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Reply With QuoteEgyptian desert too, recently.
At the close of WW2, Allied personnel in Burma buried TWENTY brand new Spitfires still in their shipping crates under a layer of soil, assuming the British government would return for them. They never did.
For decades, the Spitfires were considered lost. Not any more.
Spitfires buried in Burma to be returned
Incredible news. Supposedly Australia has a number of fighters "lost" in the outback as well. And every so often, fighters lost in the Great Lakes are found in excellent condition, due to the great depths of cold, fresh water.
Egyptian desert too, recently.
The P-40 found in Egypt is all over the news as well. It solved the mystery of a lost airman, who successfully belly-landed in horrible, hostile terrain. He attempted to walk out and undoubtedly died in the desert,
Some additional picturesOn June 28, 24-year-old Flt Sgt Dennis Copping and another airman from RAF’s 260 Squadron had been told to fly two damaged Kittyhawk P-40 planes from one British airbase in northern Egypt to another for repairs, reported the Metro UK. During the short flight, he went off course and was never seen again.
5 crated spitfires have been located in Scotland, the National Museum of Flgit, intend recovering them and flying them as a squadron.
I'm just waiting for the photo's of these "new" Spitfires!
Wow , bloody great finds , just , WOW ,however it does show how lax the MOD was/is , in forgetting these very expensive items .
"When England was a kingdom, we had a king.
When we were an empire, we had an emperor.
Now we're a country
Now that is truly a barn find...Originally Posted by junoth1001
The crates in in a disused quarry. The museum are trying to raise the funds to recover and rebuild them.
in 1946, all the lend - lease aircraft were returned and the aircraft carriers carrying the stuff, just dumped overboard about twenty miles west of Oban! One of the members of the East Anglian Branch of the Air Sea Rescue Club, told me, that at the end of WW2, he had the job of dumping crates and crates of engines, still in their protective coating just of the coast of Malta. it was considered cheaper than returning them to the UK.
Too bad they weren't forgotten and left in a warehouse. Still, if I were an idle billionaire - I'd love to look into recovering them.
"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."
Back in 1986, I took part in a dive on a wreck about 15 miles west of Oban. on the sea bottom were crates including ones with fuselage sections of F4 wildcat AKA Marlets in Fleet Air Arm.
However, it is a protected wreck and a couple of years ago, two divers died when they got into difficulty when they entered the wreck.
I read something somewhere about the pilot of this desert plane surviving... can't find the link offhand.
The authorities are mounting a serch for his remains
BBC News - World War II fighter found in Egyptian desert
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