Here's your military history spooge thread for the day

[CountDeMoney]

Looks like the RAF is back in business.

Myanmar signs deal to begin excavation of British Spitfire fighter planes from World War II

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar has signed a deal with a British aviation enthusiast to allow the excavation of a World War II treasure: dozens of Spitfire fighter planes buried by the British almost 70 years ago.

Aviation enthusiast David J. Cundall discovered the locations of the aircraft after years of searching. The planes are believed to be in good condition, since they were reportedly packed in crates and hidden by British forces to keep them out of the hands of invading Japanese.

The British Embassy said Wednesday that the agreement was reached after discussions between President Thein Sein and British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to Myanmar earlier this year.

The excavation of the rare planes is slated to begin by the end of October.

The Myanma Ahlin daily reported that the excavation agreement was signed Tuesday by Director General of Civil Aviation Tin Naing Tun, Cundall on behalf of his British company DJC, and Htoo Htoo, managing director of Cundall's Myanmar partner, the Shwe Taung Paw company.

"It took 16 years for Mr. David Cundall to locate the planes buried in crates. We estimate that there are at least 60 Spitfires buried and they are in good condition," Htoo Htoo Zaw said.

"This will be the largest number of Spitfires in the world," he said. "We want to let people see those historic fighters, and the excavation of these fighter planes will further strengthen relations between Myanmar and Britain."

The British Embassy described the agreement as a chance to work with Myanmar's new reformist government "in uncovering, restoring, displaying these fighter planes."

"We hope that many of them will be gracing the skies of Britain and as discussed, some will be displayed here in Burma," said an embassy spokesman, using the old name for Myanmar.

Myanmar has since last the past year turned away from many of the repressive policies of the previous military government and patched up relations with Western nations that had previously shunned it.

Myanma Ahlin cited Transport Minister Nyan Tun Aung saying the agreement was a milestone strengthening the friendly relationship between Myanmar and Britain and amounts to the British government's recognition of the democratic reforms of President Thein Sein's new government.

Cundall has said his quest to find the planes involved 12 trips to Myanmar and the expenditure of more than 130,000 pounds ($210,000).

[Ed Anger]

The Brits will butcher the machine guns they dig up.

[CountDeMoney]

Naturally, no Hurricanes.     Once again, 2nd place for Hawker.

[PDH]

The Brits will butcher the machine guns they dig up.

They are fucking .303 rifle rounds - they came butchered.

[PDH]

Naturally, no Hurricanes.     Once again, 2nd place for Hawker.

The Hurricanes were sturdy enough to fly out of there.

[Ed Anger]

You watch. They'll de-mil any guns found. Goddamn Limey butchers.

[PDH]

They probably only have 10 or so .303 rounds in the entire country.

[Ed Anger]

My iPad capitalized 'limey'

[mongers]

My iPad capitalized 'limey'

We're just that important. 

[CountDeMoney]

And the digging begins.

Searchers arrive in Myanmar to hunt for buried WWII British Spitfire planes
By Aye Aye Win, The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar — A search team led by a British aviation enthusiast arrived in Myanmar on Sunday to begin a dig they hope will unearth dozens of rare British Spitfire fighter planes said to have been buried in the Southeast Asian country at the end of World War II.

The 21-member team, led by farmer and businessman David Cundall, will start excavations soon near the airport in the main city, Yangon.

Cundall said the aircraft were buried in wooden crates as surplus, around 30 feet (10 meters) under the surface. He estimated that the project would take about four to six weeks to complete.

"We are expecting them to be in first-class condition," Cundall said shortly after arriving at the international airport in Yangon.

The Spitfire remains Britain's most famous combat aircraft. Its reputation was cemented during the Battle of Britain when the fast-moving single-seater aircraft helped beat back waves of German bombers.

Britain built a total of about 20,000 Spitfires, although the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II meant that the propeller-driven planes quickly became obsolete.

