In this Jan. 7, 2013 file photo taken and released by Wargaming.net, British farmer and businessman David Cundall, left, leader of an archaeological excavation team of buried World War II Spitfires, accompanied by Tracy Spaight, director of special projects at Belarusian videogame company Wargaming.net, that backs the venture, shows a model of Spitfire as they inspect a field, the former RAF Mingaladon, where they expect to find the aircrafts underground, in the restricted compound of Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar.YANGON, Myanmar – A global video gaming company that funded a high-profile hunt for dozens of World War II-era British fighters in Myanmar has some bad news for aviation enthusiasts: It says none of the legendary planes are buried in the Southeast Asian country.
Excavation teams carrying out surveys on the ground, however, said Saturday that they would not give up the search.
The hunt for the lost planes was launched amid hope that as many as 140 rare Spitfires were hidden in crates in pristine condition in three locations in Myanmar.
But the Belarusian video gaming company Wargaming.net, which had backed the venture, said in a statement late Friday that the planes were never even delivered to the country by Allied forces as the war drew to a close nearly 70 years ago.
“The Wargaming team now believes, based on clear documentary evidence, as well as the evidence from the fieldwork, that no Spitfires were delivered in crates and buried” in Myanmar between 1945 and 1946, the statement said.