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Spitfires, new in crates, found buried in Myanmar

KeithP

KeithP

Diamond Member
At least 12, possibly up to 20 planes.
http://www.eaa.org/news/2012/2012-04-16_spitfires.asp

The airplanes were shipped from the factory to the Burmese RAF base near the end of World War II, but were deemed surplus to requirements. Plus they were land-based planes and lacked the range for the "island-hopping" missions, as opposed to the carrier-based Seafires. Commanders ordered that the 12 Spitfires be buried while they were still in their transport crates to make sure they didn't fall into enemy hands.

About two weeks later, the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, leading to the Japanese surrender in September. The Spitfires have remained underground ever since.

"They were waxed, wrapped in greased paper, and their joints tarred," Cundall said. "They will be in near perfect condition." It is also possible that in December 1945 eight more Spitfires were buried along with the original 12 for a potential 20 crated, pristine fighters.
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Hopefully they will turn out to be in great condition.

-KeithP

P.S. If you are wondering what a Spitfire is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire
 
That is really cool! Would love to see a documentary on the finding and subsequent removal and uncrating of these planes.

BTW-I was kind of hoping for Triumph Spitfires but this is even better. 😉
 
I wonder who will claim ownership of them?

Edit - I saw this, "The British government promised Cundall it would be making no claim on the aircraft, and that he would be entitled to a share in them" but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll have ownership of them.
 
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Surprised no one there dug them up. I'm sure they would have made fine addition to any air force of the day.
 
zokudu said:
Was the car ruined. It doesn't say.
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Dsc08983.jpg


MotionMan
 
Looks like the first car I owned - a 1963 Dodge Dart. Died when the springs came up through the back seats.
 
I would assume the Brits are salivating to get their hands on some, or all, of these despite what they say in public. It would be like finding P-51D kits in the same condition I reckon. I would also assume Paul Allen's Vintage Warbird collection up here in WA would like one to restore.
 
ky54 said:
I would think the Burmese would lay claim to them. They could easily claim abandonment.
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Yeah, but Burma is opening up just now.. and British PM just visited that country. I don't think they would jeopardize this relationship for a bunch of planes.

Also, I am happy with the way things are shaping up in Burma, media coverage in the US is very limited.. but it serves as a very good example on how to transfer country from Dictatorship to Democracy(relatively peacefully).
 
ky54 said:
I would think the Burmese would lay claim to them. They could easily claim abandonment.
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If Spain can successfully argue that sunk ships from 200 years ago weren't abandoned I would think that England would be able to do the same with buried planes from 70 years ago.
 
sactoking said:
If Spain can successfully argue that sunk ships from 200 years ago weren't abandoned I would think that England would be able to do the same with buried planes from 70 years ago.
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All of South America should file a countersuit and recover their stolen property.

F*ck Spain.
 
sactoking said:
If Spain can successfully argue that sunk ships from 200 years ago weren't abandoned I would think that England would be able to do the same with buried planes from 70 years ago.
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In this case the treasure was in international waters. These planes were in a country and were easy to get to. The treasure was never abandoned... no one could find it or get to it until recently. These planes were just forgot about (abandoned) so tough shit, let the farmer sell me one.

And yeah, fuck Spain... send that gold back to South America.
 
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