‘Better to fail than to do nothing’ says Spitfire hunter

The team led by North Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall is looking for the aircraft which they believed were buried by the RAF in 1945, some of which are believed to be in crates buried at Burma’s main international airport. The latest hurdle has been the discovery of bundles of electric cables in the way.

Archaeologists involved in the search are reported not to believe there is evidence to support the original claim of as many as 124 buried Spitfires.

There was also reportedly confirmation that there were no aircraft by Wargaming.net, the Belarusian video games firm financing the dig.

However Mr Cundall, who has spent years researching the aircraft and ploughed thousands of pounds into the project, insists eyewitness testimony is correct and the archaeologists are digging in the wrong place.

Before flying out to Burma, he had outlined plans to return the aircraft to Britain for restoration in the hope they could be flown again.

“I feel very frustrated,” he told the BBC. “We have been here now for 12 days and we have only been allowed to dig on two days.

“The geological surveys are clearly saying there are large metallic objects down there. It’s exactly where eye witnesses said they were buried.

“The only way they can find it is to dig.”

He said he would apologise if proved wrong, adding: “I believe it is better to try and have failed than not to have tried at all.”

Soe Thein, a retired Burmese geology professor who is helping hunt for the rare Spitfires, said the team found crates that could contain the aircraft at Rangoon airport.

But cables and water pipes were found above them and there is no blueprint for their precise locations.

He said that will make unearthing them more time-consuming.

Wargaming.net has cancelled a news conference on Sunday. But Soe Thein said: “We haven’t stopped and we cannot stop. It is just a delay in our work.”

About 20,000 Spitfires were built, although the dawn of the jet age quickly made the propeller-driven, single-seat aircraft obsolete.

As many as 140 of the aircraft – three to four times the number of airworthy models known to exist – are believed to have been buried in near-pristine condition in Burma by American engineers as the war drew to a close.

Of those, 36 are thought to have been buried on the grounds of Mingaladon airport, around 100 yards from the runway. More aircraft are said to be buried in Myitkyina in northern Kachin state, where another of the group’s teams is digging.