# Buried in Burma: 140 Mint-Condition Spitfire Planes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376 "2012-10-21T01:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/41 "2013-01-19T13:06:19Z")
The Dutch Air Force operated them for a time after the war, as did the French in Indo-China. The Irish Air Corps purchased a few, including some two-seater training conversions, and some of these still survive. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/42 "2013-02-05T21:31:08Z")
Un-shocking Update: They got nothing. [After finding nothing but electrical cables and water pipes, the team cancelled a news conference](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/18/spitfire-search-burma-draws-blank). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/43 "2013-02-07T01:01:33Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Well yes. But, Israel per usual is a bit of a special case and IIRC they had Bf109 and the Egyptians the Spits ( from leftover planes of the DesertnAirforce) Still the point stands, anyone which was not a recently illegal militant group coukd easily get it’s hands on equipment much better than the Spitfires, 1945 had several shortages, fighter planes was not one of them. Yes, they were a special case along with [England, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Egypt, India, Burma, with many seeing combat into the 1950s.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_operational_history#Postwar_service) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/44 "2013-02-16T09:03:52Z")
[Seems they’ve called the whole thing off.](http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21483187) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/45 "2013-02-16T10:41:50Z")
[More here](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/336226/search-for-buried-spitfires-in-myanmar-abandoned). Excerpts: **“The search for Spitfires was rooted in persistent rumours that began among servicemen in ‘the bars and canteens of Southeast Asia’ as early as 1946.”** Gee, I’m glad not every bar rumor you hear around here is acted on, or else there’d be some mighty broke fellows around. More than already, I mean. **“It added that no surviving witnesses had actually seen planes being buried and that its research in British archives had failed to produce any evidence of the arrival of the aircraft in Burma in the latter months of the war.”** That’s odd. Didn’t other stories say they did talk to eyewitnesses, including one in his 90s who was on hand, a Stanley Coombe, pictured in the link above? **“But a local businessman involved in the project, Htoo Htoo Zaw, on Saturday vowed to continue the planned digs in the northern city of Myitkyina and Yangon airport, signalling a split within the team. ‘We haven’t started any digging yet. So how can we say for sure whether there are Spitfires or not?’ he told AFP.”** _That’s_ the spirit! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/46 "2013-02-16T20:38:50Z")
I don’t have the heart to go back and read all of this thread, but, am I right that the story morphed from the Spitfires being buried in the desert to being underwater? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/47 "2013-02-16T22:12:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > … ‘We haven’t started any digging yet. So how can we say for sure whether there are Spitfires or not?’ he told AFP."\*\* > > _That’s_ the spirit! 😃 I have a yard. Since there might be a Spitfire under it, I’m gonna start looking for a sponsor to fund an excavation. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/48 "2013-02-16T22:30:39Z")
I await the production of _Indiana Jones and the Cave of Spitfires_. It’s a natural. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/49 "2013-02-17T01:17:29Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I have a yard. Since there might be a Spitfire under it, I’m gonna start looking for a sponsor to fund an excavation. Ya never know! ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/50 "2013-02-22T05:21:57Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > **"But a local businessman involved in the project, Htoo Htoo Zaw, on Saturday vowed to continue the planned digs…** Next to Spitfires, discovering a businessman named Htoo Htoo Zaw is a pretty close second, is it not? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/51 "2013-02-22T12:11:15Z")
Well there is a footballer here called fui fui moi moi. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/52 "2013-02-27T14:41:54Z")
The May 2013 issue of Aviation History magazine has an article on it. According to it, things aren’t looking very good for the entire enterprise. I just checked and the article is NOT available on-line yet. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-in-burma-140-mint-condition-spitfire-planes/638376/53 "2013-02-27T15:01:31Z")
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