The Cornish Pasty, thankfully now a common sight roaming freely upon Bodmin Moor, was nearly hunted to extinction in the early 1930s. However in 1938 their skill in the manufacture of the Spitfire led the Royal Air Force to begin an intensive pasty breeding programme. Over the years specialist pasties were bred for specific tasks. The standard Cornish pasty was most adept at assembling the fuselage. Corned Beef pasties evolved with an undisputed excellence at tuning the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, while the Cheese and Onion Pasty has an inbred ability to apply the camoflage paint. By the end of the war, the army had a team of over 12,000 pasties working around the clock. Following VE day however, the pasties were turned loose in Cornwall once again and are invaluable in keeping the county's dodo population under control.