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Re: Some times, disturbed earth... Seafire

Posted by PeterA on Tue Apr 22, 2003 05:28:51 AM

In reply top Some times, disturbed earth... posted by Chris Hinch on Tue Apr 22, 2003 05:15:13 AM

Chris,
Do have any confirmation of the RN serail number and final fate of the Seafire XV 'gifted' by HMS Theseus. It became an instructional airframe at Hobsonville, latterly with the Aircraft Finishing School.
PeterA
(Paul Mc - By an oversight it was left ouit of Spitfire International.)


: ...is disturbed earth with nothing underneath.
:
: After chasing down all the leads I had regarding the buria
: l of crated aircraft at RNZAF Hobsonville and Whenuapai, I
: finally got in touch with an actual eye witness, not seve
: ral someones who THOUGHT they were eyewitnesses or were re
: ported to me as eyewitnesses.
:
: Yes, there is a "disturbed earth" site on an airfield tip
: inlet between Whenuapai and Hobsonville. Yes, equipment wa
: s disposed of there after the war by putting it all togeth
: er in a small gulley and filling it with dirt. Yes there w
: ere crated aircraft on the airfield at the end of the war.
: Yes, photography shows the site clearly, even 50- years l
: ater, and that the site is still accessible, and supports
: the above facts. Topography analysis supports the above fa
: cts as well.
:
: However, none of that tells us that the crated aircraft we
: re buried there. In fact, and much to my disappointment, t
: hey weren't. According to an RNZAF serviceman who served t
: here from '46 onwards, the crated aircraft were land lease
: P51Ds. They were shipped to Ardmore in the crates, reasse
: mbled and passed onto the TAF squadrons around New Zealand
: . Of the hundreds of airframes that littered Hobsonville i
: n the late 40's and early 50's, all bar one went to the sc
: rappers furnace. One Sunderland which crashed (landing? ta
: king off? taxiing?) on the harbour was hauled up to the ba
: se tip and burnt. One man was crushed to death while movin
: g the wreck when the undercarriage collapsed on the way to
: the tip. The only equipment buried at the candidate "dist
: urbed earth" site was some surplus rifles.
:
: As for the buried P40's? My guess is someone saw equipment
: being buried, and the crated fighters, and put two and tw
: o together and came up with five. My eyewitness was unequi
: vocal. No buried aircraft.
:
: Sorry to get anyones hopes up, but at least this is a myth
: we can most likely now put to rest.
:
: And I could just see myself, shovel in hand, furtively dig
: ging by the light of a small hurricane lamp, with a wee tw
: inkle of madness in the eyes...
:
: Chris

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