20 Spitfires found in Burma
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20 Spitfires found in Burma
Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK - Telegraph
I can only assume this is legitimate. Don't think we'll ever see anything like this in this country or certainly not to this kind of scale.
I can only assume this is legitimate. Don't think we'll ever see anything like this in this country or certainly not to this kind of scale.
Bit more info
By Victoria Ward, and Rowena Mason
7:00AM BST 14 Apr 2012
The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter jets dug up and shipped back to the UK almost 67 years after they were hidden more than 40-feet below ground amid fears of a Japanese occupation.
The gesture came as Mr Cameron became the first Western leader to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy campaigner held under house arrest for 22 years by the military regime, and invited her to visit London in her first trip abroad for 24 years.
He called on Europe to suspend its ban on trade with Burma now that it was showing “prospects for change” following Miss Suu Kyi’s election to parliament in a sweeping electoral victory earlier this year.
The plight of the buried aircraft came to Mr Cameron’s attention at the behest of a farmer from Scunthorpe, North Lincs, who is responsible for locating them at a former RAF base using radar imaging technology.
David Cundall, 62, spent 15 years doggedly searching for the Mk II planes, an exercise that involved 12 trips to Burma and cost him more than £130,000.
When he finally managed to locate them in February, he was told Mr Cameron “loved” the project and would intervene to secure their repatriation.
Mr Cundall told the Daily Telegraph: “I’m only a small farmer, I’m not a multi-millionaire and it has been a struggle. It took me more than 15 years but I finally found them.
”Spitfires are a beautiful aeroplane and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.”
He said the Spitfires, of which there are only around 35 flying left in the world, were shipped to Burma and then transported by rail to the British RAF base during the war.
However, advances in technology and the emergence of more agile jets meant they were never used and in August 1945, officials fearing a Japanese occupation abandoned them on the orders of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the head of South East Asia Command, two weeks before the atom bombs were dropped, ending the conflict.
“They were just buried there in transport crates,” Mr Cundall said. “They were waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred. They will be in near perfect condition.”
The married father of three, an avid plane enthusiast, embarked on his voyage of discovery in 1996 after being told of their existence by a friend who had met some American veterans who described digging a trench for the aircraft during the Allied withdrawal of Burma.
He spent years appealing for information on their whereabouts from eye witnesses, scouring public records and placing advertisements in specialist magazines.
Several early trips to Burma were unsuccessful and were hampered by the political climate.
He eventually met one eyewitness who drew maps and an outline of where the jets were buried and took him out to the scene.
“Unfortunately, he got his north, south, east and west muddled up and we were searching at the wrong end of the runway,” he said.
“We also realised that we were not searching deep enough as they had filled in all of these bomb craters which were 20-feet to start with.
“I hired another machine in the UK that went down to 40-feet and after going back surveying the land many times, I eventually found them.
“I have been in touch with British officials in Burma and in London and was told that David Cameron would negotiate on my behalf to make the recovery happen.”
Mr Cundall said sanctions preventing the removal of military tools from Burma were due to be lifted at midnight last night (FRI).
A team from the UK is already in place and is expecting to begin the excavation, estimated to cost around £500,000, imminently. It is being funded by the Chichester-based Boultbee Flight Acadamy.
Mr Cundall said the government had promised him it would be making no claim on the aircraft, of which 21,000 were originally produced, and that he would be entitled to a share in them.
“It’s been a financial nightmare but hopefully I’ll get my money back,” he said.
“I’m hoping the discovery will generate some jobs. They will need to be stripped down and re-riveted but it must be done. My dream is to have a flying squadron at air shows.”
Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK - Telegraph
7:00AM BST 14 Apr 2012
The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter jets dug up and shipped back to the UK almost 67 years after they were hidden more than 40-feet below ground amid fears of a Japanese occupation.
The gesture came as Mr Cameron became the first Western leader to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy campaigner held under house arrest for 22 years by the military regime, and invited her to visit London in her first trip abroad for 24 years.
He called on Europe to suspend its ban on trade with Burma now that it was showing “prospects for change” following Miss Suu Kyi’s election to parliament in a sweeping electoral victory earlier this year.
The plight of the buried aircraft came to Mr Cameron’s attention at the behest of a farmer from Scunthorpe, North Lincs, who is responsible for locating them at a former RAF base using radar imaging technology.
David Cundall, 62, spent 15 years doggedly searching for the Mk II planes, an exercise that involved 12 trips to Burma and cost him more than £130,000.
