Dozens of Spitfire planes to be excavated in Burma

Agreement to dig up historic aircraft was signed by the Burmese government and an aviation enthusiast from Lincolnshire Restored Spitfires are in short supply and the Burma/UK project is expected to largely increase their population. Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters

Dozens of Spitfire fighter planes that were buried by British troops in Burma as the second world war drew to a close are to be excavated after an agreement to dig up the historic aircraft was signed by the Burmese government and an aviation enthusiast from Lincolnshire.

After 16 years of searching and lobbying, David Cundall, 62, has signed a deal to recover the lost RAF planes, which are believed to have been packed in crates and hidden by British forces on the orders of Earl Mountbatten shortly before the United States bombed the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

During his visit to Burma in April, David Cameron reached an agreement with President Thein Sein about the recovery of the missing aircraft. The British embassy in Rangoon said the newly signed deal was a chance to work with the new Burmese government "in uncovering, restoring, displaying these fighter planes".

Excavation work is expected to begin by the end of this month. The number of Mark 14 Spitfires awaiting discovery remains unclear, but Htoo Htoo Zaw, managing director of Cundall's Burmese partner, the Shwe Taung Paw company, said he estimated there were at least 60.

Previous estimates have varied between 20 and 36. Even that number would represent a large increase in the global Spitfire population: while 21,000 were built, only 35 remain in a good enough condition to fly.

"This will be the largest number of Spitfires in the world," Htoo Htoo told the Associated Press. "We want to let people see those historic fighters, and the excavation of these fighter planes will further strengthen relations between Myanmar [Burma] and Britain."

A local newspaper, Myanmar Ahlin, reported that the excavation agreement was signed by Cundall on behalf of his British company DJC, Tin Naing Tun, the Burmese director general of civil aviation, and Htoo Htoo.

For Cundall, it is a triumphant end to years of hunting for the fighters. He says he has spent £160,000 trying to locate the lost treasure, vying with potential rivals for the deal.

In April, he claimed he had secured financial backing for the planes' excavation from an anonymous investor, and in August told the Birmingham Post he wanted to see the aircraft return to the UK. "Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land," he was quoted as saying. "They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved."

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "We are pleased to hear that contracts have been awarded, which mean that the digging up of the Spitfires in Burma can begin. We've always said that we want to see these Spitfires back home in Britain – perhaps one day even flying over the skies of Britain – and today's news brings us another step closer to that."

kilde: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219112/Dozens-spitfires-buried-British-Burma-WWII-excavated-following-16-year-hunt-aviation-enthusiast.html

British plane enthusiast spends 16 YEARS tracking down lost squadron of 60 Spitfires buried in Burma... and he's finally got permission to dig them up

A lost squadron of Spitfires that has been buried in the Burmese jungle since the end of the Second World War is to be dug up and brought back to Britain.
Aircraft enthusiast David Cundall spent 15 years and £130,000 of his own money tracking down the aircraft.

Up to 60 planes were buried in transport crates at a secret location 40ft below ground at the end of the war to ensure they didn’t fall into enemy hands. David Cundall, from North Lincolnshire, discovered 20 Spitfires buried in crates in Burma - and they will now be excavated for display Saved for posterity: At least 60 Spitfires are believed to be buried - and they will hopefully be proudly displayed once again thanks to the 16-year hunt

The Spitfires are believed to be in good condition because they were waxed, wrapped in greased paper and had their joints tarred by RAF crews.

The excavation is due to start at the end of the month after an agreement was signed with the military regime in Rangoon.

Mr Cundall, 62, a farmer from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, started his treasure hunt in 1996 after hearing a throwaway remark from a group of US veterans who said they once buried Spitfires in Burma.

The fighter planes – of which there are only around 35 left flying in the world – were shipped to Burma and transported by rail to a British RAF base in August 1945.

But they were deemed surplus to requirements and unsuited to the ‘island-hopping’ missions to clear the Japanese of their remaining strongholds in the Pacific.
Mr Cundall tracked down an eyewitness who led him to the area where the aircraft were buried.

He eventually located the buried planes using ground-penetrating radar equipment.
His team dug a borehole and sent down a camera to look at the crates, which were said to be in ‘really good condition’. Images showed the Spitfires inside the containers with their wings packed alongside them.

The planes will now be dug up and brought back to the UK to be reassembled. A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘We hope that many of them will soon be gracing the skies of Britain.’

The deal went ahead after Prime Minister David Cameron signed a heritage agreement with Burmese President Thein Sein during his visit to the south-east Asian nation in April.

The excavation agreement was signed on Tuesday by Mr Cundall, Burma's civil aviation chief Tin Naing Tun and the Shwe Taung Paw company boss Htoo Htoo Zaw, Mr Cundall's partner in the country

Mr Zaw said: 'This will be the largest number of Spitfires in the world. We want to let people see those historic fighters.'

Mr Cundall's treasure hunt was sparked in 1996 by a throwaway remark from a group of U.S. veterans who said they had once buried Spitfires in the Burmese jungle.

The Spitfires, of which there are only around 35 flying left in the world, were shipped to Burma and transported by rail to the British RAF base in August 1945. Mr Cundall, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, persuaded the country's notoriously secretive regime to allow him to search for the lost aircraft, winning their trust over 12 visits.

The married father-of-three doggedly pieced together their possible location by speaking to the declining number of Far East veterans

He said at the time: 'I’m only a small farmer, I’m not a multi-millionaire and it has been a struggle. It took me more than 15 years but I finally found them.

'Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.'
Permission to excavate the planes was granted because of the strengthening relations between London and Rangoon.

In the past year, Burma has turned away from the repressive policies of the previous military regime and has taken a reforming democratic stance.
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'We hope that many of them will be gracing the skies of Britain and as discussed, some will be displayed here in Burma.'

Mr Cundall said the government had promised him it would not be making a claim for the aircraft.

A law passed by the British when they granted Burma independence in 1948 meant that anything left behind automatically became the property of the Burmese government.
Mr Cundall is understood to have struck a deal with the Burmese president to take 60 per cent of the profits.

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