Posted on 04/17/2012 9:15:55 PM PDT by Sarajevo
It’s like something out of an Indiana Jones film, if you take away the religious overtones and ophidiophobic adventurer. After 15 years, a British farmer’s quest to find a squadron of legendary fighter planes lost in Burma during World War II has finally paid off.
Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall, 62, has spent £130,000, traveled to Burma a dozen times and negotiated with the cagey Burmese government, all in the hopes of finding a stash of iconic British Spitfires buried somewhere in the Southeast Asian country.
Cundall started his search after his friend heard from a group of U.S. veterans that they had stashed Spitfires in the region. “We’ve done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires,” the veterans said.
His interest piqued, Cundall began placing ads in magazines to try to find soldiers who may have been involved.
After a decade and a half of searching, he finally managed to locate the missing airplanes, which had never been flown and were indeed buried while still in their transport crates. “We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition,” Cundall told the Telegraph.
The aircraft arrived at a Royal Air Force Base in Burma in August 1945. But by that point in the war, just before the bombing of Hiroshima, the fighters weren’t needed. “In 1945, Spitfires were ten a penny,” says Cundall. “It was a typical British solution: ‘Let’s bury them lads.’”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsfeed.time.com ...
Read more at the link
These could really be one of the more spectacular finds in recent memory. I hope they film/video the unearthing...I am sure they could get some very widespread interest in such a show.
I wonder who got the dibs or rights to a film documentary. I would go see it.. “Rebirth of the Spitfires”. Probably just a TV deal, either Smithsonian or National Geographic.
As a WWII buff, I’m wondering why these aircraft sites would excite the general public. After all, there were thousands of spitfires lost all over Germany and even a few in England.
To get ten or twelve of them? New in the box?
That’s a big deal...
And this guy will make his money back ten-fold.
An amazing story.
My Grandfather was there at the time, but he was just cooking for guys on the China road
WWII Spitfire MIB...
After all, there were thousands of spitfires lost all over Germany and even a few in England.
More than a few were lost over England.
My Grandfather was there at the time, but he was just cooking for guys on the China road
My Dad was in CBI, too. He was on the Burma and Ledo Roads and flew over the “Hump” into China.
There are a lot of us that had family there
There are a lot of us that had family there
Yes, quite a number of Freepers had family in CBI.
This is an awesome story. Hoping that it all comes to fruition and these planes fly again. What history!
Thanks, mylife.
Is your Grandfather still alive?
My Dad had many stroies from Burma, India and China and later the occupation of Japan.
High water table there
.they will all be a pile of rotted mush....sad
No.
he got pancreatic cancer.
He survived all that and was gone in 6 months
I fed him like a baby.
Sorry to hear that. You are to be commended.
My Dad was born in 1918 and would have been 94 this month.
I know of an ME-109 stashed in a barn somewhere in Eastern Europe. It made a crash landing during the war and the farmer hauled it inside. The family is afraid to do anything with it.
Bump for later reading...
It is what it is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.