1. Buried Treasure

On April 15, 2012, the Telegraph published an article announcing the discovery of twenty Supermarine Mark XIV Spitfires buried in their original transport crates in Burma (now Myanmar) at the end of the WWII. According to the article, a British farmer named David Cundall had located the planes after a fifteen year search. The story fired my imagination – WW2 aircraft lost in the jungles of South East Asia, preserved in their original transport crates? It sounded incredible. If the planes are indeed there, then they are potentially worth millions – and their heritage value to the British is incalculable. As Sebastian Cox, the Head of the Air Historical would later tell me “if these Spitfires are found, it will be the single biggest find of WW2 artifacts in our history.” According to the article there are only about 35 flight-worthy Spitfires left in the world. I decided to follow up on the story.

^{Tracy Spaight, Wargaming’s Director of Special Projects, who will share in this blog all his impressions}

I tracked down David Cundall’s phone number and rang him up at his farm in Lincolnshire. I would later learn that in the aftermath of the newspaper article’s publication, David was inundated with hundreds of calls from well-wishers, potential buyers, television reporters, rip-off artists and con men, and at least one clairvoyant, so it’s rather surprising I got through to him at all. We had a pleasant conversation, at the end of which I offered to fly him out to San Francisco so we could meet and discuss how Wargaming might help him on his quest. He thought I was another crazy caller until I sent him a plane ticket – first class – to come visit us. David agreed and flew to California on May 15th. 

^{David Cundall and Jeremy Monroe (World of Warplanes US General Manager)}

David met with our team and made a presentation about his research, including eye-witness testimony, geophysical survey data, shipping manifests, and other evidence. We discovered during his visit that David shared our enthusiasm for vintage aircraft and historic preservation. If the planes are indeed out there, we agreed, then they should be recovered and restored so that future generations can admire them – and reflect on the bravery of those who flew them. The Wargaming team decided to fund the venture and produce a documentary film about the recovery efforts. We signed a term sheet to back an expedition to Myanmar to excavate, repatriate, and restore the planes – pending permission from the Myanmar government. On the last day of David’s visit, to mark our newly established partnership, we caravanned over to Moffett field in San Jose to fly around the bay in a B-17 bomber operated by the Collings Foundation – because that’s how we roll.

 

 

 

 

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