 1946 – 7 November 1946) in Sydney.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rafweb.org/Organsation/Grp07.htm|title = Groups 200+_P}}</ref>

The Command took part in several big operations, including the [[Berlin Airlift]] in 1948, which reinforced the need for a large RAF transport fleet.<ref>[http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Cold-war/Berlin-Airlift.htm Berlin Airlift] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404143246/http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Cold-war/Berlin-Airlift.htm |date=4 April 2004 }}</ref> The [[Handley Page Hastings]], a four-engined transport, was introduced during the Berlin Airlift<ref name=no99>[http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/99squadron.cfm No. 99 Squadron]</ref> and continued as a mainstay transport aircraft of the RAF for the next 15 years. In 1956, new aircraft designs became available, including  the [[de Havilland Comet]] (the first operational [[Jet aircraft|jet]] [[Military transport aircraft|transport]]), and the [[Blackburn Beverley]]. In 1959, the [[Bristol Britannia]] was introduced, with [[No. 99 Squadron RAF]].<ref name=no99/> [[No. 511 Squadron RAF]] was re-formed again at [[RAF Lyneham]] on 15 December 1959, as the second squadron to operate the Britannia on long-range trooping flights. 

During the 1960s the command was divided into three different forces:
* Strategic Force which operated the Comets, Britannias, VC-10s and Belfasts. Deliveries of the [[Vickers VC10]] to [[No. 10 Squadron RAF]] began in December 1966 and ended in August 1968.
* Medium Range Force which operated Beverleys, Hastings and Argosys
* Short Range Force which operated helicopters such as the [[Bristol Belvedere]], [[Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)|Westland Whirlwind]] and [[Westland Wessex]] and fixed wing aircraft such as [[Scottish Aviation Pioneer]]s, [[Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer]]s and [[Hawker Siddeley Andover]]s.

During the 1950s and 1960s Transport Command evacuated military personnel from the [[Suez Canal|Suez Canal Zone]] prior and after the [[Suez Crisis]] of October–November 1956;<ref name=no99/> evacuated casualties from [[South Korea]] during the [[Korean War]] and from the [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]] during the [[Malayan Emergency]]; moved essential supplies to [[Woomera, South Australia]], and ferried personnel and supplies out to [[Kiritimati|Christmas Island]] for the UK's [[atomic bomb]] tests. In addition, Transport Command ran scheduled routes to military staging posts and bases in the [[Indian Ocean]] region, [[Southeast Asia]] and the [[Far East]], to maintain contact between the UK and military bases of strategic importance. It also carried out special flights worldwide covering all the continents bar Antarctica. Many varied tasks were undertaken during the 1950s.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

The 1960s saw a reduction of the RAF and a loss of independence of the former functional commands. Transport Command was renamed [[RAF Air Support Command|Air Support Command]] in 1967.<ref>[http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/british_military/1967.cfm British Military Aviation in 1967] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010182126/http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/british_military/1967.cfm |date=10 October 2008 }} RAF Museum</ref>