Spitfires Under Burma

[T_Dog]

Quite an amazing story in the attached news flash.

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/2186-full.html

[trainman34014]

I well remember my Father telling me that he and his RAF mates were ordered to bury B17's and Mustangs delivered to the Western Desert of Egypt as they were delivering far more than was needed by 1943. Just three years before they were out in the same Desert looking for any Aircraft, British, German or Italian that could be salvaged as they were so short of parts and materials. They couldn't even get Nuts and Bolts.

I guess after the War a few Arabs got rich on Scrap Metal !

[craigt3365]

Very interesting article. My 2 fav planes are the Spitfire and the P51 Mustang. Great stuff!!

[T_Dog]

Very interesting article. My 2 fav planes are the Spitfire and the P51 Mustang. Great stuff!!

They are on my favorites list as well. It will be interesting to see how this story develops. I would have thought the termites would have gobbled up the crates and paraffin wrappings fairly fast. Dirt is not exactly a good dry place to store an aluminum aircraft!

[nong38]

They reckon they have worked out where most of them are, buried in just 4'6" under the ground and they will be worth £1m each even though they are kit form, still another 20 flyiong around will bring thr hairs up on the back of your neck. Maybe they will come back and give the Royal Thai Air Force a run for its money eh!

Evocotive is the word.

[folium]

Seems that the plot thickens......

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9228910/Its-Spitfires-at-dawn-in-Burma.html

[taichiplanet]

There were stories of WWII planes buried in crates up in Queensland; never found them though. A lot of WWII gear was scrapped, buried, dumped off boats in Australia i think due due to the Lend Lease scheme.

About 10 years ago i was sitting at Yangon Airport waiting for a flight, and saw a P51 taxi by and take off. I was so stunned i wasn't sure if i actually saw it correctly, and then another one taxied by! They had military markings, but can't remember exactly what the roundel was and never got a photo; i thought if was some sort of stylized star or sun (not the USAF one) but me memory ain't the best at the best of times. The planes were silver and the markings were blue and/or white.

[phazey]

I was told of these aircraft in '99 - a group of Israeli's were searching for them. Since this story broke i've casually been trying to contact the guy as Burma is a love of mine, and so is the Merlin engine

[folium]

Looks like the dig will begin in Jan 2013, see below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20515659

[marstons]

I saw it on the BBC last night what a find if they are there 30+ pristine condition Spits. Great if the merlin engines are still intact as well, my dad and both gran fathers worked on them, so would be great to see. 30 more like this in the air would be a great asset to the now much depleted armed forces, although apparantly the guy funding it is from Belerus.

Edited November 29, 2012 by marstons

[folium]

I saw it on the BBC last night what a find if they are there 30+ pristine condition Spits. Great if the merlin engines are still intact as well, my dad and both gran fathers worked on them, so would be great to see. 30 more like this in the air would be a great asset to the now much depleted armed forces, although apparantly the guy funding it is from Belerus.

Without wishing to sound too geeky, I believe the variant of Spitfire they believe is buried in Myanmar has the Griffon rather than Merlin engine.

Now sounding like a geek, if you like Merlin engines the variant that was used for tanks (the Meteor) is fairly easily tracked down as they were in Cromwells, Comets and Centurions. My dad commanded a Comet in late WW2 and claims that cranked up the Meteor could deliver almost 70mph!! Great fun on the German autobahns.

[transam]

I saw it on the BBC last night what a find if they are there 30+ pristine condition Spits. Great if the merlin engines are still intact as well, my dad and both gran fathers worked on them, so would be great to see. 30 more like this in the air would be a great asset to the now much depleted armed forces, although apparantly the guy funding it is from Belerus.

Without wishing to sound too geeky, I believe the variant of Spitfire they believe is buried in Myanmar has the Griffon rather than Merlin engine.

Now sounding like a geek, if you like Merlin engines the variant that was used for tanks (the Meteor) is fairly easily tracked down as they were in Cromwells, Comets and Centurions. My dad commanded a Comet in late WW2 and claims that cranked up the Meteor could deliver almost 70mph!! Great fun on the German autobahns.

Yep, Merlin 27 ltr, Griffon 37 ltr.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Without wishing to sound too geeky, I believe the variant of Spitfire they believe is buried in Myanmar has the Griffon rather than Merlin engine.

You're correct - Griffon engines.

The Spitfires used 37-litre V12 Rolls-Royce Griffon engines instead of the 27-litre Merlins of earlier models.

From this article here: Buried Spitfires set to take to the sky

[phazey]

On a side note. Many parts of the mechanical nature from the WW2 era remain in Burma. In early 2000 I bought a 1942 BSA motorcycle - restored lovingly by both the chrome lads in Mandalay, and original grease wrapped parts from the outskirts of Yangon. At a push I could find out the "garage" i got the gearbox from - but everything was original, and at least i got to ride it once.

