Man ready to crack Spitfire mystery
NICK Rigney has been fascinated with the legend of the buried Spitfire planes at Oakey since he was a child – now he believes he’s just metres from cracking it.
The Brisbane man, who spent four years sifting through government and military documents, is ready to start digging in a location near the town where supposedly several unused Second World War fighter planes have been buried for decades.
The legend of the Spitfires is not a new phenomenon, with the first expeditions searching for one of the most famous war machines in history starting in the 1980s.
Mr Rigney said the mystery originated from Oakey’s use as a military base during the Second World War, when US General Douglas MacArthur was planning to protect Brisbane from a potential Japanese invasion.
“At the time, this would go back to March 1943, when MacArthur came out publicly with the Brisbane fallback line,” he said.
“A lot of people didn’t believe we would be able to defend north of the line.
“Oakey was built as the inland storage base – I believe they actually moved (the storage base) to Oakey.
“There were certain government departments that re-zoned government mines off for the military.”
While several theories exist over the exact location, Mr Rigney said he had special documents that helped pinpoint a feasible area where the warbirds could hide.
“In early 1943 I have evidence that suggests the government and military departments took over the mining lease area and that works were done on at least one tunnel entrance and possibly a second,” he said.
Mr Rigney has kept the location a secret, but plans to hire experts to run ground-penetrating radar at the potential site.
“It’s a gamble, but chances are there are going to be some parts,” he said.
“The main thing is if there is stuff there, you might even have munitions, fuel, bombs down there.
“You just want to know – you’ve got to see if it’s there, I’m just following the footsteps of a lot of other people.
“I’ve been working on this for years and I can’t get it out of my mind.”
Mr Rigney has set up a Facebook page to chronicle his adventures and also has a GoFundMe campaign to bankroll a digging expedition.