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
Viet Cong and Vietnam People's Army logistics and equipment equipment like bulldozers and rock crushers were deployed, and both miles of road built and truck traffic expanded. By the war's end almost a million soldiers had made the trip down the Trail and tens of thousands of tons were being transported annually. A massive American effort in the air failed to stop the men and material pushed forward by Hanoi. Bomb tonnages dropped on the Trail in Laos offer some indication of the scale of the American campaign: 1969– 433,000 tons, 1970– 394,000 tons (74,147 sorties), 1971– 402,000 tons (69,000 sorties). However, with only about 100 tons a day