two pages from the lady and the generals
TRANSCRIPT
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''.^--