Rival teams seek Burma Spitfires
27 April 2012
Several teams are now said to be competing to unearth as many as 120 Spitfires buried by the Royal Air Force in Burma at the end of World War II.
Last week it was reported that Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall, 62, had located around 20 Mk XIV Spitfires, still packed in shipping crates, which were buried near an airfield in Burma in 1945. Cundall also claims to have located six MkVIII Spitfires buried un-crated in a quarry in the country.
It is now estimated that as many as 120 of the iconic World War II fighters were buried in the country at the end of the war, with the locations of around 60 said to be known by either of two British teams.
Many are believed to be buried near former RAF airfields in Myitkyina, in the north of the country, and Mingaladon, in the South.
Cundall has spent some 15 years searching for the aircraft and has secured financial support of around £500,000 from a second backer after a disagreement with property investor Steve Boultbee Brooks, who had originally offered to fund the excavations.
Cundall rejected a "memorandum of understanding" by Brooks, who is now said to be launching a "massive" recovery project of his own.
"I can do it without Brooks, I can do it without anybody," Cundall told The Daily Telegraph. "I've been digging up aircraft for 35 years. I've pushed the boat out financially. I've struggled like hell to keep it going. I've dug up Burma before, and I don't need them."
Brooks told the newspaper that his team would "keep this project on the road" and were still willing to work with Cundall to recover the planes, but warned that American, Israeli and possibly even Australian teams are interested in excavating the valuable fighters, which can sell for over £1m each.
Rival teams seek Burma Spitfires - Defence Management