Has anyone here been involved in scrapping warbirds?

The reason I ask is that several years ago, one of the guys in the local R/C model club, had been in the RAF at the end of the war, out in India. He told me that he was responsible for scrapping a load of B-24’s and P-51’s. I’m guessing this was because of the lend lease agreement, and probably so the Indians couldn’t have them.

He told me that the P-51’s all had their engine oil drained, then the engines run until they seized. The wings, fuselage and tail were then all battered with a sledgehammer.

The B-24’s also had their engine oil drained and engines seized, but to disable such a large airframe needed more than a sledgehammer. The bombers were parked in their blast revetment banks, and two fuel bowsers connected, one to each main gear leg. The bowsers were then driven away until the gear collapsed, the the spar was damaged by the fall onto the revetment bank.

Thankfully, he didn’t have any photos. I don’t think I could have looked at them anyway!

So, has anyone else been responsible for scrapping warbirds that would now be considered highly valuable?