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Thread: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 9 January 2013]

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    Jagdpanzer's Avatar Praepositus
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    Default Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 9 January 2013]

    Spitfires Buried In Burma Could Fly Again

    Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2012
    A search has begun for 20 "lost" Spitfires that were buried in Burma during the Second World War - but are set to return to the skies.

    David Cameron and Burmese president Thein Sein have agreed to work together to find and restore the iconic aircraft as part of a thaw in relations between the two countries.
    Evidence of the Spitfires' existence was uncovered years ago by amateur aviation enthusiast, who have been unable to unearth their potential locations.
    British statesman Earl Mountbatten ordered the RAF to bury them in the summer of 1945 amid fears that they could be either used or destroyed by Japanese forces.
    But within weeks, the atom bomb was dropped to end the conflict, and the brand new planes - which were in crates and yet to be assembled - were seemingly forgotten.
    Experts from Leeds University have linked up with an academic based in Rangoon and believe they have identified the sites where the craft are concealed using sophisticated radar techniques.
    Although around 21,000 Spitfires were built during the war effort, only 35 are believed to be in flying condition today.
    Mr Cameron raised the issue during talks with Mr Sein, who officials said was "very enthusiastic".
    If the planes can be salvaged, some could potentially go on display in Burma.
    A Downing Street source said: "The Spitfire is arguably the most important plane in the history of aviation, playing a crucial role in the Second World War.
    "It is hoped this will be an opportunity to work with the reforming Burmese government, uncover, restore and display these fighter planes and get them gracing the skies of Britain once again."
    Source: http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news...ould_fly_again

    Twenty spitfires. TWENTY!

    Last edited by Jagdpanzer; January 09, 2013 at 04:59 PM.

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    One would be a great find, but finding twenty is amazing.

    I hope some of them will fly. Too few planes from that era have survived.
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    Sicknero's Avatar Senator
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    I'm still boggling at the idea of burying twenty Spitfires...
    "A quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself ... always a laborious business." A. A. Milne

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sicknero View Post
    I'm still boggling at the idea of burying twenty Spitfires...

    Its not exactly an uncommon practice to bury weapons/valuables during war. in the hope you'll be able to come back for them later. The Yugoslav army managed to bury at least one full battery of field guns, and the partisans once buried 20 chests full of silver.

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    This is awesome. Hope they will be distrubeted wildly

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    Quote Originally Posted by TWWolfe View Post
    Its not exactly an uncommon practice to bury weapons/valuables during war. in the hope you'll be able to come back for them later. The Yugoslav army managed to bury at least one full battery of field guns, and the partisans once buried 20 chests full of silver.
    Yes I know. Samuel Pepys buried cheese in his back garden during the 1666 fire of London.

    But twenty aircraft ... that's still quite amazing! To me, at least
    "A quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself ... always a laborious business." A. A. Milne

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    Jagdpanzer's Avatar Praepositus
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    News update.


