Deirdre Margaret Napier was the youngest of the three children of Major William Napier (1893-1945) and Katherine Margaret Napier née Keightley (1897-1985). Her birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1927 in the Epsom Registration District, Surrey. Her two siblings were: Maureen Maxwell Napier (1923-2015) and William Maxwell Napier (1925-2020).
Electoral registers from 1927 to 1931 show her parents listed at 55 Church Street, Epsom, Surrey and the 1936 Epsom Street Directory listed her father at 57 Church Street, Epsom.
Both she and her father were killed as a result of enemy action on 3 January 1945, when a V2 rocket exploded in the north east wing of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. She was aged 17 years and her death was registered in the 1st quarter of 1945 in the Chelsea Registration District, London.
Both she and her father were cremated and their ashes were buried in the Ballee Church of Ireland Churchyard, Ballysallagh Road, Downpatrick, County Down, BT30 7EQ, Northern Ireland.
She is shown as 'DEIRDRE NAPIER' on the stone memorial in the Middle Court of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3. She is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website and is listed as 'NAPIER, DEIRDRE' in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939 - 1945 that is kept just outside the entrance to St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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