Crated WWII Spitfires buried in Burmese

fholbert

fholbert

Mod's - Please don't edit my posts!
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EXTRAORDINARY plans to raise a lost ''squadron'' of Spitfires that have lain buried in Burma since the end of World War II were revealed at the weekend as David Cameron, Britain's Prime Minister, visited Rangoon.
A Lincolnshire farmer who devoted 15 years of his life to finding the planes has spoken about his quest to recover them and get them airborne.
David Cundall, 62, has spent £130,000 ($200,000) of his money, visited Burma 12 times, persuaded its secretive regime to trust him, and all the time sought testimony from a dwindling band of Far East veterans in order to locate the Spitfires.

 
Wow! What a terrific find, this is just huge news. Incredible that one man had heard about this and then pursued it. And he's a simple farmer, no less. In researching a bit more, it seems the Prime Minister has secured a deal to have the planes shipped back to the UK. Is that something or what?

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 beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.”

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.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...in-Burma-during-war-to-be-returned-to-UK.html

Goes to show what one person can accomplish. Hot damn. What a great story. Thanks for sharing this.

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A Life Aloft said:
THE SOUND OF VICTORY!




Chokes you up thinking of the the tremendous sacrifice and the effort of the men who flew these great aircraft.
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That is just awesome. Couldn't imagine what it was like during the WWII and seeing squadron after squadron of aircraft passing overhead!
 
Awesome story!

Anyone in the mood for a decent Spitfire flick check out Piece of Cake. Caught it on PBS a long while back. It does have a bit of TV melodrama as it was a mini-series, but I thought it was enjoyable nonetheless.

 
Damn, I never even heard of that series. But I see the dvd is readily available on Amazon now. It has very good reviews. Going to order it. Thanks for the heads up!
 
fholbert said:
And turn up the sound!
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I was starting to wonder if that one guy was going to ome out of the bottom of his loop. Used to see one flying with the P-51's out of ISM when I flight instructed there. I never got tired of hearing the Merlins!
 
Blackhawk said:
They said the same thing about some aircraft in Australia but I don't think they ever found them.
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The difference is they found these...

Lost Squadron Of Pickled Spitfires Found

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Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where they were buried by U.S. troops in 1945 when it became clear they wouldn't be needed in the final days of the Second World War. At least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models, were buried without ever being removed from their original packing crates. It's possible another eight were also buried after the war ended. After spending 15 years and $200,000 of his own money, Cundall was rewarded with visual proof of the magnitude of his discovery. "We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates," he told the Telegraph. "They seemed to be in good condition."

The aircraft were declared surplus when they arrived in Burma because the Japanese were in retreat by then and carrier-based Seafires were getting all the action. They were ordered buried in their original crates, waxed, swaddled in grease paper and their joints tarred against the elements. Cundall found some of the soldiers who buried the planes by placing ads in magazines and was able to narrow down the search before using ground-penetrating radar to confirm the burial site. The next obstacles to recovery are political. Myanmar's former military junta was under a variety of sanctions, among them an international convention that prevented the transfer of military goods to and from the country. Recent political reforms have led to the lifting of that ban effective April 23. Cundall will also need the permission of the new Myanmar government to unearth the treasure. He helped his own cause by making numerous trips to the country and earning the trust of government officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to seal the deal with Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit.

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Lost_Spitfire_Squadron_206526-1.html
 
Piece of Cake is indeed a fine flying mini-series.

It covers a British Spitfire squadron from shortly before the start of WWII, when the pilots were happy-go-lucky aristocrats having fun in the air. When the fighting starts, and their chums start dying, a heavy dose of reality sets in.

It is derived from a book, which I read but sadly turned over to another. Probably available in library or on Amazon.
 
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