When he finally managed to locate them in February, he was told Mr Cameron “loved” the project and would intervene to secure their repatriation.
Mr Cundall told the Daily Telegraph: “I’m only a small farmer, I’m not a multi-millionaire and it has been a struggle. It took me more than 15 years but I finally found them.
”Spitfires are a beautiful aeroplane and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.”
He said the Spitfires, of which there are only around 35 flying left in the world, were shipped to Burma and then transported by rail to the British RAF base during the war.
However, advances in technology and the emergence of more agile jets meant they were never used and in August 1945, officials fearing a Japanese occupation abandoned them on the orders of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the head of South East Asia Command, two weeks before the atom bombs were dropped, ending the conflict.
“They were just buried there in transport crates,” Mr Cundall said. “They were waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred. They will be in near perfect condition.”
The married father of three, an avid plane enthusiast, embarked on his voyage of discovery in 1996 after being told of their existence by a friend who had met some American veterans who described digging a trench for the aircraft during the Allied withdrawal of Burma.
He spent years appealing for information on their whereabouts from eye witnesses, scouring public records and placing advertisements in specialist magazines.
Several early trips to Burma were unsuccessful and were hampered by the political climate.
He eventually met one eyewitness who drew maps and an outline of where the jets were buried and took him out to the scene.
“Unfortunately, he got his north, south, east and west muddled up and we were searching at the wrong end of the runway,” he said.
“We also realised that we were not searching deep enough as they had filled in all of these bomb craters which were 20-feet to start with.
“I hired another machine in the UK that went down to 40-feet and after going back surveying the land many times, I eventually found them.
“I have been in touch with British officials in Burma and in London and was told that David Cameron would negotiate on my behalf to make the recovery happen.”
Mr Cundall said sanctions preventing the removal of military tools from Burma were due to be lifted at midnight last night (FRI).
A team from the UK is already in place and is expecting to begin the excavation, estimated to cost around £500,000, imminently. It is being funded by the Chichester-based Boultbee Flight Acadamy.
Mr Cundall said the government had promised him it would be making no claim on the aircraft, of which 21,000 were originally produced, and that he would be entitled to a share in them.
“It’s been a financial nightmare but hopefully I’ll get my money back,” he said.
“I’m hoping the discovery will generate some jobs. They will need to be stripped down and re-riveted but it must be done. My dream is to have a flying squadron at air shows.”
Spitfires buried in Burma during war to be returned to UK - Telegraph
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The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter jets dug up and shipped back to the UK
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And I'm pretty sure the Japs were screwed at the two weeks to A-bomb time, I doubt anyone would have been concerned about being occupied, they just barely occupied Japan by that time!
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Ive been to Burma several times and up the north around Myitkyina where several large WWII battles took place.It seems many aircraft were lost into the jungle. I asked a local who is an aviation enthusiast (building his own helicopter... but that's another story) what happens if they find an aircraft. He said that they normal melt it down for use in making pots and pans .
If the locals had know about it I'm sure it would have been sold for scrap or used for something else . The level of poverty and closed society in Burma is to been seen to be believed.
If the locals had know about it I'm sure it would have been sold for scrap or used for something else . The level of poverty and closed society in Burma is to been seen to be believed.
Tinpis, they won't be in the ground, they'll be in some local Prince's warehouse as a Super Fund, recovered years ago waiting for the opportunity to talk to the Brit's or other's about the sanctions being lifted. The deal will prob be that one fully restored goes back to Burma ???
Same as in Laos not so long ago ref the T28's and Bird Dogs ?
Same as in Laos not so long ago ref the T28's and Bird Dogs ?
I believe, that somewhere buried deep under YBCV, are many Mustangs and god know's what else. All left there when the American's packed up and went home at the end of World War II.
185, Beechy, you guys would know something about these wouldn't you?
morno
185, Beechy, you guys would know something about these wouldn't you?
morno
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GCS16
Amazing find. Will there be enough LAME's current on MKII spits to get them going again?
It would be a great one, if you considered how many spits are out there, (35 flyable worldwide as of june 2008 and 7 within 12 months of airworthy status at that time....only read that article a few days ago)
Monocoque Airframe....nothing fancy there.
Merlin engine. nup no surprises there.
The systems.....nothing new either.
