Deeply buried under the ground in the jungle of Myanmar, preserved in wax and wooden crates,  twenty legendary spitfire fighters from the second world war are waiting for the moment to get airborne again. After a search of many years, British farmer David Cundall (62) has high hopes that his life’s work, the search of the lost squadron, finally will be rewarded. 

The aircraft were shipped directly from the factory in the UK to the East Asian country in 1945. At that time, Burma was a colony of Great Britain. The second world war ended when they arrived and the cost of shipping them back was too expensive. So, the Royal Air Force decided to bury the aircraft, but on a secret spot because they did not want anyone to use the fighters against them!

Cundall, having searching for aircraft wrecks as a hobby, finally found the aircraft after a tip of an American friend: Veterans told him that some strange things had happened in the war, but the most idiot one has been the burial of 20 Spitfires. And so the search started. The Brit placed ads in newspapers, researched lots of information and set off twelve times to the jungle.

Finally Cundall found the aircraft on a location that he scrupulously keeps secret. “We have drilled a hole in the crates and looked with a camera: The aircraft are excellently preserved”. According to Cundall, they only need to be assembled to get them flying.

The Spitfires Mk XIV buried in the jungle are very rare. At present, there are approximately 35 airworthy Spitfires worldwide, still flying and worth millions of Euros.

Source: De Telegraaf 30 Nov 2012