RAF Dunino Airfield is a former military airbase situated on farmland outside St. Andrews, Scotland, in the Kingdom of Fife. Today the site is largely unrecognizable as a wartime installation — rolling agricultural fields have reclaimed the grounds, though remnants such as an old control tower reportedly remain visible to those who know where to look. During World War II, the airfield served as a Royal Navy air station and is believed to have housed Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers among other aircraft types. According to local oral history, at the war's end the Navy decommissioned and disassembled surplus aircraft — possibly including multiple Barracudas — and buried the components on the grounds rather than salvaging them. Gates investigated the site in Season 13 of Expedition Unknown, drawn by the extraordinary possibility that buried Barracuda parts might still lie beneath the Scottish farmland, offering a rare physical trace of an aircraft type of which no complete surviving example is believed to exist.
RAF Dunino established as a Royal Navy air station during World War II, reportedly operating Fairey Barracuda bombers among other aircraft types
Airfield decommissioned after the war; maintenance worker Johnny Paul reportedly witnesses Barracuda aircraft components being buried on the grounds and is said to have been arrested by military police and ordered to keep silent
Johnny Paul allegedly confided his eyewitness account to a local contact, preserving the oral record of the alleged burial
Josh Gates investigates the site in Expedition Unknown S13E04 "Lost Bomber of World War II," excavating with geophysicist Richard Bates and archaeologist Steve Liscoe
Geophysicist Richard Bates and archaeologist Steve Liscoe joined Gates on the ground at Dunino, lending scientific credibility to what might otherwise seem like a long-shot treasure hunt. Their involvement suggests the investigation wasn't purely speculative — geophysical survey methods such as ground-penetrating radar or magnetometry can, under the right conditions, detect buried metallic debris at relatively shallow depths, and the recovery of aviation-related artifacts during excavation indicates there is genuine material to be found at the site.
The broader historical context makes the core claim at least plausible. At the end of World War II, Allied militaries on both sides of the Atlantic faced enormous logistical challenges in disposing of surplus equipment. Aircraft were scrapped, sold, abandoned, and in some documented cases buried, particularly where the cost of salvage or transport outweighed the scrap value. The Fairey Barracuda — a carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber that served with the Fleet Air Arm — was produced in substantial numbers during the war, but none are known to have survived intact to the present day, which would make any recoverable components of genuine historical and aviation heritage significance.
What remains uncertain — and what the episode appears to explore rather than definitively resolve — is whether the buried material at Dunino constitutes identifiable Barracuda wreckage or more general wartime debris. Aviation spark plugs, aluminum sheeting, and engine linkages are consistent with aircraft disposal, but without markings or serial numbers they are difficult to attribute to a specific aircraft type. The eyewitness account of Johnny Paul, passed down through decades of oral transmission, cannot be independently corroborated based on available records.
Gates' episode contributes to this story primarily by putting boots — and shovels — on the ground for the first time in a documented, filmed investigation. The recovery of actual aviation debris confirms that the airfield's wartime past has left a physical imprint beneath the soil, even if the episode stops well short of claiming a definitive Barracuda has been located. As is often the case with Expedition Unknown, the value may lie as much in the asking of the question as in any final answer.
No complete Fairey Barracuda is believed to survive anywhere in the world today, which is part of what makes the alleged burial at Dunino so tantalizing to aviation historians.
Maintenance worker Johnny Paul reportedly claimed he was arrested by military police after witnessing the burial — suggesting authorities at the time considered the disposal operation sensitive enough to suppress.
Gates and pilot Archie Liggat conducted a helicopter aerial survey of the former airfield to try to locate the original positions of maintenance hangars, using the bird's-eye view as a low-tech geolocation tool.
The airfield is so thoroughly reclaimed by farmland that Gates needed a local guide to identify even basic landmarks like the remains of the old control tower on the grounds.
The former airfield grounds are situated on private agricultural land in rural Fife, and public access is not guaranteed — visitors should not assume right of entry without permission from landowners. The nearby town of St. Andrews is easily accessible and provides a logical base for anyone interested in the region's history. Check current local advisories and land access regulations before planning any visit to the site itself.
St. Andrews, Scotland — approximately 5 to 7 miles (roughly 8 to 11 km) to the northwest.
Late spring through early autumn generally offers the most favorable weather for exploring the Fife countryside, with longer daylight hours and reduced rainfall. Scottish weather can be unpredictable year-round, so layered, waterproof clothing is advisable regardless of season.
Scotland
The broader Scotland entry connects directly, as Dunino sits in Fife and Gates' investigation is rooted in Scottish wartime history and landscape.
Normandy Beaches, France
Normandy Beaches share the same World War II era context — both sites deal with the physical remnants and unresolved stories left behind by the Allied war effort.
Scottish Highlands
The Scottish Highlands represent another Gates investigation set within Scotland's rural and historically layered landscape, appealing to the same audience drawn to British wartime and heritage mysteries.