All of it well documented, and the docs are not 'no longer available'
As these are being returned to the British government, one has to assume that they will become the responsibility of the BBMF, for return to airworthy status. The BBMF already operates a MkII. Even if the BBMF does not do the work, you can guarantee their expertise will be heavily drawn upon and happily provided.
Keep in mind sweetie, that there is a Mk1 spit and Mk1 hurri airborne in pommeland....20 mk 2's....it's almost factory work when you do that many.
Nup...biggest issue is going to be consumable spares, time and dollars.
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Morno
I believe, that somewhere buried deep under YBCV, are many Mustangs and god know's what else. All left there when the American's packed up and went home at the end of World War II.
185, Beechy, you guys would know something about these wouldn't you?
morno
185, Beechy, you guys would know something about these wouldn't you?
morno
Tales like that abound. There is supposedly a field in the NT that 40+ spitfires were flown into, pushed into a hole and buried. Similar for other military equipment from the time. My great grandfather, who lived long enough to tell me some tales, served in the RAN ww1, and merchant navy ww2. His story that on VJ day his ship tossed some 400 tonne of cargo over the side. He was mid pacific, San Francisco to Brisbane with military cargo. Any crate with the Lend Lease handshake painted on the side went overboard.....lost in transit, we wouldn't have to pay for it. I grew up as a member of the VMVC, and stories similar abound. I've seen the results of crates 'recovered' from the deep, seen vehicles getting blasted and the handshake is uncovered and worked around, then cleared over to preserve the 'original element'.
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I'm sure Judy Pay and her crew would easily be able to mechanically handle a mother load such as this to airworthy condition.
I wonder what the going rate for a Spitty is? It was well over $2m some 10 years ago if I recall correctly.
Someone was telling me that Judy's Kittyhawk is valued at near $40m if I heard correctly.
I wonder what the going rate for a Spitty is? It was well over $2m some 10 years ago if I recall correctly.
Someone was telling me that Judy's Kittyhawk is valued at near $40m if I heard correctly.
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Who is to say they were not bulldozed into the ground . Why bury something when you could just burn it ? They could be digging up little bits of scrap.
Seems people here are thinking that there is complete airframes to be discovered ? Why wouldn't the British have flown them out , besides a lack of fuel?
On another note there is a nice spitfire in the Bangkok museum rotting away :-(
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Edit :
Burmese treasure: 'We've done some pretty silly things but the silliest was burying the Spitfires'
Seems there crated . Just checking if this story was released 1st April
Seems people here are thinking that there is complete airframes to be discovered ? Why wouldn't the British have flown them out , besides a lack of fuel?
On another note there is a nice spitfire in the Bangkok museum rotting away :-(
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit :
Burmese treasure: 'We've done some pretty silly things but the silliest was burying the Spitfires'
Seems there crated . Just checking if this story was released 1st April
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I believe, that somewhere buried deep under YBCV, are many Mustangs and god know's what else. All left there when the American's packed up and went home at the end of World War II.
Sure, you can participate in 'government' if you choose to bow low enough to the Don and abide by all of their rules. Who knows, if you drink enough Kool-aid you may eventually be top dog and call some of the shots.
That Burma has been ostracised for a few decades is merely part of the PR in a "you lot should be grateful we're not as bad as those gangsters in Burma" kind of way.
If you think I'm a raving loon, watch the Godfather series and scale it up by a few orders of magnitude. Note how Michael Corleone craves to be made 'legitimate', but really can't manage to pull it off. Of course not, because he's wielding his power only by force and coercion - at least that's if 'promises' of protection in exchange for allegiance didn't work...
Once you realise that this is all government is, you might be inclined to change your strategy when dealing with it - preferably as little as possible.
But make sure you pay your protection money... (a.k.a tax)
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Master Beta
To fly them out, they would have had to be assembled first.
Even if the crates were 'bull dozed in', the amount of salvagable aircraft left behind would be quite large.
Have you ever been to Wangaratta to see what they are rebuilding? To see what they are starting with... ?
Ever heard of Tropical Packaging? Even with the bulldozing, the preservation level will be quite high.
If they weren't bull dozed, its going to be even higher.
Even if the crates were 'bull dozed in', the amount of salvagable aircraft left behind would be quite large.
Have you ever been to Wangaratta to see what they are rebuilding? To see what they are starting with... ?
Ever heard of Tropical Packaging? Even with the bulldozing, the preservation level will be quite high.
If they weren't bull dozed, its going to be even higher.