Editing RAF Transport Command

{{Short description|Former command of the Royal Air Force}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name         = Royal Air Force Transport Command
|image             = RAFTransportcommand.png
|image_size        = 225px
|caption           = [[Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force|RAF Transport Command badge]]
|start_date        = 25 March 1943
|end_date          = 1 August 1967
|country           = {{flagicon|UK}} [[United Kingdom]]
|allegiance        =
|branch            = [[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg|23px]] [[Royal Air Force]]
|type              = [[Command (military formation)|Command]]
|role              = Controlling transport aircraft
|size              = 
|command_structure =
|garrison          = [[RAF Upavon]]{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=85}} Previously Harrow{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=74}}
|garrison_label    = Headquarters
|equipment         = 
|equipment_label   = 
|nickname          =
|patron            =
|motto             = [[Latin]]: ''Ferio Ferendo''<br>("I Strike by Carrying")<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pine|first1=L.G.|title=A dictionary of mottoes|date=1983|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|location=London|isbn=0-7100-9339-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/74 74]|edition=1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/74}}</ref>
|colors            =
|colors_label      =
|march             = 
|mascot            = 
|battles           = [[World War II|Second World War]]<BR>[[Cold War]]
|anniversaries     =
|decorations       =
|battle_honours    = 
<!-- Commanders -->
|current_commander             = 
|current_commander_label       = 
|ceremonial_chief              = 
|ceremonial_chief_label        = 
|colonel_of_the_regiment       = 
|colonel_of_the_regiment_label = 
|notable_commanders            = 
<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol         = A golden griffon in front of a globe
|identification_symbol_label   = Badge heraldry
|identification_symbol_2       = 
|identification_symbol_2_label = 
<!-- Aircraft -->
|aircraft_electronic  = 
|aircraft_recon       = 
|aircraft_patrol      = 
|aircraft_trainer     = 
|aircraft_transport   = 
}}
'''RAF Transport Command''' was a  [[Royal Air Force]] [[Command (military formation)|command]]  that controlled all [[military transport aircraft|transport aircraft]] of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the [[RAF Ferry Command]], and was subsequently renamed [[RAF Air Support Command]] in 1967.

==History==
===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>

===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>

=== Other tasks in the 1950s ===
Operation Becher's Brook was a major operation of Transport Command – the ferrying of 400 [[Canadair Sabre]] fighters from North America to the UK, circa 1952. This required pilots and ground crew to be transported to Canada. The Sabres were flown via [[Naval Air Station Keflavik|Keflavik]] ([[Iceland]]) on to [[Shetland]] and from there to mainland Scotland.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Transport Command also supported the [[British North Greenland expedition]] a research expedition from 1952–54 on the Greenland ice.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

== Structure ==

=== Groups ===
No. 44 (Ferry) Group RAF was formed on 15 August 1941 at Eastern Avenue, Barnwood, Gloucester within [[RAF Ferry Command]]. It moved to Transport Command on 25 March 1943 and controlled non-operational aircraft moving to and from the UK to the south or west. It was disbanded on 14 August 1946 and absorbed into No. 46 Group.{{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|2007|p=151}}
	
* April 1942 - HQ at Gloucester{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=60}}
** [[RAF Prestwick]] = [[No. 1527 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF]]
** [[RAF Kemble]] = [[No. 1 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit RAF]] & [[No. 2 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit RAF]]
** [[RAF Filton]] = [[No. 3 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit RAF]] & [[No. 4 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit RAF]]
** [[RAF Honeybourne]] = [[Ferry Training Unit RAF]]
** [[RAF Hurn]] = [[No. 1425 (Communication) Flight RAF]]
** [[RAF Lyneham]] = [[No. 1445 Flight RAF]]
	
No. 47 (Transport) Group RAF was formed on 1 January 1945 at The Hall, Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire within Transport Command. It reabsorbed No. 48 (Transport) Group on 1 April 1946, No. 47 moved to [[RAF Abingdon]] on 15 April 1948 and was redesignated No. 46 Group on 1 November 1949.{{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|2007|p=151}}
	
