Spitfre and Hurricane parts in a tunnel

[109pff]

An old railway friend has told me that some parts in railway wagons were buiried in a tunnel some where in Yorkshire .Anyone know of this

[Moggy C]

Absolutely

The whole of the UK is covered in sites where factory fresh parts of all WW2 aircraft were carefully wrapped in corrosion suppressing material and buried to await our discovery some many years later.

I think the same tunnel in Yorkshire actually connects with the one at Bundaberg in Australia, somewhere close to the earth's core.

Moggy

[scotavia]

It is a confusion, some steam engines were kept in reserve in WW 2 in tunnels, but not for long.

[slipperysam]

Originally Posted by Moggy C

Absolutely

The whole of the UK is covered in sites where factory fresh parts of all WW2 aircraft were carefully wrapped in corrosion suppressing material and buried to await our discovery some many years later.

I think the same tunnel in Yorkshire actually connects with the one at Bundaberg in Australia, somewhere close to the earth's core.

Moggy

Dont forget the secret bunker full of aircraft hidden under Castle Hill in Townsville.... oh wait.... or was that vehicles and ammo dump.... no no... I believe it was full of mustard gas...

[D1566]

Originally Posted by scotavia

It is a confusion, some steam engines were kept in reserve in WW 2 in tunnels, but not for long.

Thats another confusion ... !

[TonyT]

And don't forget the ones stored in the Uk's Area 2 ( we could not afford the full 51 version)

[daveg4otu]

Do not forget the island somewhere off the west coast of Scotland - purposefully infected with Anthrax to protect all the military equipment stored in underground bunkers!

[Moggy C]

I think 109pff may have gathered by now that this is probably one of a long series of urban myths about buried / concealed caches of WW2 equipment.

It is just possible that one of them will turn up trumps one day, but I certainly wouldn't place any money on it.

Meanwhile 109 - is your user name related to 109Sq?

Moggy

[G-BOAE]

Not brand new, wrapped, greased, green plastic wrapped and vacuum sealed with an MU stamp but look at what is being/has been recovered USAAF wise in Norfolk.

[109pff]

Originally Posted by Moggy C

I think 109pff may have gathered by now that this is probably one of a long series of urban myths about buried / concealed caches of WW2 equipment.

It is just possible that one of them will turn up trumps one day, but I certainly wouldn't place any money on it.

Meanwhile 109 - is your user name related to 109Sq?

Moggy

Hi Moggy yes my name is related to 109Sq.Looks like this is another myth like you say as an old railwayman I do know this happened in Northamptonshire near Ravenstone wood where the MOD had a place tho it was eventually taken out and stored at Cardington.

[Moggy C]

My Dad was an M/T Corporal at Little Staughton

Moggy

[groundhugger]

It raises another question of what happens to 'Stores ' that aren't on the books so to speak when a squadron or airfield closes down , all those little triumphs that the Quartermaster has 'won , after all the kosher kit has been returned ?
are they dumped into a convenient hole in the ground ?

[minter]

my grandfather served in the RFC during ww1 and was staioned close to some American base. When the war ended, the Americans dug a massive hole in the ground and chucked in all sorts of stuff, including vehicles, are these things still there ? needless to say the brits looked on in absolute bewilderment.The Americans when asked couldnt be bothered to take it all home

[Frazer Nash]

Must have been the same bunch of Yanks that buried hundreds (depending on who you talk to...) of WLA Harley Davidsons, crated and corrosion-inhibited, under Broadford football oval in Victoria, Australia!!!

[109pff]

Originally Posted by Moggy C

My Dad was an M/T Corporal at Little Staughton

Moggy

A friend and I have collected several itens from a dump at Litte Staughton .with permision of course.We met some of the Vets a coulple of years ago and had drinks with them in Bedford as they told us a few stories .
I worked with the grandson of F/S Bryn Leach DFM one of Ted Swales VC DFM crew.

[Moggy C]

It is a really great field to visit.

Last time I was there was on a veteran's day. The BBMF did a couple of passes and I took the son of one of the vets for a quick circuit

Moggy

[Red Hunter]

Is the US still selling off stuff at Molesworth which came back from Germany as well as from closed UK bases?

[Soggy]

Originally Posted by minter

my grandfather served in the RFC during ww1 and was staioned close to some American base. When the war ended, the Americans dug a massive hole in the ground and chucked in all sorts of stuff, including vehicles, are these things still there ? needless to say the brits looked on in absolute bewilderment.The Americans when asked couldnt be bothered to take it all home

Yea - and the Brits too, but we couldn't afford to take it home.

Soggy

[109pff]

Originally Posted by Moggy C

It is a really great field to visit.

Last time I was there was on a veteran's day. The BBMF did a couple of passes and I took the son of one of the vets for a quick circuit

Moggy

I was there at the church got some great film of the Lanc really low passes.I am friends of a farmer that owns some of the land and there is a large dump on it he only allows two of us on it .Great bunch of guys had my mouth open with some of the tales.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by Moggy C

Absolutely

The whole of the UK is covered in sites where factory fresh parts of all WW2 aircraft were carefully wrapped in corrosion suppressing material and buried to await our discovery some many years later.

