British Planes Buried in Burma During WWII Located, Will be Recovered

Myanmar / Burma will allow an aviation enthusiast to recover planes after almost 70 years.

David J. Cundall of North Lincolnshire. Photo courtesy: newsrt.co.uk

(YANGON, Myanmar) - Sweeping political reform can bring about great change for historical research and that is the case in Myanmar, where a treasure of buried World War Two planes will be brought to see the light after nearly 70 years.

The government of Myanmar has agreed to allow a private British aviation enthusiast to excavate the old planes. They were encased in the earth during the war as Japanese forces approached.

The AP reported Wednesday that discussions between President Thein Sein and British Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this year, led to the agreement being reached. The aviation enthusiast is David J. Cundall. He finally located the planes after searching for many years.

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.

According to an article by Doncaster Free Press, Isle farmer gets green light to uncover spitfires hidden in Burma:

The British Embassy in Rangoon said that it was a chance for the new Burmese government “in uncovering, restoring, displaying these fighter planes”.

Mr Cundall has visited Burma 12 times, determined to find them. The first step was to place advertisements in magazines, trying to find soldiers who buried Spitfires.

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

Hopefully this will lead to a large amount of historic wartime material being recovered which in turn can be used to help educate people.

After the fall of Libya, I wrote the article, Libya: Can We Have the 'Lady Be Good' Back Now Please? about the famous B-29 bomber from WWII located in the desert of Libya by a British petrol research company in the 50's. A movie in the USA was made about it called, 'Soul Survivor'.

doncasterfreepress.co.uk

Editor for Salem-News.com by Tim King