Digging gets underway to find WWII Spitfire planes believed buried in Myanmar
Reuters
2013-01-09
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The Spitfire, Britain's iconic World War Two fighter plane, could be about to resurface in an unlikely location.
The aircraft played a decisive role in the Battle of Britain against Germans forces in 1940, but they were also used against Japanese forces from what was then the British colony of Burma, now Myanmar.
And it is there where excavation teams have started digging for 36 Spitfires believed to have been buried beneath an airfield at the end of the war.
The excavation is being led by British farmer David Cundall.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) PROJECT LEADER DAVID CUNDALL:
"The images that I've seen on camera are not conclusive at all. But it's very encouraging that we found a wooden crate in the same area where the Americans buried the Spitfires."
It's not yet clear why the planes were buried, but the British did bury much of their war inventory after victory over Japanese forces in 1945.
The aircraft played a decisive role in the Battle of Britain against Germans forces in 1940, but they were also used against Japanese forces from what was then the British colony of Burma, now Myanmar.
And it is there where excavation teams have started digging for 36 Spitfires believed to have been buried beneath an airfield at the end of the war.
The excavation is being led by British farmer David Cundall.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) PROJECT LEADER DAVID CUNDALL:
"The images that I've seen on camera are not conclusive at all. But it's very encouraging that we found a wooden crate in the same area where the Americans buried the Spitfires."
It's not yet clear why the planes were buried, but the British did bury much of their war inventory after victory over Japanese forces in 1945.
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