I think the same tunnel in Yorkshire actually connects with the one at Bundaberg in Australia, somewhere close to the earth's core.

Moggy

Sorry Rob, not trying to shoot you down but need to use your comment to get my point across.

What really irks me about threads like this is those that immediately quash any ideas of buried parts or stories from individuals that have heard of parts in tunnels or being dumped in lakes etc.

If it really is a load of toss, then how do you know? Really..come on. I for one would like to read first hand accounts of shovel in ground finding nothing to be related here. Or the opposite of rumors being prven true!

Having over a decade worth of experience in a air museum and hearing all sorts of stories we decided to check up on a few.. low and behold yes the rumor of a building made out of Lancaster Bomber wing panels was true and yes we could have said panels before the building was torn down..
At such and such an airbase, loads of aircraft were scrapped and parts buried.. really?Well one sunny day a field trip to said base turned up parts from 3 different aircraft types with large pits of non scrappable(SP) parts being dumped. I am waiting to hear results of the ground survey work on that.

So.. dear reader, if you hear a story and you are for or against... get out there and research, knock on doors, visit locations and prove right or wrong if the story is true or not!
Sorruy but it just has to be said sometimes..

[ZRX61]

Originally Posted by Frazer Nash

Must have been the same bunch of Yanks that buried hundreds (depending on who you talk to...) of WLA Harley Davidsons, crated and corrosion-inhibited, under Broadford football oval in Victoria, Australia!!!

There were a bunch of WLA's recovered in Devon back in the early '80's. I worked on 5 of them.
& if I'd been a bit quicker I'd have been the guy digging em up..

[Frazer Nash]

Originally Posted by ZRX61

There were a bunch of WLA's recovered in Devon back in the early '80's. I worked on 5 of them.
& if I'd been a bit quicker I'd have been the guy digging em up..

I stand duly chastened! Peter is right, of course, who says it's not true? I guess there were people scoffing at Howard Carter when he proclaimed the riches of Tutenkhamen were still to be found within the pyramids.

Hey ZRX61, any chance on there being a few pics of the WLA recovery? I restore old bikes for a hobby, and it would be a hoot to show the folks in my club!

Cheers, Matt

[Paul Cunningham]

I have been to a place called 'Million Dollar Point' in Vanuatu where with the simple aid of a snorkel you can see acres and acres of cars, trucks, cranes, bulldozers, propellers, aircraft engines and too much stuff to even identify all piled on top of each other. It was dumped here by US forces at the end of WW2 when they closed down a massive supply base that serviced most of the Pacific. Apparently most of the good stuff was salvaged in the 1950's and 60's but there is still a lot of (now useless and also protected) equipment down there.

Well worth a quick google search.

Cheers
Paul

[Paul Cunningham]

PS There are some good photos on this site if you scroll down including one of part of a Sandringham wreck.

Paul

http://www.amoenitas.co.uk/23vanuatu/update23.htm

[martin hale]

Originally Posted by daveg4otu

Do not forget the island somewhere off the west coast of Scotland - purposefully infected with Anthrax to protect all the military equipment stored in underground bunkers!

That one is actualy true, well mostly anyway. The Island of Gruinard, one of the Summer Isles, was deliberately infected with anthrax to test its effect on the enviroment.

Although wildlife on the isle has seemingly recovered, when last I heard the island is still strictly off limits.

Think I'll give that one a miss for my next hols!

Martin

[scotavia]

Gruinard now declared clear of spores, however there is nowt there to visit !

[FarlamAirframes]

When I was a lad in Ayrshire -A neighbour with too much money took up fishing in the Clyde. He got bored angling for mackerel and fitted the boat with sonar and other toys.

He found what he thought were railway engines lying at the end of the Clyde - near Ailsa Craig.

Eventually he was told that it was deck cargo loaded onto merchantmen - who in wartime congregated at the mouth of the Clyde waiting for convoy instructions to Russia. If weather was bad or the trip was to be a fast one. The deck cargo was jettisoned.

He also found the Dasher and another time a large tubular section - which was a piece of Nuclear Sub - lost on its way to Barrow.

He was too dour to have made these up!

[martin hale]

Originally Posted by scotavia

Gruinard now declared clear of spores, however there is nowt there to visit !

I think I'll still give it a miss; just in case!

Martin

[minimans]

Well it's not Yorkshire but I may have found the source of the myth!!! See below.............................

[Maple Slacker]

I once went on a tour of the disused underground bits at RAF Rudloe Manor.
HUGE number of tunnels, an old WW1/2 underground ammo storage site that apparently could hold the whole of NATO's war stock if still in use today (according to the bloke), 3 railway stations (all covered in half-moon dents from dropped shells), a turntable and one absolutely blooming massive WW2 aircraft factory!

Couldn't go into the factory as the roof is unsafe in places, but did have a peer inside - lots of rusty stuff for as far as my torch could see. Sadly, all of the pristine crated merlins and lancaster spares must have been down the far end in the shadows