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

[TBWG]

Rare breed ... the retrieval of the planes would dramatically increase the number of airworthy Spitfires.

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.
This will be the largest number of Spitfires 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 £1.5 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 £130,000 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.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/green-light-for-burmas-spitfire-hoard-to-be-dug-up-20121018-27seg.html#ixzz29bw3twl4
 
 TBWG

[Nobby]

This is a very important part of our (British) heritage at a time when it seems like the rest of the world want to change that country into something else. The sound of one of these still sends a shiver down my spine.

GREAT NEWS.

[davu]

I remember seeing Spitfires flying over head when I was a kid. Can I have a go on one please?

[urleft]

Old men and their toys.     


More power to them!!!!!! 



These are outdated and near useless planes (reality).  But if some want to preserve history and make them available, more power to them and I hope they succeed.   

Nothing like a gleaming weapon to make your blood flow.   Those that have not been there would never understand. 
 
 

[Alan]

 

[Nobby]

Old men and their toys.     


More power to them!!!!!! 



These are outdated and near useless planes (reality).  But if some want to preserve history and make them available, more power to them and I hope they succeed.   

Nothing like a gleaming weapon to make your blood flow.   Those that have not been there would never understand.

Its called Heritage and nothing about weapons. It would be as important of a find of old cars/motorbikes/boats had been found.

Some countries undersand neither topic as they only have a lot of one and not the other 

[nookiebear]

Other reports say that up to 140 may be there in various sites

[TBWG]

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9708226/Squadron-of-lost-spitfires-could-be-flying-again-in-three-years.html


TBWG

[TBWG]

A British team is preparing to fly out to Burma in an attempt to recover a hoard of "lost" WW2 Spitfire planes.

Aviation archaeologists believe up to 20 of the famous aircraft were buried in 1945 and have not been disturbed since.

Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall has spent over 15 years trying to pinpoint their location and then organise everything needed for a careful archaeological dig.

Mr Cundall told Sky News that he believed the planes were buried in the Burmese jungle at the end of the war.

He said: "We have eyewitnesses who actually saw them being buried. The war was over so somebody gave the order to dig a big hole and bury them."

Mr Cundall said the planes were buried "at depth" and so would not be corroded by oxygen.

"I'm totally convinced that they will be restorable. We want to restore them to flying condition so we can see them flying at air shows in three years time."

The Spitfires were flown out to the Far East to support the Burma campaign towards the end of the war but were never actually used in conflict.

The team believe they are buried 10 metres underground on the site of Rangoon International Airport

On a visit to the country last year Prime Minister David Cameron signed an agreement with Burmese authorities to co-operate on the project.

The excavation is due to start next week.

Project Archaeologist Andy Brockman said: "This a rigorous, evidence-driven archaeological  process - we are solving the mystery of what happened. It is a fascinating mystery."

The team will make an announcement about their findings later in January.

TBWG

[Alan]

Its about time they stopped talking about it and started digging ffs.......... Find burried treasure and sit around for two months talking about it whats wrong with them. Or am I just impatient? Come on chaps tally ho.

[nookiebear]

Maybe the Burmese want them to re -equip their own airforce!

[Nobby]

maybe they think they are Triumph Spitfires? 

[Nobby]

Archaeologists believe no Spitfires buried in Burma

 Archaeologists hunting for World War II Spitfires in Burma believe there are no planes buried at the sites where they have been digging, the BBC understands.

 The archaeologists have concluded that evidence does not support the original claim that as many as 124 Spitfires were buried at the end of the war, the BBC's Fergal Keane reports.

 However, project leader David Cundall has disagreed with the view.

 He told the BBC he thought the digging was taking place in the wrong area.

 Mr Cundall has spent the last 17 years trying to discover the truth of claims that unused, unassembled Spitfires were packed into crates and buried by the RAF at sites in Burma on the orders of Lord Mountbatten in 1945.

 He has eyewitness accounts from American and British service personnel as well as local people to testify to the burial of the planes. One of them, British veteran Stanley Coombe, has travelled to Burma to witness the excavation.

 Mr Cundall's project secured funding from Belarusian video games firm Wargaming Ltd, and British Prime Minister David Cameron secured permission for the dig when he met Burmese President Thein Sein last year.

 Excavations began at Rangoon International Airport, one of three sites, earlier in January.

 A press conference, planned for Friday morning, was cancelled by Wargaming Ltd with a spokesman saying he hoped to give more details later.

 When pressed, the spokesman admitted there are no Spitfires, our correspondent says.

[CO-CO]

e author=Nobby link=topic=6822.msg38113#msg38113 date=1357342920]
maybe they think they are Triumph Spitfires? 
[/quote]

I always wanted one of those - British Racing Green.

[Ahab]

You would think they would survey the area with a metal detector, or ground penetrating radar before they attempted to dig them up.