The new Battle of Burma: Find 20 buried Spitfires and make them fly

Daily Mail ^

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Historic planes buried in Second World War are to be shipped back to Britain after their mystery locations were discovered

War leaders did not want them to fall into foreign hands when they demobilised in 1945

Hidden in crates at a depth of 4ft to 6ft the RAF then forgot where they were

Twenty brand-new RAF Spitfires could soon reach for the sky following a deal reached with Burma yesterday. Experts believe they have discovered the locations of around 20 of the Second World War fighters buried at airfields around the country. David Cameron has secured an agreement that they will be returned to Britain.

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pong

[taildragger]

Their were claims in EAA’s Sport Aviation about 15 or 20 years ago of up to 1000 P51’s burried on an Island and they needed other to concurr with the person claiming it. It never went any further...

[tomkat]

Very cool !
Did I hear that there were only a couple Spits still operational in the UK ?

[nuconvert]

Don’t know

[rlmorel]

Argh! How come I couldn’t stumble on one of those!

[central_va]

Now we need to find 20 buried FW-190’s and we got a fight on our hands.

[Timber Rattler]

The Brits may need them now for their aircraft carrier.

[C210N]

I’d like to see our armed forces bury ALL US aircraft in undisclosed locations right NOW.

Sometime shortly after the undocumented foreign communist marxist usurper is kicked out of our house, we would go back and unearth them.

I’m thinking here of the destruction so far of our nuclear deterrent, anti-missile defense, etc.

In addition, it might be good to bury computers with our best TopSecret technology, just so that it could not be found quickly in case of any upcoming “fire sales”.

[smokingfrog]

The shipping crates probably rotted away long ago, so I’m not sure what kind of shape they’ll be in when/if they find them.

(unless they filled the whole crate with cosmoline, in which case it will take 20 years to clean it all off)

[tanknetter]

Their were claims in EAA’s Sport Aviation about 15 or 20 years ago of up to 1000 P51’s burried on an Island and they needed other to concurr with the person claiming it. It never went any further...

There were also supposed to be bunkers under Berlin that were loaded with late-war Luftwaffe aircraft. Allegedly the bunkers were sealed and bulldozed in. Big story in the aviation world a few years back, nothing else ever came of it.

There were also stories about a divisions-worth of armor and vehicles that Patton hid out in the US Desert Southwest, to be used in the event of a German invasion from Mexico (along the lines of the Zimmerman telegram being implemented 25 years late).

Then there's the legendary British "Strategic Reserve" of early/mid-20th Century steam engines sealed in old railroad tunnels, to be used in the event of a war that cripples the oil transport industry.

[tanknetter]

The shipping crates probably rotted away long ago, so I’m not sure what kind of shape they’ll be in when/if they find them.

As was pointed out on WIX, these are Spitfires; all they need are the dataplates in order to survive. We'll all be able to hear the sound of the safeties clicking "off" on the checkbooks if they find these ...

[Caipirabob]

WOW! What a beautiful treasure for the British people and all of humanity.

And especially since Britain and America could truly use the inspiration of our greatest generation about now.

Cheers and congrats and nicely done to the good folks in Burma.

[carriage_hill]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

[texanyankee]

ping!

[diogenes ghost]

My old man joined the RCAF in early '39, and being a private pilot already was sent straight into fighter training then on to Old Blighty. He flew Spits in the Battle of Britain, had 6 kills, was shot down (glycolled) over the Channel twice.

Second ditching broke his back, that was the end of fighters for him.

He sure loved Spits though, except for that damned radiator hanging down.

[PhiloBedo]

This is AMAZING. 20 of them. That’ll bring the Spit back from the brink of extinction. I look forward to more information, like what Mk number they are.

[PhiloBedo]

OK..I read the article, MK IIs. Very nice, indeed.

[jesseam]

Re: Did I hear that there were only a couple Spits still operational in the UK ?

