No. 147 Squadron

No. 147 Squadron RAF was first constituted on 17 October 1941 as a heavy bomber unit intended for Liberators, but a shortage of long-range aircraft meant it never flew operationally in that role; its personnel were instead absorbed as maintenance parties by other Middle East squadrons before the unit formally disbanded on 15 February 1943. The squadron was reconstituted on 5 September 1944 at Croydon as a transport unit within No. 110 Wing, Transport Command, equipped principally with Douglas Dakota IVs alongside Avro Ansons for shorter-range work. Flying scheduled freight and passenger services, the squadron connected Britain with newly liberated cities in France and Belgium, and gradually extended its routes to the Mediterranean, Germany, and Eastern Europe. Aircraft from the squadron may have been lost at Evere airfield during the German Operation Bodenplatte attack on 1 January 1945. The unit continued operating a scheduled air transport service into the early post-war period, eventually disbanding on 13 September 1946 once sufficient commercial and national airlines had re-established civilian services. Its motto, Assidue portamus — “We carry with regularity” — reflects the consistent scheduled nature of its transport work.