Civil Halifaxes
With the end of the war, war surplus de-mobbed Halifaxes became available to civil users. By this time the Merlin engined Halifaxes had already been withdrawn from service and only Hercules engined aircraft were civilianised.
The first Halifax To be privately owned was a B.III that departed for Australia in 1946. As the aircraft had been not so much civilianised as de-militarised, the Australian authorities would not grant the aircraft the ability to fly commercially. The aircraft managed to pick up a contract to bring goods from Singapore to Australia as a "private" flight, but due to aborted take-offs with mechanical problems in Singapore, too much attention was attracted and the business folded.
Other aircraft were correctly modified to become civilian freighters, losing their turrets and mostly being fitted with panniers. Halifax freighters were the perfect aircraft to supply Berlin during the Airlift, and many aircraft were given a reprieve from the breakers torch to ferry suppliers to Berlin. But also thirty three Mk.VI aircraft were broken up for spares to keep the operational Halifaxes flying for the Airlift.
Only A.IX aircraft underwent freighter conversion for Berlin, and curiously they both retained their rear turrets.