Until it got stolen :/ (this is another story..)

[maidu]

somewhat similar vein: There's a town in Burma which I visit sometimes. It has an old car: Austin 7, there in a carport, up on blocks. It's nearly all there, but dusty. still has the wooden tined wheels and motor. I asked an old guy there if it was for sale, and he was vacillating. Later, I asked a younger Burmese, who said 'no' but he told me there were 3 of them, and two were sold. He said the word 'museum'. I said, 'if it's for a museum, then at least dust the grime off it, and take the paper trash out from inside.' I may go back again, and see if I can make an offer. Even if they agreed, I'd have figure a way to bring it back to Thailand. Not sure it it's possible, though I met a lady who says her brother has a transport truck which goes back and forth across the border.

[Kiggs]

What kind of 7 is it?

If you can get it into Thai and then to the ports and shipped you might make some money but again it need to be the right thing.

Lots of "IFs" buy it and use it. its only car! metal and wood. Enjoy thats what makes something!

Edited January 4, 2013 by Kiggs

[clifric]

From Birmingham Mail today (see website for full story); the Mail has a campaign to bring a Spitfire back to Birmingham where they were built.

A team of experts are flying out to Burma to search for unused unassembled aircraft which they believe were packed into crates and buried by the RAF in 1945.

In a press conference yesterday on the eve of the expedition, farmer and aviation enthusiast David Cundall, said they hoped to find dozens of missing British Spitfires thought to have been buried at the end of the Second World War.

Some 36 planes are thought to be lying undiscovered in Mingaladon – one of three potential sites in the country – with as many 124 Spitfires buried in total.

[T_Dog]

Looking like no joy in Burma.....

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/2420-full.html

[oldsailor35]

There were stories of WWII planes buried in crates up in Queensland; never found them though. A lot of WWII gear was scrapped, buried, dumped off boats in Australia i think due due to the Lend Lease scheme.

About 10 years ago i was sitting at Yangon Airport waiting for a flight, and saw a P51 taxi by and take off. I was so stunned i wasn't sure if i actually saw it correctly, and then another one taxied by! They had military markings, but can't remember exactly what the roundel was and never got a photo; i thought if was some sort of stylized star or sun (not the USAF one) but me memory ain't the best at the best of times. The planes were silver and the markings were blue and/or white.

About twenty years ago, a very old man who was a friend of mine. Told me that as a teenager, he was exempt from military service due to a weak heart ( he died at 86). he was trained as a bulldozer driver by the Yanks and worked on an airfield near Toowoomba, i think it was Cecil Plains. He helped to excavate a large pit near the airfield and they put about twenty crates containing unwanted brand new fighter aircraft into the pit and covered them over about 10 ft down. As far as he knew, they were still there, we were going to have a look one day, but never got around to it...........too bloody busy !

[cycloneJ]

the Toowoomba story - been investigated and discounted as fiction according to this from The Australian in January; link for full article

Fact or fable: hunt is on for buried Spitfires

The Australian January 28, 2011 12:00AM

IT'S the Lasseter's Reef of warbirds -- a rumoured stash of mint-condition Spitfires hidden underground in rural Queensland.

Many have searched for the legendary British fighters, reportedly still in their crates and hidden since the end of the World War II around the Queensland town of Oakey, but so far nobody has been able to lay claim to what would be a multi-million-dollar find.

They are the remnants of 656 Mark V and Mark VIII Spitfires that were delivered to the RAAF during the war.

RAAF records show that 544 aircraft -- 232 of them Spitfires -- were flown to Oakey to be sold to a scrap metal dealer.

[cycloneJ]

love a good explorer story, and what a story it would have been if they had found them in Myanmar

But then last month there was this article Myanmar’s phantom Spitfires: how a legend was born, the telling paragraph is

every single Spitfire ever built has been faithfully recorded in detail in both online and printed record. (Spitfire: The History by Eric Morgan and Edward Shacklady runs to over 675 pages, took more than 35 years of research to compile and tells you everything you are ever likely to wish to know about every one of the 22,799 Spitfires ever built.)

So far as Spitfire Mark XIVs are concerned, you have in this and other references details of those supplied to Air Command South-East Asia (ACSEA), the place they were built (mostly Aldermaston, Eastleigh, Keevil and Chattis Hill, but not Castle Bromwich as so many UK newspapers have reported), the date they were completed, the ship on which they were transported to ACSEA, the squadron to which they were allocated and the date on which they were “SOC” or otherwise disposed of.

. . . found no discrepancies, no missing batches and no evidence . . .