    Green light for Burma's Spitfire hoard to be dug up

    18 October 2012

    David Eimer

    Burma's government has signed an agreement with a British farmer to allow the excavation of dozens of rare Spitfires buried in the country at the end of World War II.
    The historic hoard may hold as many as 60 of Britain's most famous fighter plane, the largest number of Spitfires left anywhere in the world.
    The deal was made possible by the intervention of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who discussed bringing the planes home when he met the Burmese President, Thein Sein, in April.
    David Cundall, a farmer and aviation enthusiast, struck the historical equivalent of a gold mine when he found the planes in February, almost 70 years after they were carefully greased and wrapped to preserve them, before being buried in crates.
    Revered for their role in the Battle of Britain in 1940, there are only 35 Spitfires still flying around the world. It is thought that those buried in Burma could be worth Ł1.5 million ($2.3 million) each.
    "We estimate that there are at least 60 Spitfires buried and they are in good condition," said Htoo Htoo Zaw, Mr Cundall's Burmese business partner. "This will be the largest number of Spitfires in the world.
    "We want to let people see these historic fighters, and the excavation of these planes will further strengthen relations between Burma and Britain."
    Work on digging up the planes will start at the end of this month.
    The find is considered even more valuable because the Spitfires are rare Mark XIV fighters, equipped not with the famous Rolls-Royce Merlin engine but the more powerful Griffon type.
    Although more than 20,000 Spitfires were built in Britain during the World War II, only 2,042 later models were powered with Griffon engines and just a handful are still flying.
    Mr Cundall, 62, spent 16 years and more than Ł130,000 of his own money scouring former RAF airfields in Burma for the planes, after receiving a tip-off that they were buried at the end of a runway in August 1945.
    It is thought the aircraft were abandoned in Burma before they ever took to the air because they were no longer needed with so many Spitfires then flying and the war ending.
    According to the Burmese press, Mr Cundall and Mr Zaw signed the deal to excavate the planes on Tuesday in Rangoon with Tin Naing Tun, Burma's director-general of civil aviation.
    Burma's transport minister, Nyan Tun Aung, was cited as hailing the agreement as a milestone in Anglo-Burmese relations, and as recognition by the British government of Burma's recent pro-democracy reforms.
    Mr Cameron made retrieving the planes a priority when he travelled to Rangoon in April to meet Mr Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi.
    But the deal was delayed after a tussle between Mr Cundall and the British businessman Steve Boultbee Brooks over who had the right to extract the planes.
    Most of the Spitfires are expected to be returned to Britain, with some remaining in Burma on display.

    Telegraph London
    Source: http://www.theage.com.au/world/green-light-for-burmas-spitfire-hoard-to-be-dug-up-20121018-27seg.html


    Last edited by Jagdpanzer; October 19, 2012 at 05:33 AM.

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    The Vengur's Avatar Bloodthirsty Lunatic
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    Wrong thread
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    Up to 60

    That's an awesome find, if they get to 'em

    EDIT: Hehe, my 600th post made at exactly 6:00 EST. How fun
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    Woah. Finding one buried machine is great, but finding 20 is simply amazing luck.

    This is great news and as they say in allo allo:

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    I would have to wonder, thought. Where the heck were these things and why were they so worried about them being used by the enemy? By this point in time the back and forth over Burma had changed into back-and-back-and-back, and the Japanese were in as close to headlong retreat as the Burmese countryside would allow them to be.

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    Quote Originally Posted by Turtler View Post
    I would have to wonder, thought. Where the heck were these things and why were they so worried about them being used by the enemy? By this point in time the back and forth over Burma had changed into back-and-back-and-back, and the Japanese were in as close to headlong retreat as the Burmese countryside would allow them to be.
    Apparently they were buried because they were no longer needed. This article has more info:


    Spitfire WWII Fighter Planes In Myanmar Excavation Could Flood Vintage Plane Market

    By AYE AYE WIN 10/18/12 09:18 PM ET EDT

    YANGON, Myanmar — As many as 140 World War II Spitfire fighter planes – three to four times the number of airworthy models known to exist – are believed to be buried in near-pristine condition in Myanmar. A British-Myanmar partnership says it will begin digging them up by the end of the month.
    The go-ahead for excavation came earlier this week when the Myanmar government signed an agreement with British aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall and his local partner. Cundall, a farmer and businessman, earlier this year announced he had located 20 of the planes, best known for helping the Royal Air Force win mastery of the skies during the Battle of Britain.
    On Thursday, however, a retired Myanmar geology professor who has assisted in the recovery operation since 1999 said there are about 140 Spitfires buried in various places around the Southeast Asian country, which until 1948 was a British colony called Burma. He did not explain the discrepancy in estimates.
    Soe Thein said the British brought crates of Spitfires to Myanmar in the closing stages of the war, but never used them when the Japanese gave up the fight in 1945. The single-seat version of the fighter plane was 9.14 meters (30 feet) long with an 11.3 meter (37 foot) wingspan.
    The U.S. Army was in charge of burying the planes after British forces decided to dispose of them that way, he said, adding Cundall interviewed at least 1,000 war veterans, mostly American, to gather information about the aircraft's fate.
    He said a ground search was started in 1999 using magnetometers and ground radar, but faced difficulties. Only in recent years did technology become advanced enough to be more certain of the finds, he said.
    Each plane was kept in a crate about 12.2 meters (40 feet) long, 3.4 meters (11 feet) high and 2.7 meters (9 feet) wide, said Soe Thein.
    The plans under a two-year contract are to recover 60 planes in the first phase: 36 planes in Mingaladon, near Yangon's current air base and international airport; 18 in Myitkyina in Kachin state in the north; and six in Meikthila in central Myanmar. Others are to be recovered in a second phase.
    The Myanmar government will get one plane for display at a museum, as well as half of the remaining total. DJC, a private company headed by Cundall, will get 30 percent of the total and the Myanmar partner company, Shwe Taung Paw, 20 percent.

