No. 47 Squadron RAF Army support role. The Squadron moved to RAF Disforth in September 1948, where it became the first RAF Squadron to receive the Handley Page Hastings four-engined transport. The conversion process was rushed as the aircraft were needed to support the Berlin Airlift, with the Squadron moving to Schleswigland, near Kiel in West Germany on 1 November 1948. The aircraft was mainly used to carry coal, carrying out 3,000 trips to Berlin and carrying 22,000 tons of supplies. When the blockade ended the Squadron returned to the United Kingdom, moving to RAF Topcliffe on 22 August 1949, operating in support of
Liskeard and Looe Union Canal up the East Looe Valley over use of water. Some limited statistics have survived: in 1849, 21,713 tons were carried, of which 7,546 tons were copper ore, and 6,175 tons were coal; in 1859, 48,193 tons were carried, of which 17,361 tons were copper ore and 15,712 tons were coal, as well as 8,297 tons of granite. Messenger says that the profit each year was about £2,000. At the later date, the canal was working at capacity, and the transshipment at Moorswater from rail to canal was costing from 4d to 6d per ton; because of congestion on the canal,