# Spitfires found Buried in Burma **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [April 17, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227 "2012-04-17T10:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jimmyfloyd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jimmyfloyd/32/3077_2.png) [@jimmyfloyd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jimmyfloyd)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/1 "2012-04-17T10:55:24Z")
> **[Buried Treasure: World War II Spitfires to Be Unearthed in Burma | TIME.com](https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/17/buried-treasure-world-war-ii-spitfires-to-be-unearthed-in-burma/?hpt=hp_t2)** > > Paging Indiana Jones: a British farmer's 15-year quest to find a squadron of legendary fighter planes buried in a far-off land has finally paid off > It’s like something out of an Indiana Jones film, if you take away the religious overtones and ophidiophobic adventurer. After 15 years, a British farmer’s quest to find a squadron of legendary fighter planes lost in Burma during World War II has finally paid off. > Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall, 62, has spent £130,000, traveled to Burma a dozen times and negotiated with the cagey Burmese government, all in the hopes of finding a stash of iconic British Spitfires buried somewhere in the Southeast Asian country. > Buried planes? It sounds odd, but in fact this was fairly common towards the end of the war; as the conflict wound down and jet aircraft promised to make the prop-driven fighters obsolete, many aircraft were scrapped, buried or sunk by allied forces in order to prevent them falling into enemy hands. > Cundall started his search after his friend heard from a group of U.S. veterans that they had stashed Spitfires in the region. “We’ve done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires,” the veterans said. > His interest piqued, Cundall began placing ads in magazines to try to find soldiers who may have been involved. > After a decade and a half of searching, he finally managed to locate the missing airplanes, which had never been flown and were indeed buried while still in their transport crates. “We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition,” Cundall told the Telegraph. > The aircraft arrived at a Royal Air Force Base in Burma in August 1945. But by that point in the war, just before the bombing of Hiroshima, the fighters weren’t needed. “In 1945, Spitfires were ten a penny,” says Cundall. “It was a typical British solution: ‘Let’s bury them lads.’” > Getting the planes out of the ground is one thing; getting them out of Burma — a secretive nation that until recently was ruled by a brutal military junta and remains under a variety of international sanctions — is another. But as the _Telegraph_ reports, following the intervention of British prime minister David Cameron, who [recently visited the country](http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/04/13/burma-a-historic-visit-by-britains-pm-validates-recent-reforms/), the Spitfires could soon be on their way back to the U.K. > Cundall hopes that with the help of investors, the planes can finally take to the skies. “Spitfires are beautiful airplanes and should not be rotting away in a foreign land. They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be preserved.” > [LEFT] > Read more: [British Farmer to Unearth World War II Spitfires in Burma | TIME.com](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/17/buried-treasure-world-war-ii-spitfires-to-be-unearthed-in-burma/?hpt=hp_t2#ixzz1sJzPvkNe) > [/LEFT] This should be interesting to see how it plays out. I had always liked these planes as a kid, and this seems line a great find. Being that they are still crated, they might fair better than the Plymouth Belvedere from OK. Still have to see if they can be removed from the country or not. Makes you wonder what else could be found buried over there… ---
**Author:** ![Wahoo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/wahoo/32/8265_2.png) [@Wahoo](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Wahoo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/2 "2012-04-17T12:07:16Z")
Pretty cool ---
**Author:** ![tearsofnorris](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/tearsofnorris/32/6138_2.png) [@tearsofnorris](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/tearsofnorris)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/3 "2012-04-17T12:10:22Z")
Very cool. Used to build a lot of these models as a kid ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/2X/b/b7170c8eddc0b95ece6b88172b2f416a08489a45.png) [@system](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/4 "2012-04-17T12:21:29Z")
Rad. I also used to build these and P51’s as a kid. I’d love to see pictures if they surface at some point. ---
**Author:** ![gt08vapor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@gt08vapor](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/gt08vapor)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/5 "2012-04-17T12:22:09Z")
A family freind has a WWI bi plane, He said back day the buried all over after the wars. ---
**Author:** ![ChevelleGrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@ChevelleGrl](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ChevelleGrl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/6 "2012-04-17T13:22:51Z")
so cool! really hope they take pictures once the crates are opened… ---
**Author:** ![TrueBlue](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/trueblue/32/7245_2.png) [@TrueBlue](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TrueBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/7 "2012-04-17T13:28:57Z")
They rescued Glacier Girl, they’ve restored tanks sitting at the bottom of lakes - with the backing of the UK, those planes will be flying again. ---
**Author:** ![jt76](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jt76/32/5100_2.png) [@jt76](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jt76)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/8 "2012-04-17T15:07:28Z")
My grandpa told me at the end of WW2 he saw brand new tanks jeeps trucks etc being dumped into the ocean. It was cheaper than shipping them home. ---
**Author:** ![1QIKZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/1qikz/32/6112_2.png) [@1QIKZ](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1QIKZ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/9 "2012-04-17T17:18:08Z")
Someone should tell Al Qaeda that the Russians buried an ass load of stuff in Afghanistan. That should keep them busy for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![evilsrt](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/evilsrt/32/7470_2.png) [@evilsrt](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evilsrt)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/10 "2012-04-17T19:39:02Z")
[https://youtu.be/r5-1HS7Qylg](https://youtu.be/r5-1HS7Qylg) ---
**Author:** ![XenoVibe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/xenovibe/32/5739_2.png) [@XenoVibe](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/XenoVibe)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/11 "2012-04-18T03:22:49Z")
Lol thats an odd sort of garage find but I guess Burmese people dont really have garages? ---
**Author:** ![Freek](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/freek/32/7357_2.png) [@Freek](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Freek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/spitfires-found-buried-in-burma/222227/12 "2012-04-18T21:28:56Z")
> [@1QIKZ](#): > > Someone should tell Al Qaeda that the Russians buried an ass load of stuff in Afghanistan. That should keep them busy for awhile. All that is left of those are rusted out hulks at the bottom of ravines. They actually know better then that.