    British Prime Minister David Cameron eased the way to an agreement when he visited Myanmar President Thein Sein in April.
    Cundall has said his quest to find the planes involved 12 trips to Myanmar and cost more than 130,000 pounds ($210,000), not including the planned excavation expenses.
    Spitfires in working shape are rare and popular with collectors. In 2009, a restored but airworthy Spitfire was sold by British auction house Bonhams for >1,739,500 ($2,544,130)
    The excavation agreement was signed Tuesday by Civil Aviation Director-General Tin Naing Tun, Cundall on behalf of DJC, and Htoo Htoo Zaw, managing director of Shwe Taung Paw.
    "It took 16 years for Mr. David Cundall to locate the planes buried in crates. We estimate that there are at least 60 Spitfires buried and they are in good condition," Htoo Htoo Zaw said Wednesday. "We want to let people see these historic fighters, and the excavation of these fighter planes will further strengthen relations between Myanmar and Britain."
    The British Embassy on Wednesday described the agreement as a chance to work with Myanmar's new reformist government to restore and display the planes.
    "We hope that many of them will be gracing the skies of Britain and as discussed, some will be displayed here in Burma," said an embassy spokesman, who spoke anonymously because he was not directly involved in the excavation agreement.
    Myanmar from 1962 until last year was under the rule of the military, which changed the country's name from Burma in 1989. Thein Sein's reformist government has turned away from the repression of the military government and patched up relations with Western nations that had previously shunned it.
    The state-owned Myanma Ahlin daily on Wednesday cited Transport Minister Nyan Tun Aung as saying the Spitfire agreement amounts to the British government's recognition of the democratic reforms.
    Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_1978923.html

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma.

    News update.

    British Spitfire search team arrives in Myanmar

    By AYE AYE WIN
    Associated Press

    Posted: Saturday, Jan. 05, 2013

    YANGON, Myanmar A search team led by a British aviation enthusiast arrived in Myanmar on Sunday to begin a dig they hope will unearth dozens of rare British Spitfire fighter planes said to have been buried in the Southeast Asian country at the end of World War II.The 21-member team led by farmer and businessman David Cundall will start excavations soon near the airport in the main city, Yangon.
    Cundall said the aircraft were buried in wooden crates around 30 feet under the ground and the project would take about four to six weeks to complete.
    "We are expecting them to be in first-class condition," Cundall said shortly after arriving at the international airport in Yangon.
    The Spitfire remains Britain's most famous combat aircraft. Its reputation was cemented during the Battle of Britain when the fast-moving single-seater aircraft helped beat back waves of German bombers.
    Britain built a total of about 20,000 Spitfires, although the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II meant that the propeller-driven planes quickly became obsolete.
    The planes believed to be in Myanmar were buried by American engineers as the war drew to a close. Searchers hope they are in pristine condition, but Andy Brockman, a freelance archaeologist who is part of the search team, said it was possible all they might find is a mass of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts.
    Nevertheless, he said, "I'm very confident that we'll have answers to the story of what happened ... in 1945."
    The venture is being backed by the Belarusian videogame company Wargaming.net, which is best known for its multiplayer titles including "World of Warplanes" and "World of Tanks."

