Was the RAF really deploying jets in Burma in late 1945? IIRC the Allies didn’t deploy many jets by the end of the war, with only a relative handful seeing any service in Europe. Wiki says that the first jet-equipped RAF squadron was deployed in Europe in January of '45. I found this wiki page that lists RAF squadrons deployed in Burma in late WW2, and as far as I can tell none of them were re-equipped with jets until well after the war. In late '45, many were still being re-equipped with Spitfires, none with jets.
OK, well, since you’re clearly an expert on the Burma campaign and the Far East Theatre of WWII, how were the British not on the offensive in Burma in 1945, after the turning points of the battles of Kohima and Imphal (April-July, 1944)?
The British captured Rangoon in May, 1945, having been on the offensive since mid-late 1944. They had air supremacy over India and Burma, and basically I’m not aware of a situation in Burma, 1945 in which the British would need to be burying Spitfires to keep them from the Japanese.
Wikipedia has an article on the campaign, in case anyone hadn’t already looked it up.
I’m not disputing there might be nearly two squadrons of Spitfires buried in the Burmese jungle. What I’m disputing is they were buried in 1945 to keep them out of the hands of of the Japanese.
It could be just that the ‘shipping and handling charges’ were to high. Lots of equipment that was not brought home was destroyed. For example, U.S. PT boats were burned. Too expensive to bring them home, and too expensive anyway.
Maybe they’re bamboo replicas that the Burmese government built to entice the British to come back.
Or this one.
The article is nonsense. The RAF didn’t send any jets to Southeast Asia until 1948, when Vampires were deployed to help suppress the Malayan Emergency. I gather that there were a handful of Meteors sent to India, but they never saw combat.
The article quoted by **Askance **is a cut down version of the Telegraph article quoted by Otara. If you read it you will see it does not claim the Spitfires were buried because jets were arriving in Burma. The suggestion is that they were shipped out just as the war against Japan was ending in August '45. By the time they arrived they were no longer need in theatre and it just was not worth the trouble of shipping them back to the UK where where Spitfires were two a penny and jets were the future. I suppose this makes some sort of sense as the Spitfire was definely an air superiority fighter rather than a ground attack aircraft and by this period I don’t think the Japanese air force was a factor in the race to Rangoon.
Askance’s style is a bit abrupt but the original article - which is full of direct quotes from the chap who claims to have actually traced their history - does rebut the highlighted sections of the earlier posts. So just to take **Martin Enfield’s **point, **Askance **is not saying we weren’t on the offensive in Burma in '45, he is saying the Spitfires were not buried to prevent them falling into Japanese hands.
They were not on the offensive in AUGUST 1945, when the Spits were buried. The last offensive operation during the war in Burma was on 6th May, according to the very article you linked.
So am I; my disagreement is with your statement that the British were on the offensive at the times they were buried. Indeed depending on the exact date in August the whole war may well have been over when they were buried.
This is probably a good bet. After the defeat off Germany the US destroyed a lot of equipment instead of bringing out home. I remember seeing pictures of burning P51’s that were being destroyed so they didn’t have to be brought home. We hired German civilians to cop up and burn equipment. The Germans were amazed at getting paid to do what they had been attempting to do on their own for years. Whoever made the decision to bury the Spitfires probably did so with the idea that if the Government ever needed them again they could just go and did them up.
They key bit being destroyed though. Carefully storing obsolete planes doesnt make a lot of sense unless you think theres a reasonable foreseeable need for them, theres the obvious risk of them being found for a start.
I realise they’ve said in the article that I supplied myself that they have ground radar, but Id really like to see said ground radar pictures rather than rely on word alone, when clearly many details have been confused or misreported already. Seems awfully odd to me they’ve suppsedly got that close, but didnt supply any physical evidence or pictures of artifacts to support the story.
Otara
It would be great if these aeroplanes could be brushed off, slapped together and flown, but I’m thinking the best you could realistically hope for is that they’d make for very very good restoration projects.
Personally, I’d consider “Having won the war” as the epitome of “being on the offensive.” They certainly weren’t on the defensive, or worried about the Japanese getting them, which is what your condescending one-word rebuttal to a number of earlier posts seemed to be implying.
It’s people like you, being a dick for no reason, that remind me why I took an extended break from this place.
Yes, it is frustrating that there is not more information coming out but I can see reasons for David Cundall, the guy that claims to have located them, not wanting to say where they are exactly. Obviously relationships with the Burmese authorities are touchy - he seems to have spent years building up trust - and any suggestion that the old imperial power can just come back and grab them is going to go down like a lead balloon. There is also the fact that they could be worth a lot of money and he does not want other groups getting in before him!
As to why buried rather than destroyed, I guess we will have to wait until the full story comes out but sticking them in a 30ft hole is not carefully storing them. It may just have been easier for the ground crew to use a bulldozer to open a bloody big hole and then push the crates in rather than unpacking them and finding another way to destroy them.
[Modertor Warning]
If you are going to come back and insult people, you might find your next break will be involuntary. This is an official warning. Do not do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
A large number of B-24s were left behind when the British departed India in 1947. Attempts were made to render them useless but the Indian Air Force salvaged a number of them. One flew to England in the 1970s and is now in the IWM Duxford collection; another is in the Indian Air Force Museum http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Museum/Palam/Giants.html
By that measure, the offensive is still going then?
My saying “no” to people who were claiming that they were buried to save them from the Japanese, was implying that they were buried to save them from the Japanese? How do you work that out?
All I can say is:I take umbrage at this warning.
Seems as if another war is getting started. I’ll put $50 on the Moderator to win, any takers?
obbn. Discussion of moderator warnings belongs in ATMB, not General Questions. Drop it.
samclem, Moderator
Hopefully the umbrage has folded. Looks like the Burmese Spits may benefit from the opening up of Burmese society: Green light for Burma’s Spitfire hoard to be dug up.