I believe they are at RAF Waddington where at least one Lancaster in flying condition is located. My son in law is stationed at Waddington as a USAF exchange officer.

[tomkat]

I saw an obscure BBC docu awhile back of a Brit woman who owned one of the few still flying .. one of the two-seater versions.
Her husband had bought it originally, then he died not long after it was restored, so she got qualified and took it to airshows, etc.

Just looked it up .. Carolyn Grace

Enjoyed your profile bio, btw   *salute*

[wolficatZ]

I don’t see how MK II Spits, the main model in 1940 Battle of Britain, could have been in Burma at this late stage of the war.

Burma campaign usually got the low priority for new models, Hurricanes were still flying there in 1945 when they had been taken out of action in most other theaters.

Mk Vs or MK VIIIs, yes. But then again if they are MK II’s that would be quite amazing; they are quite rare, as are the Hawker Hurricane.

[Reily]

One of the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft that has ever flown!

[KyGeezer]

They should be a WHOLE lot less trouble getting in the air than Glacier Girl was.

http://p38assn.org/glacier-girl.htm

[RedMDer]

Click

[RedMDer]

Wow! That is really neat.

[nuke rocketeer]

Doesn’t Connie Edwards have an operational one at his place in West Texas?

[baddog 219]

What A Bird!

[bunkerhill7]

When the Americans retreated before Burgoyne`s advance in 1777, they abandoned some forts with 400 cannon, but had previously hidden the powder in concealed underground bunkers far from the forts. Burgoyne`s inventories tell of the missing powder. One of his Tory spies told him of the powder buried elsewhere but only gave him a 2 mile radius of the location. These powder bunkers were apparently forgotten, do not appear in any records after that. They appear to be still there. They also hid uniforms and muskets in several caves; one cave was discovered by local boys in 1952 with muskets and decayed uniforms. One hidden musket with bayonet was discovered by my nephew 1/4 mile from one of the caves.

Burgoyne`s paymaster`s ship, loaded with 10,000 gold coins to pay the German rear guard echelons in Vermont and NY sailed late from Canada down Lake Champlain, failed to meet the rear guards because of American ambushes on the latter. The paymaster sunk the ship in a river near Whitehall, NY -

It was discovered by a civil engineer doing a land survey in 1902 who noticed that the river`s course had changed and exposed the riverbed with the ship. He recovered the treasure chest and snuck it into a bank vault in Vermont coz NY State would have claimed it. I do not know what happened to it after that.

[Kirkwood]

I think these must be Mark VIIs. India/Burma theater started with VCs and later added VIIIs and then extra VIIs from Italy. VIIs would make more sense than Mark IIs.

[Jeff Vader]

I seriously doubt they are MK IIs, since they were replaced in ‘41 by the MK V. Most likely the are MK XIs and someone not knowledgeable decided to write 11 rather than the roman numeral XI

[smokingfrog]

Picture I took at the Lone Star Flight Museum Air Show 2005. Not sure if it's still part of their collection.

[tanknetter]

This is AMAZING. 20 of them. That’ll bring the Spit back from the brink of extinction. I look forward to more information, like what Mk number they are.

According to WikiAnswers there are something like 20 flying Spits in the UK alone, and about 40 world-wide. This guy seems to have a pretty good, detailed list of flying Spits. I wouldn't call the Spit on the brink of extinction at all, especially considering the dearth of other flying types (lets start with the few flying F6F Hellcats, for instance, and the one flying SB2C Helldiver)

[tanknetter]

On a kinda related note, this week will see the 70th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.

The annual Raiders reunion is being held at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton Ohio. All five living Raiders will be there, and the plan is to fly at least 25 B-25 Mitchells into Wright Field for the event. Yes, that number is TWENTY-FIVE Mitchells - it's being billed as the largest gathering of B-25s since they left squadron service at the end of WWII. They're already gathering the birds this weekend in Urbana OH (Grimes Field). Some of the Michell crews are offering paid flights in their birds.