No. 48 (Transport) Group was formed on 29 October 1945 out of No. 47 Group at The Hall, Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire within Transport Command. It was disbanded into No. 47 Group on 15 May 1946.{{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|2007|p=151}}

===Wings===
During its existence the command supervised a number of wings:
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* No. 87 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=134}}
* No. 107 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 108 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 109 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 110 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 111 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 115 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 116 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 117 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 118 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=135}}
* No. 177 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=136}}
* No. 282 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=137}}
* No. 283 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=137}}
* No. 284 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=137}}
* No. 341 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=137}}
* No. 342 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=137}}
* No. 900 Wing RAF{{sfn|Delve|1994|p=137}}
}}

=== Units ===
Units included:
* The '''Airborne Forces Tactical Development Unit''' was formed at [[RAF Tarrant Rushton]] on 1 December 1943 and was disbanded on 14 January 1944 to become the '''Air Transport Tactical Development Unit'''.{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=25}} This new unit was then disbanded on 31 August 1945 at [[RAF Netheravon]] to become the '''Transport Command Development Unit'''. This unit was disbanded at RAF Abingdon on 28 February 1950 to become the '''Air Transport Development Flight''',{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=288}} this new unit was disbanded on 14 October 1951 still at Abingdon to become the '''Transport Command Development Flight'''.{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=25}} This unit was disbanded on 8 February 1957 at RAF Benson.{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=288}}
* The '''Transport Command Aircrew Examining Unit''' was previously the '''Aircrew Testing and Grading Unit''' and was formed on 1 November 1945 at [[RAF Melbourne]]. It used a variety of transport aircraft until it was disbanded on 7 August 1946 at [[RAF Bramcote]] to become the '''Transport Command Examining Unit'''. This unit continued the work of the previous unit until it was disbanded on 23 June 1964 at [[RAF Benson]], the unit then became the '''Transport Command Examining Staff''' until 1 August 1967 while still at RAF Benson became the '''Air Support Examining Unit'''{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=288}}
* '''Transport Command Air Support Flight''' was formed on 1 February 1953 at [[RAF Abingdon]] but was shortly disbanded on 14 September 1954 to become '''[[No. 1312 Flight RAF|No. 1312 (Transport Support) Flight]]'''{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=288}}
* '''Transport Command Communication Flight''' was initially 'C' Flight of the '''[[No. 32 Squadron RAF#VIP transport|Metropolitan Communication Squadron RAF]]''' and was separated doing May 1946 when it moved to [[RAF Upavon]]. At some point it became the '''Transport Command Communication Squadron''' and was disbanded on 1 April 1964 and was absorbed by the '''[[Western Communication Squadron RAF]]''' at [[RAF Upavon]]{{sfn|Lake|1999|p=288}}

==Aircraft operated==
{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|
* [[Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy|Armstrong Whitworth Argosy]]
* [[Avro Anson]]
* [[Avro York]]
* [[Blackburn Beverley]]
* [[Bristol Belvedere]]
* [[Bristol Britannia]] (Nos 99 and [[No. 511 Squadron RAF]])
* [[Bristol Sycamore]]
* [[Consolidated Liberator I]] (referred to solely as "Liberator" without the B-24 designation)
* [[de Havilland Comet]] (with [[No. 216 Squadron RAF]] 1956–1967; Comet C2 and C4)<ref name="Jones p. 68">Jones 2010, p. 68.</ref><ref>Institution of Electrical Engineers 1978, p. 89.</ref>)
* [[de Havilland Devon]]
* [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|Douglas Dakota]]
* [[Handley Page Hastings]]
* [[Hawker Siddeley Andover]]
* [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules]]
* [[Percival Pembroke]]
* [[Scottish Aviation Pioneer]]
* [[Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer]]
* [[Short Belfast]]
* [[Vickers Valetta]]
* [[Vickers VC10]]
* [[Vickers Varsity]]
* [[Westland Dragonfly]]
* [[Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)|Westland Whirlwind]]
* [[Westland Wessex]]
}}

