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Operating Country

Operator

Manufacturer

Aircraft

Reg / Serial

 

 

RAF

Boulton Paul 

P.82 Defiant 

 

 

 

UK

   

Fighter

   

 

 


Acknowledgment
Information regarding this aircraft accident site
 and memorial was kindly provided by John Hunter.

Aircraft Details

Crash Date / Location

Registration or Serial: Unknown

Operator: Royal Air Force (60 OTU - Operational Training Unit)

Operating Base: RAF East Fortune (Support airfield for RAF Drem)

Base Location: East Fortune, (N. Berwick), E. Lothian, Scotland.

Current Airport Status: Closed 1946; now, National Museum of Flight


(Principal airport data courtesy of John Woodside, A Catalogue of UK Airfields)


Aircraft Nickname: Daffy

Aircraft Type &  Background

Boulton Paul was a well known aircraft builder of the period. In the 1920s and early 1930s, this company had participated in the building of the R101 airship. (The subsequent enquiry into the loss of the R101 concluded that the airship had been well constructed, and that the loss was not due to any failure of the airframe.)

The Boulton Paul Defiant was equipped with a single engine, and was armed with four machine guns, fitted in a hydraulically-powered dorsal turret. However, the Defiant had no forward-facing guns.

The aircraft was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V12 engine. It had a maximum speed of 504 km/h (313mph), and carried a crew of two (pilot and air-gunner).

Although the first prototype flew in 11 August 1937, the Boulton Paul Defiant was not delivered to the RAF until December 1939.

Initially, over Dunkirk, the Defiant proved an effective fighter. Ultimately however, and due to poor manoeuvrability and the lack of forward-facing guns, it proved no match for the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Consequently, they were withdrawn from front-line operations. However, the Defiants became very effective in their new role as night-fighters.

Aircraft Accident Details

The Defiant aircraft featured here had been assigned to No. 60 Operational Training Unit (OTU) RAF, based at East Fortune Airfield (a support airfield in East Lothian for RAF Drem).

On 29 August 1941, the pilot, Flt Sgt A.D.C. La Gruta, was sent out to conduct a series of 'homing tests' in a Defiant aircraft. It is thought he lost control of the aircraft whilst flying in cloud. The exact reason he lost control remains unclear.

The aircraft struck the ground at high speed in a very steep dive. The bulk of the aircraft ended up buried nearly 5m (16ft) underground. The MoD decided the aircraft and pilot could not be recovered.

The pilot was:

  • Anthony Dominica Cyril La Gruta (23) / pilot / RAAF.
    Flt Sgt La Gruta was attached to 60 OTU. He lies buried at the accident site on the Lammermuir Hills.
    His name is engraved also on the Runnymede Memorial

Accident Date

29 August 1941

Accident Site

Lammermuir Hills

(Between Hunt Law & Newbigging Rig, & at the Head of Earnscleuch Water)

Region: Borders (Berwickshire) close to the border with East Lothian

Nearest town or village: Hillhouse, Addinston or Gifford

OSGB36 Ref: NT 5727 5769


Present Condition

Significant wreckage remains onsite, together with the memorial to Flt Sgt A.D.C. La Gruta who is buried at this site.

War Grave

In view of the fact that this memorial marks a war grave, visitors are requested to respect the site and to remember the young airman who died here.

Photo of Flt Sgt La Gruta's grave at Geograph

 


Related Links

Forums, Organisations, & Societies

  • Flt Sgt La Gruta at The Scottish War Memorials Forum
    (Contains photo of Tony La Gruta, together with photos of 50th Anniversary Memorial Service held at Hunt Law on the Lammermuir Hills in 1991)

Other Links

Commonwealth War Graves Commission


Below: A Defiant on display at The Boulton Paul Association. Note the rear-facing gun turret. (The Defiant had no forward-facing guns.)

Defiant at Boulton Paul Association. Note rear facing gun turret

Photo: copyright © 2003-2007 Mark Ansell.
Used courtesy of Mark Ansell, The Boulton Paul Association


Below: A Defiant on display at The Boulton Paul Association.

Defiant on display at Boulton Paul Associaton

Photo: copyright © 2003-2007 Mark Ansell.
Used courtesy of Mark Ansell, The Boulton Paul Association


Site Photos and Comments

 

Below: Surrounded by wreckage, a monument stands on the lonely Lammermuir Hills as a tribute to the young Australian airman who died when his Defiant crashed at this site in 1941. This is a war grave, as the pilot still lies buried at this site.

Photo: [no date] Author unknown.

wreckage and monument of No 60 OTU RAF Defiant on Lammermuir Hills, Scottish Borders

The inscription on the memorial stone reads:

To the memory of Aus 400719 Flt Sgt A.D.C. La Gruta, RAAF, who rests here where he died on active service: 29-8-41. Aged 23 years.


To view other aircraft, please go to the Crash Index page.

 

 

 

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