The planes believed to be in Myanmar were buried by American engineers as the war drew to a close. Searchers hope they are in pristine condition, but Andy Brockman, a freelance archaeologist who is part of the search team, said it was possible all they might find is a mass of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts.

Nevertheless, he said, "I'm very confident that we'll have answers to the story of what happened ... in 1945."

The venture is being backed by the Belarusian videogame company Wargaming.net, which is best known for multiplayer titles including "World of Warplanes" and "World of Tanks."

The search team says 36 Spitfires are believed to be buried near Yangon airport, while another 18 are in Myitkyina in northern Kachin state and six more are buried in Meikthila in central Myanmar.

[CountDeMoney]

Hey, by the way, how can you spot a Polish airplane in a snowstorm?  It's the one with snow chains on the propellers.

[Maladict]

No spitfires 

BBC
18 January 2013 Last updated at 09:02 GMT


Archaeologists believe no Spitfires buried in Burma


Archaeologists hunting for World War II Spitfires in Burma believe there are no planes buried at the sites where they have been digging, the BBC understands.

The archaeologists have concluded that evidence does not support the original claim that as many as 124 Spitfires were buried at the end of the war, the BBC's Fergal Keane reports.

Wargaming.net, the firm financing the dig, has also said there are no planes.

But project leader David Cundall says they are looking in the wrong place.

He told the BBC that he still believes Spitfires are buried at Rangoon airport and other sites.

An initial survey of the site began in early January, with excavations due to begin after that.

A scheduled press conference was cancelled on Friday morning by Wargaming Ltd, with a spokesman saying he hoped to give more details later.

When pressed, the spokesman said there are no Spitfires, our correspondent says.
Muddy waters

David Cundall has spent the last 17 years trying to discover the truth of claims that unused, unassembled Spitfires were packed into crates and buried by the RAF at sites in Burma on the orders of Lord Mountbatten at the end of the war in 1945.

He has collected eyewitness accounts from American and British service personnel as well as local people.

One of them, British veteran Stanley Coombe, had travelled to Burma to witness the excavation.

The dig got the go ahead after it secured funding from Belarusian video games firm Wargaming.net, and received permission from Burmese President Thein Sein during a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron last year.

Mr Cundall maintains that as many as 124 Spitfires are buried in sites around Burma.

Prior to the dig, scientists had discovered large concentrations of metal under the ground around Rangoon's airport lending support to the theory that up to 36 planes are buried there.

Earlier this month, a crate was discovered in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, but muddy water stopped an immediate identification of its contents.

The central city of Meiktila was another site identified as a possible burial ground for the Spitfires.

[grumbler]

It's a bad sign when the time and reasons for the planes being hidden changes all the time.

[mongers]

I know a very large percentage of UK wartime records were destroyed in house-keeping operations, but these investigators don't appear to have laid out any non-'eyewitness' evidence for which marks these upwards of 100 spitfires might be.

Personally I still think that number of aircraft would have represent a too valuable source of spares or even scrap metal to just bury.

[Agelastus]

I know a very large percentage of UK wartime records were destroyed in house-keeping operations, but these investigators don't appear to have laid out any non-'eyewitness' evidence for which marks these upwards of 100 spitfires might be.

Personally I still think that number of aircraft would have represent a too valuable source of spares or even scrap metal to just bury.

I dunno. It was obvious in 1945 that Burma was heading out of the Empire, and as for the spares issue given the thousands of Spitfires in service at the time they'd have cost a lot to ship home and the transition to jet fighters was already beginning. As for their value as scrap metal think of the hundreds of lend-lease planes just tipped over the side of our aircraft carriers when the war ended; post war I'm fairly sure there was a glut of scrap metal in Europe and America, so it wouldn't pay to ship the planes home.

What would surprise me would be if they hadn't been comprehensively wrecked (smashed, cut into pieces etc.) before they were buried if the motive was to keep them out of the hands of an independent Burma. I suspect the chance of finding usable Spitfire bodies, wings etc. is a lot smaller than they seem to think even if they are correct about them being buried there.