• Burmese
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

British Spitfire Search Team Arrives in Burma

The Associated Press by The Associated Press
January 6, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
British Spitfire Search Team Arrives in Burma

British pilot Bohomme flies a Second World War-era Supermarine Spitfire from Old Flying Machine Company during Malta Airshow at Malta International Airport. (Photo: Reuters)

4.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON—A team led by a British aviation enthusiast has arrived in Burma to begin the first of several digs they hope will unearth dozens of rare British 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 soon start excavations to find several stashes of Spitfires believed to be under the ground near the airport in the main city, Rangoon.

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.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta Moves into Nawnghkio Outskirts

Myanmar Junta Moves into Nawnghkio Outskirts

July 15, 2025
600
What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

July 15, 2025
554
Myanmar and Russian Regimes Push Indian Trade Corridor to Bypass Western Sanctions

Myanmar and Russian Regimes Push Indian Trade Corridor to Bypass Western Sanctions

July 15, 2025
526

Cundall said Sunday the initial project would take about four to six weeks to complete.

The venture, backed with a million-dollar guarantee from a Belarusian videogame company, could uncover dozens of Spitfire aircraft locked underground by American engineers at the end of World War II.

“We could easily double the number of Spitfires that are still known to exist,” said 63-year-old David Cundall, the farmer and private pilot who has spent nearly two decades pursuing the theory that a batch of the famous fighter planes was buried, in pristine condition, in wooden crates in a riverbed at the end of an airport runway.

“In the Spitfire world it will be similar to finding Tutankhamen’s tomb,” he told reporters Friday, ahead of his flight.

Not everyone is as convinced. Even at the conference, freelance archaeologist Andy Brockman acknowledged that it was “entirely possible” that all the team would find was a mass of corroded metal and rusty aircraft parts—if it found anything at all.

But Cundall said eyewitness testimony—from British and American veterans as well as elderly local residents of Burma—coupled with survey data, aerial pictures, and ground radar soundings left him in no doubt that the planes were down there. And others not involved in the trip have expressed cautious optimism.

“There is a high percentage chance that something is buried there,” said Charles Heyman, who edits the reference book, “The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.” Heyman said it wasn’t unusual for British forces to leave behind high-grade equipment in former war zones – even in recent conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Spitfire remains the UK’s most famous combat aircraft, its reputation cemented by the Battle of Britain, when the fast-moving, sleek-looking single-seater aircraft helped beat back waves of German bombers. Britain built a total of some 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.

Many were written off as the British war effort wound down, but why a batch of Spitfires would have been boxed and buried, as opposed to scrapped and dumped, remains the biggest question hanging over the project.

Cundall, who has long scoured crash sites to recover buried aircraft, said he first heard of the Burma’s theory from a fellow plane hunter Jim Pearce, who was at a party in Jacksonville, Florida, when two American veterans approached him with an unusual story. The men said they had worked as engineers in Burma when they were tasked with carving out a large pit burial pit for the aircraft.

“It was the craziest thing you Brits asked us to do,” Cundall quoted the men as saying.

Cundall said he believed the story immediately. Advertisements seeking more information were placed in magazines with names like FlyPast and Warbirds, and soon other witnesses came forward.

One, a British veteran named Stanley Coomb, described driving along the air field’s perimeter while engineers lowered huge wooden boxes—described as the size of double-decker buses—into a pit. Radar soundings appeared to show large, plane-sized objects lurking roughly 25 feet (8 meters) below the surface, Cundall said.

But finding the site was just half the battle. Cundall said it took 17 years of lobbying to get permission to dig in Burma, a task complicated by European sanctions against the country’s authoritarian government, and, more recently, its tentative steps toward democracy. Cundall beat out other groups in an effort to win exclusive rights to the dig, finally signing an agreement in early October.

Along the way he found an unlikely ally, a Belarusian company called Wargaming.net best known for its multiplayer titles including “World of Warplanes” and “World of Tanks.” The company’s American director of special projects, Tracy Spaight, said he got his company involved after hearing about the Spitfires in the news, promising $500,000 toward the dig and up to another $500,000 if the Spitfires were found.

Company spokesman Frazer Nash batted away repeated questions about what the video game maker in the country known as Europe’s last dictatorship hoped to get out of the deal, saying the company had an “open bucket” to dispense cash if the dig was a success.

“Money’s not an issue,” he told journalists. “Have you seen the profits for gaming?”

The reporters seemed mollified.

“Can I have a job?” one asked.

The Spitfires—if any are ever found—would be divided between the Burma’s government, in line for about half the total, a local company, which would get another 20 percent, and Cundall, who would get roughly a third. The Burma’s government might decide to sell its planes, Cundall said, although he promised that his share would be coming back to the UK, “where they belong.”

“It was a tool of war, but I want to make it a tool of friendship to bring Burma and Britain closer together.” Also, he said, “I would love to fly one!”

After a last round of television interviews at the hotel Friday, Cundall slipped a jacket over his black Wargaming.net T-shirt and rubbed his hands together against the cold, casting his mind to his upcoming trip, and the moment of truth.

“Only a matter of time now before we start digging and find out: ‘What’s in the box?'” he said.

Your Thoughts …
The Associated Press

The Associated Press

...

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
90k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
47k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.8k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Returning to a Relaxed Rangoon

Returning to a Relaxed Rangoon

Suarez's Handball Helps Liverpool Win in FA Cup

Suarez's Handball Helps Liverpool Win in FA Cup

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

7 days ago
1.3k
‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

5 days ago
662

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Moves into Nawnghkio Outskirts

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.