Father: Sqn-Ldr Philip Forsythe Heppell, with the British Air Staff in Washington DC; mother Dorothy Elizabeth [Fryer] Her father was a WWI RFC pilot and one of the founders of Newcastle Aero Club, "where he taught his children to fly as soon as they left school." [Her brother, Philip Whaley Ellis Heppell, also became a Squadron Leader in WWII; the three of them were known as the 'Flying Heppells']
Ed. St Helens, Abingdon, and Berne prev: 1939-41 Driver, ATS Address in 1941: Keston. Matthew Bank, Newcastle-on-Tyne
m. 1942? Roy? Croft
[A very frustrating clip from the Newcastle Journal and North Mail, 21 Jun 1943!]
m. 17 Aug 1943 in Newcastle, Stephen 'Geoffrey or Jeffrey' Fairburn
Later a Pilot Officer in the Women's Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (WRAFVR)
She was still flying in 1974 - she said then that "Light aircraft haven't changed that much since I started. At the time it wasn't the done thing for a woman to do, but I suppose it was inevitable I would fly." d. 1 Nov 2001 - Newcastle-on-Tyne |