10 January 2014
The search for an alleged cache of Supermarine Spitfires buried in Burma will reportedly continue, with new financial support from Claridon Group Ltd.
David Cundall began his search for the buried aircraft in 2012, following 16 years of research on an unidentified number of Spitfires believed to have been buried at the end of WWII in Burma. The project was originally supported by software producers Wargaming.net, however the financial support was withdrawn when the initial search turned up no results.
After hearing about Cundall’s situation, Claridon has now committed to providing the funding to allow the project to continue. Claridon has a HQ located in Stanford-Le-Hope, Essex and also has an office in Burma.
Chris Scott, Claridon Group’s MD said, “After meeting David and listening to how he has devoted a large part of his life, as well as his life savings, trying to find these iconic aircraft which played such a pivotal role in WWII, and seeing his deep rooted passion for preserving part of our history and heritage for generations to come, we just had to get involved. David’s ‘never give up’ attitude along with his incredible drive deserves to be applauded and supported throughout the country. Claridon Group is proud to partner David and provide the funding to enable him and his team to find the Spitfires. We will be supporting David every step of the way and look forward to bringing the Spitfires back home for him.”
Cundall showed no doubt in his belief that there are Spitfires still waiting to be found, commenting, “I am extremely grateful to Claridon for saving the project and providing the funding for the project to continue. Without their support, I wouldn’t be heading back to Burma to finish the work I started all those years ago. Being experts in Global Logistics as well their 20+ years experience in military logistics, the Spitfires could not be in better hands when they are eventually shipped back to the UK.”
Cundall estimates that restoring the Spitfires back to original will create 400 UK jobs over a five year period after which many of the aircraft will find homes in museums up and down the country.
Whether this latest dig will return any evidence of the Spitfires’ existence remains to be seen.