Freepers in the area should seriously consider making it to this. There've been suggestions that this'll be the last public Raiders reunion, so NMUSAF and other other involved organizations are really pulling out the stops.

[nuconvert]

I remember reading about it. Thanks for the link.

[nuconvert]

Wow. How neat would that be to see!

[Tallguy]

Article says that they are Mk II’s. Doesn’t seem right considering that they were buried in 1945. The Mk II’s would have been current in 1940/41, ie. Battle of Britain. Still possible, I guess. That’s a long-@ss supply pipeline from the UK to CBI Theater!

[Scoutmaster]

One of the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft that has ever flown!

Agreed. A beautiful aircraft.

[MediaMole]

If you can get a ride in a B-25, do it. I was able to ride in a B-25 last year. One of the other passengers flew B-17s and was a B-25 instructor during WWII. It was a great opportunity.

[LifePath]

Don’t need to find buried FW-190s, this German company is building new ones:

http://www.flugwerk.de/html/page.php?GID=19&SID=4

Check it out. I visited the factory when I was in Germany last and met the owner, Claus Colling, and his lovely wife. They showed my brother and I the FW-190s then in production, and I got to sit in one. Each plane is a combination of authentic parts (tail wheel assemblies, flight instruments, etc.) and new construction...

[Publius6961]

You don’t suppose we can claim one or two of those for the Smithsonian, as partial payment for war debts?

[tanknetter]

If you can get a ride in a B-25, do it. I was able to ride in a B-25 last year. One of the other passengers flew B-17s and was a B-25 instructor during WWII. It was a great opportunity.

I'm saving pennies for my "$2000 Plan": rides in a B-25 ($350-400), B-17 ($500) and FiFi ($1000).

[tanknetter]

You don’t suppose we can claim one or two of those for the Smithsonian, as partial payment for war debts?

Back when the Garber NASM restoration facility was still running weekend tours, and the NASM Hurricane was under resto, the restoration staff would tell a GREAT story about how NASM acquired its Hurri.

Seems the Imperial War Museum had several Hurricanes, and NASM proposed either a trade or permanent loan. IWM declined. Then the IWM managed to wreck one of its Spits (I think they dropped it from a crane or something) right before a major exhibit was due to open. Guess what? NASM had, as a surplus airframe, the exact Mk of Spit IWM wanted. IWM, suddenly very polite, asked for the Spit. NASM told them "Sure, but we want a Hurricane in return. We know you have four, here's the serial of the one we're willing to trade for".

Gawd, I miss those Garber tours. Won't get any good stories like that from the docents at Mall or Udvar-Hazy.

[norton]

Very, very, cool.

Sad that they only built/sold 20 190 kits.

[Stonewall Jackson]

At the Battle of Mill Springs, KY in January 1862, a number of Confederate soldiers were plagued by their antique flintlocks misfiring (it was a foggy, sleety day) so many of them hid their old guns under rock ledges so that they could claim they'd lost them and thus be issued newer weaponry.

When the battlefield was turned into a state park a few years ago, a team of researchers from the University of Kentucky went down to the battlefield and located dozens of these weapons. They were still in fairly good condition, considering they'd been there for over 140 years. Several of these flintlocks are on display at the battlefield's museum.

[Winniesboy]

You don’t suppose we can claim one or two of those for the Smithsonian, as partial payment for war debts?

As a matter of purely technical interest, the United Kingdom paid the U.S. the last remaining instalment of its last 50-year war debt at the end of 2006.

[FedsRStealingOurCountryFromUs]

"Before burial, the aeroplanes would have been waxed, wrapped in greased paper and their joints tarred, to protect them against decay. There seemed to be a chance that somewhere in Burma, there lay Spitfires that could be restored to flying condition."

One can only hope!

[Tommyjo]

Not RAF Waddington, but RAF Coningsby. Coningsby is located about 15 miles east of Waddington. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is located at RAF Coningsby. Lancaster, Spitfires and Hurricanes.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/