Mission heads to Burma to unearth hidden Spitfires

Team to begin dig at Mingaladon airfield in Yangon where 36 fighter planes from second world war are thought to be buriedOne last Spitfire mission takes off from Britain on Saturday, flying over the English coastline soon after dawn. This time the crew will leave Heathrow on board a Qatari jet, bound for Burma where they believe treasure is buried – a cache of the warplanes, shining and perfect as the day they went into the ground almost 70 years ago.For mission leader David Cundall, a Lincolnshire farmer and aircraft hunter, what happens next is simple. By late January he is convinced he will have the fairytale ending to a 17-year quest since he first heard the story of redundant Spitfires buried as the war in the east collapsed after the bombing of Hiroshima. They were buried in crates the size of double-decker buses, according to one witness."We will have a box on the surface, you can open the doors, and you will see the aircraft inside," Cundall said. "These are 100% original Spitfires that have been buried for 67 years, and they will still be shining." His team of archaeologists will carry out surveys near the perimeter of Mingaladon airfield, now part of Yangon's international airport and once a second world war British base taken by the Japanese, then the British and Americans. They will attempt to confirm the evidence of wartime aerial photographs, earlier surveys, probes, and eyewitness accounts, and then the mechanical diggers will move in, followed by the experts...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian News Archaeology Heritage UK news Second world war Burma World news Source Type: news