THE LADY AND THE GENERALS

the money. 'I just want to honour the people who kept this

country free,' he said later. 'I just want to hear twelve Spitfires

roar down the runway and peel off . . 16 But there was one

major obstacle: Burma - at the time one of the most hermetic

autocracies in the world.

However, for a man called Keith Win, Burma was home,

or one of his homes. The Anglo-Burmese son of a senior

Burmese policeman, Win was born and raised in Rangoon

in the years when it was impenetrable.T He then moved

to London, qualified as an accountant and got a job, and

in the mid-1990s founded the Myanmar-Britain Business

Association, 'to promote the best of both worldsi as itsmission statement reads, 'and to build bridgesi

In those years, with thousands of political prisoners injail and the military junta refusing to talk to the democratic

opposition, the country was split into warring camps. But

Win had friends and relatives on both sides of the divide and

had been using his contacts to try to bring them together, with

modest success. He was one of the very few people outside the

regime who had been allowed to meet Suu while she was stillunder house arrest. He also had contacts with senior militaryfigures, including General Khin Nyunt, one of the three top

leaders of the junta.

David Cundall contacted Win via his business association

and appealed for his help. 'Cundall approached me in 1997

and said, I'm involved in this project, we've been trying toget into Burma but without successi Win said. 'He had heard

that I might be able to open doors . . . I researched the Spitfire

story but discovered it was based on hearsay and there was

not much to go on. But I found it intriguing and worked

o;

hard to get approval. TJ

an airfield shared withrganted to take out a Bri

Thanks to his meetir

a certain cachet with th\rith Khin Nyunt he

seneral, chief of lvlilir

have thought I had co:

qovernmenti Win recal

\mnt's office there l a

Burmese ambassador tc

T\r crew and photogral

and they listened politei

Win had no great

permission. 'When r-o

military airport, ther-'r-e

to kill for anybodr. rvi

\\'esterners, a TV crerr-.

special equipment loolreally was mission imp

approval.'8 And in a co

took to swing it was a teconomy.

As a result, CundaLl

and Cundall went into

into the research, trarriimore possible witnesse

^{nd soon the hunt u-as

and the hard-to-obtain

out with a team of exE,

138

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

hard to get approval. The aircraft were supposedly buried at

an airfield shared with the Burmese Air Force. Cundall also

wanted to take out a British television crewlThanks to his meeting with Suu, Keith Win had acquired

a certain cachet with the regime. During a chance encounterwith Khin Nyunt he requested a meeting. The powerfulgeneral, chief of Military Intelligence, agreed. 'He musthave thought I had come with a message from the Britishgovernmentj Win recalled, 'because at the meeting in KhinN1.unt's office there was also the Foreign Minister and theBurmese ambassador to London lined up to greet me, and a

TV crew and photographers. I explained the Spitfire projectand they listened politely.'

Win had no great hopes that they would be grantedpermission. 'When you think about it, Mingaladon is a

military airport, theyve got MiG jets and whatever, it's shootto kill for anybody wandering around. And here we are,

Westerners, a TV crew, wandering around this airfield withspecial equipment looking for several buried airplanes - itreally was mission impossible. But Khin Nyunt gave me hisapproval.'8 And in a country infamous for corruption, all ittook to swing it was a bottie of whisky and a book about theeconomy.

As a result, Cundall's door to Burma swung open. Winand Cundall went into partnership and Win threw himselfinto the research, trawlirlg through army veteran websites formore possible witnesses to the alleged burial of the planes.

And soon the hunt was under way: with permission grantedand the hard-to-obtain visas issued, Cundall and Win came

out with a team of experts and the backing of spot''.^--