== Commanders-in-Chief ==
Commanders-in-Chief included:<ref>[http://www.rafweb.org/Cmd_H3A.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – RAF Home Commands formed between 1939 – 1957] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111221936/http://www.rafweb.org/Cmd_H3A.htm |date=11 January 2011 }}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*25 March 1943 – [[Air Chief Marshal]] Sir [[Frederick Bowhill]]
*15 February 1945 – [[Air Marshal]] Sir [[Ralph Cochrane]]
*24 September 1947 – Air Marshal Sir [[Brian Edmund Baker|Brian Baker]]
*31 March 1950 – Air Marshal Sir [[Aubrey Ellwood (RAF officer)|Aubrey Ellwood]]
*1 January 1952 – Air Vice Marshal [[Robert Blucke]]
*3 June 1952 – [[Air Vice Marshal]] Sir [[Charles Guest]]
*15 March 1954 – Air Vice Marshal Sir [[George Beamish]]
*15 October 1955 – Air Marshal Sir [[Andrew McKee (RAF officer)|Andrew McKee]]
*16 May 1959 – Air Marshal Sir [[Denis Barnett]]
*30 April 1962 – Air Marshal Sir [[Edmund Hudleston]]
*1 December 1963 – Air Marshal Sir [[Kenneth Cross]]
*27 January 1967 – Air Marshal Sir [[Thomas Prickett]]
}}

==See also==
*[[List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force]]
*[[Royal Air Force station]]
* [[List of Royal Air Force commands]]

==References==
{{commons category|Royal Air Force Transport Command}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Delve |first1=K  |title= The Source Book of the RAF|year=1994 |publisher= Airlife Publishing Ltd |location= Shrewsbury, UK |isbn= 1-85310-451-5 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Jefford |first1= C.G. |title= RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 |year=1988 |publisher= Airlife |location= [[Shrewsbury]] |isbn= 1-85310-053-6 }}
* Kenneth Cross, "Transport Command Today," [[RUSI Journal]], 1965 - aircraft types included Hastings, Beverleys, Argosys, [[Westland Wessex]], Andovers, [[Hawker Hunter]] ground attack aircraft (under 38 Group), Britannias, Comets (under HQ Transport Command).
*{{cite book |last1=Lake |first1=A |title= Flying units of the RAF |year=1999 |publisher= Airlife |location= [[Shrewsbury]] |isbn= 1-84037-086-6 }}
* M Milner, Review of Carl A. Christie, "Ocean Bridge: The History of RAF Ferry Command", The [[Canadian Historical Review]], 1997
* [https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/Research/RAF-Historical-Society-Journals/Journal-22-Seminar-Air-Transport.pdf Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal No 22]
* {{cite web|last=Stephens|first=Tony|title="Ferio Ferendo - The Arrival of Transport Command," in RAF Historical Society Journal 22|date=2000|url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/Research/RAF-Historical-Society-Journals/Journal-22-Seminar-Air-Transport.pdf}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sturtivant|first1=Ray|last2=Hamlin|first2=John|title=Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912 |year=2007 |publisher= Air-Britain (Historians)|location=[[Tonbridge]], UK|isbn=978-0851-3036-59}}
* Wilson, Keith. ''RAF Transport Command: A Pictorial History''. Amberley Publishing Limited, 15/06/2017 {{ISBN|1445665999}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=tDMqDwAAQBAJ&q=OTU&pg=PT5]
* Wynn, Humphrey. ''Forged in War: A History of Royal Air Force Transport Command, 1943–1967''. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1996. {{ISBN|0-11-772756-3}}.

==External links==
*{{YouTube|OmgPlkiEZKQ|"Transport Command"}}

{{Royal Air Force}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1943]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force commands|Transport Command]]
[[Category:Transport units and formations of the Royal Air Force]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War II]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1967]]
[[Category:Air force transport commands]]