Burma Spitfires Merged thread. Put all new info in here please.
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17710598

RedToo.

That would be an epic find, wonder what sort of condition they would be in?

Wow, that sounds to good to be true, but I imagine if they were in crates then they obviously buried them with the intention of retrieving them at some point or they would have simply destroyed them, one would hope that they would have been carefully protected.

Near where I live there was a US military depot during the war no doubt involved with the D-Day landings. During the 60s and 70s the area started to grow into an industrial estate and quite large quantities of equipment was discovered all greased, crated and buried including a number of vehicles and Harley Davidson motorcycles. No Spitfires sadly.

Nice Find....and could be an apt comment :)

"A Downing Street source said: "The Spitfire is arguably the most important plane in the history of aviation, playing a crucial role in the Second World War."

Why does our government make such ridiculous claims?

Because they are not very bright, not very well educated and have no awareness of what they lack.

RedToo.

I wonder what mark they will be? They could be MK Vs or IXs I imagine.

that would be proper time capsule NOS find, and possibly one of the best aviation archeology finds since WW2!

The question now is what mark they are (I would think either Vs or IXs) and who's gonna get 'em ;-)

They are MkIIs. reportedly.

the news reports are very misinformed tho, all rather comical hysterical media hype.

The BBC webpage reports them as "Buried in 1945" This is ludicrous as in 1945 the Japanese forces had been defeated. They must have been buried in 1942 when the Japanese were advancing.

The telegraph report is even funnier, refering to the buried Spitfires as "Jet Fighters"

Actually quite a few spitfires have survived, personally I would have been more excited had they been some rare WWII aircraft, ie a tempest, Whirlwind or beafighter or Halifax.

Assuming they are still crated, that they had been preserved enough to survive the sea journey to Burma, and were carefully hidden with the optomistic intention of recovering them after the Japanese had been forced back im sure some useful bits could be recovered. But buried for seventy years in the hot humid jungle enviroment of Burma its asking a lot.