Put some sand-and-spinach camo on them, paint a few roundels, and you could well be looking at the Burmese Spitfires.
Yes, but: We are talking about the end of a world war. We are talking about men who have been 10,000 miles from home for several years.Originally Posted by Thomsas Stute
Then, suddenly, the war is over. They're looking at a field with 100 pristine warbirds.
What to do with them? The Government has another 1,000 of them sitting around airfields and factories back home. No reason to ship them home; besides the vessels involved could be better involved in carrying hundreds of thousands of soldiers home for demobilization.
So, the supply folks in Burma (or the Philippines, or North Africa) are instructed to "dispose" of the aircraft. But how? Are they supposed to put them up for sale, scrap them for the metal value, what? It's almost impossible to get clarification of the orders...they can't pick up a cell phone to call the War Office, and what long-range radio links exist aren't going to be wasted on mere supply matters. It'll take months to query London and get the response.
So, the supply officers tell themselves, "This is the last task we have to do before getting on the ships back to England. None of us can leave until we complete the disposal. What should we do?"
They do what stumped officers have done for 2,000 years: They ask a sergeant.
And the sergeant introduces them to a fine old military term: "Expended in place." It means that the property has completed its intended function, is damaged beyond economical repair, and is just left where it's at. For aircraft, it's typically implemented by dropping a grenade into the cockpit. Those rich Yanks might bulldoze them into a neat pile, but it isn't really necessary. All you have to do is drop the grenade, stamp "Expended in Place" in the paperwork, and it's over. " Get on the ship, lads, we're headed for Blighty."
When (and if) the paperwork ever gets back to England, the receiving officer grunts and throws it away. The planes are accounted for and no longer exist. It's just BUMF at this point....
I don't doubt that there could be hundreds of Spitfires under the soil of Burma. What I doubt is whether there are enough intact parts remaining to put together even one complete aircraft. Heck, how much of the exterior skin of "Glacier Girl" is authentic WWII aluminum?
Yep....Originally Posted by Thomsas Stute
Ron Wanttaja