Date:	Saturday 30 August 1941
Time:	night
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	410 (Cougar) Sqn RCAF
Registration:	N1731
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lammermuir Hills, 4 ½ miles SE of Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Drem, East Lothian
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Defiant N1731 410 (Cougar) Squadron, RCAF: Took off from RAF Drem, East Lothian for night training flight, 30 August 1941. Written off (destroyed) when crashed into top of hill in the Lammermuir Hills, approximately 4 ½ miles South East of Gifford, East Lothian. Both crew killed
Crew of Defiant N1731:
Sergeant (1168705) Denis Winton HALL (Pilot) RAFVR - killed on active service 30 August 1941, buried at Dirleton Cemetery, East Lothian
Flight Sergeant (751880) Denis George CRESSWELL (Air Gunner) RAFVR - killed on active service 30 August 1941, commemorated at Nottingham Crematorium, Nottingham

410 (Cougar) Squadron RCAF had only been formed a month earlier on 30th June 1941. The military service of the two crew at Drem had lasted a mere twenty-four days.

Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Haddington and 25 miles (40 km) east of Edinburgh. The Lammermuirs are a range of hills in southern Scotland, forming a natural boundary between East Lothian and the Borders.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p.9)
2. 409 Squadron RCAF ORB for August 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1802/4: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8403341
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/7467:
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2812502/denis-winton-hall/
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2703556/denis-george-cresswell/
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=N1731
7. https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com/choose-your-trail/trail-42-east-lothain-edinburghs-neighbours/
8. http://www.rafdrem.co.uk/memorial.html
9. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Cresswell.htm
10. https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/opinion/on-the-trail-of-pilot-denis-hall-1292212
11. https://aircrewremembered.com/AircrewDeaths39-47/?q=Hall%2C+Denis+Winton&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
12. https://aircrewremembered.com/AircrewDeaths39-47/?q=Cresswell%2C+Denis+George&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lammermuir_Hills
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifford,_East_Lothian

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Jun-2022 11:07	Nepa	Added [Operator]
04-Jun-2022 11:09	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]