Buried treasure in Burma

Isn't that neat! May have been silly at the time but, not so silly now. It was common practice to dump things during WWII. I can only imagine what lies deep within the waters of Alaska.

In my tenure in the military I have seen many items disposed of in this manner. When it comes down to the mighty dollar and doing the right thing, the dollar wins every time.

I hope they fly again! I wonder why such efforts were taken to preserve them before disposal? And why are we just hearing about this 67yrs later?

"In my tenure in the military I have seen many items disposed of in this manner. When it comes down to the mighty dollar and doing the right thing, the dollar wins every time." Ron


Me too. What's more public dollars sometimes wind up in private pockets when items somehow "disappear'.

That is damn cool!

I liked the story of the Kee Bird so much , I bought the dvd. Cool but sad at the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html

PV Pilot wrote:I liked the story of the Kee Bird so much , I bought the dvd. Cool but sad at the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/b29-frozen.html

I saw this on TV, it broke your heart to see that plane burn after surviving what it did. I did get the impression though that the whole project was a little amaturish, did no-one think to check if anything could shake loose before they tried to take off over deep rutted snow?

yup, they got in a bit of a rush at the end and was running out of money.

On the subject of "buried treasure", last week my wife and I visited the "Arabia" museum in KC, Missori.

In 1858, "Arabia" was a paddle-wheeler outbound for the western frontier with some 200 tons of cargo. Shortly after leaving KC "Arabia" hit a snag in the Missourri River and sank in 35 feet of water. The ship sat where it sank and in time the river changed course leaving "Arabia" landlocked in a farmer's field can covered with river silt.

"Arabia" sat in that position until, in 1988, ad effort was made to salvage the some 200 tons of cargo. A determined group raised the money to eventually extract "Arabia's" cargo and place it in a museum in KC.

The museum is a "time capsule" of life in pre-Civil War America. "Arabia" cargo is now on public display. If you'd like to see pictures go to whe "Arabia" website in Kanasas City, Mo.

Machinery, fine China ware, guns, tools, clothing, liquor, ................. and more than you would ever imagine. And to think all this lay hidden for 132 years by the Missouri River!

You want some very interesting reading Dave, pick up The Sea Hunters by Clive Cussler. Talks about all the civil was sinkings and the search and find of the Hunley submarine, and the Houstatonic which she sank. Other notables the are worth the read.

Keith:

Actually I'm a huge fan of Clive Cusseler not only his adentue books but discovery of long-lost ships, the US Henly for example. Not only that but Cussler operates a car museum in Arvado, Colorado which equals or exceeds any car collection that I have ever visited. (The the cars he mentions in is novels are to be found in his museum)

Many of his cars are to be seen in a great photo-book "Built for Adventure" which I have on my desk as I type or you can see some them on the Cussler Museum website. Though I've not seen the Cussler collection it's on my "bucket list" for sure.

SuperDave wrote:Keith:

Actually I'm a huge fan of Clive Cusseler not only his adentue books but discovery of long-lost ships, the US Henly for example. Not only that but Cussler operates a car museum in Arvado, Colorado which equals or exceeds any car collection that I have ever visited. (The the cars he mentions in is novels are to be found in his museum)

Many of his cars are to be seen in a great photo-book "Built for Adventure" which I have on my desk as I type or you can see some them on the Cussler Museum website. Though I've not seen the Cussler collection it's on my "bucket list" for sure.

yup, I have a extensive Clive Cussler library.

Keith:

Dirk Pitt and Al Guiordino! What a fearsome pair that save the world from evil plots.

BTW, Cussler also has an impressive collection of full-scale aircraft.

Juan Cabrillo in The Oregon Files lineup of books.

A derelict looking tramp lumber freighter, that is armed to the teeth belowdecks and has the speed of a ciggarette racer with the Red October drive tubes underneath.

Clive and friends does a very good job of making it believable.

The Arabia Museum has a website at http://www.1856.com/

Well worth a look, I would love to visit that museum!

There is also a Blog site for the search for the Steamer Mars but there is no entry after 2006, when they thought that they had located the boat, does anyone know any further information on this one?

My dad lived and worked near Stanford, Staffordshire, UK, during ww2.

He told me one day that one day he heard and saw lots of American earth moving equipment trundling past.

He was curious and learned where they went. He said the large field was turned into a large deep pit. He said he saw lots and lots of hd bikes, jeeps and loads of other equipment driven into the pit and buried. The site was returned he said.

Visiting the area 40 years later he just could not remember exactly where the field was. With modern equipment I reckon the site could be found.

One day I was fixing a c90 using newspaper to control the mess. The Times I think there were. As you do I started reading an article that said that at a particular airfield due for decommissioning at end of ww2, the commander took it soon himself to "save" some bits of kit. A fully working Lancaster coccoobed along with 6 or so boxed Merlin's along with other bits and bobs. All this lot was buried at the airfield.

Many years later they were found. A big thank you was awarded to the CO for his efforts.

Didn't know that such a burial occurred on UK native soil, at first thought it was a description of Burma. Those WW-2 British night bombers manufactured of wood are fascinating, a unique way of dealing with shortages of aircraft quality metal back then.

Went back to the post before yours and found a video of the steamboats from the Kansas City, Missouri, US museum website:



Short video is fascinating.

Yes, seen wartime film about the mossy, foreman loading up a girl with timber, no don't go yet, you can carry another 6 timbers...poor girl but it was balsa...

Wow. This one grew legs again. Howdy to the Old Crew!!, , And the New!. Happy Holidays!

PV Pilot wrote:Wow.  This one grew legs again.   Howdy to the Old Crew!!, , And the New!.   Happy Holidays!

Thread is still valid 10 years later. If nothing else, it brought you back after an 18 month hiatus.

PV Pilot wrote:Wow.  This one grew legs again.   Howdy to the Old Crew!!, , And the New!.   Happy Holidays!

Great to see you around again!