    The search team says 36 Spitfires are believed to be buried near Yangon airport, while another 18 are in Myitkyina in northern Kachin state and six more are buried in Meikthila in central Myanmar.
    Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...m-arrives.html

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 6 January 2013]

    Brilliant!


    Quote Originally Posted by BBC News
    Burma Spitfire hunters discover crate

    British experts looking for a cache of World War II Spitfire planes believed to be buried in Burma say they have discovered a crate.
    The team has lowered a camera into the crate in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, but says muddy water has stopped them identifying the contents.
    Project leader David Cundall described the development as "very encouraging".
    The team believes that more than 120 unused Spitfires could be buried in sites across Burma.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20957162

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    Jagdpanzer's Avatar Praepositus
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 6 January 2013]

    Burma Spitfire search finds water-filled crate that may contain plane

    An excavation team searching for a stash of Second World War era British Spitfires in Burma says it has found a wooden crate believed to contain one of the planes, but it is full of muddy water

    It was not immediately clear how much damage the water may have caused, and searchers could not definitively say what was inside the crate.

    But British aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall, who is driving the hunt for the rare Spitfires, called the results "very encouraging."
    "It will take some time to pump the water out ... but I do expect all aircraft to be in very good condition," Mr Cundall said from Rangoon, Burma's main city.

    The single-seater Spitfire, which helped Britain beat back waves of German bombers during the war more than six decades ago, remains the most famous British combat aircraft.
    Britain built a total of about 20,000 Spitfires, although the dawn of the jet age meant the propeller-driven planes quickly became obsolete.
    As many as 140 Spitfires – three to four times the number of airworthy models known to exist – are believed to have been buried in near-pristine condition in Burma by American engineers as the war drew to a close.
    The wooden crate located in northern Burma was found in Myitkyina in Kachin state during a dig that began last month. It is one of several digs planned nationwide, including another near the airport in Rangoon.
    Mr Cundall said the search team in Kachin state inserted a camera into the crate and found it was full of water. It was unclear what was inside the crate, he said, but the water will be pumped out during an operation that could take weeks, he said.
    The go-ahead for excavation came in October when Burma's government signed an agreement with Mr Cundall and his local partner.
    Under the deal, Burma's government will get one plane for display at a museum, as well as half of the remaining total. DJC, a private company headed by Mr Cundall, will get 30 per cent of the total and the Burma partner company Shwe Taung Paw, headed by Htoo Htoo Zaw, will get 20 per cent.
    During the project's first phase, searchers hope to recover 60 planes: 36 planes in Mingaladon, near Rangoon's international airport; six in Meikthila in central Burma; and 18 in Myitkyina. Others are to be recovered in a second phase.
    Searchers hope the aircraft are in pristine condition, but others have said it's possible all they might find is a mass of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts.
    Mr Cundall said the practice of burying aircraft, tanks and jeeps was common after the war.
    "Basically nobody had got any orders to take these airplanes back to (the) UK. They were just surplus ... (and) one way of disposing them was to bury them," Mr Cundall said. "The war was over, everybody wanted to go home, nobody wanted anything, so you just buried it and went home. That was it."
    Stanley Coombe, a 91-year-old war veteran from Britain who says he witnessed the aircraft's burial, travelled to Burma to observe the search.
    It is "very exciting for me because I never thought I would be allowed to come back and see where Spitfires have been buried," Coombe said. "It's been a long time since anybody believed what I said until David Cundall came along."
    Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ain-plane.html

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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 9 January 2013]


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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 9 January 2013]

    Quote Originally Posted by Garbarsardar View Post

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    René Artois's Avatar Dux Limitis
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    Default Re: Twenty buried Spitfires to be unearthed in Burma. [updated 9 January 2013]

    To be fair, it wouldn't exactly be a ground breaking discovery. More of a novelty find.
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