Last week, at the unveiling of the Spitfire Makers plaque at the railway tunnel where about 50 people perished on September 24, 1940, Alan Matlock highlighted the stories of a number of people who died there. One of these stood out for me: Margaret 'Peggy' Moon. Possibly because she was the only woman killed there, possibly because she was just 19 years old, possibly because she was said to be quite a beautiful young woman, possibly because she wasn known at Supermarine as 'the girl in green'. Or, likely, a bit of all of the above. More on Peggy can be found here.
Cyril Richard Russell, who worked at Supermarine in those days and was of the same age as Peggy, wrote in his book "Spitfire Odyssey" many years later:
“Later that Wednesday morning [the 25th], my foreman, Bill Heaver, came over to me and told me quietly that one girl had been killed yesterday. He knew that a few weeks previously I had had quite a crush on her, and we had gone to the grand Theatre together. She was a secretary, and known to the lads as ‘the girl in green’ because of the smart green outfit she wore, with a little fur hat. Her name was Peggy, Peggy Moon from Canada Road, and a lovelier girl one could not wish to know. Now she was dead, and how grateful I am that I was not the one who found her – but what a waste!"
Peggy has become the 'face' of the 'Supermarine Fallen' to me. Sadly, no photo of her has (yet?) been found; I would very much like to put a face to the 'face' ...
Peggy was buried in St Mary Extra cemetery, and we decided to try to find her burial place and pay our respects to the 'Girl in Green'.
