A Spitfire called Blue Peter

In 1941, the people of Newmarket raised £5,100 as part of the war effort, towards Spitfire Vb, AD540, which was presented to
the RAF, and named "Blue Peter", after the 1939 Derby winner.

On May 23rd 1942, at 1pm, AD540 took off from RAF Ayr to provide aerial cover to the approaching vessel "Queen Mary" laden with US sevicemen. Flying her on this occasion was Pilot Officer David Hunter Blair.

On the way, Blue Peter, and a second Spitfire, piloted by Flight Sergeant Gordon "Matt" Mathers, were directed to investigate a suspected enemy sighting inland. Soon, at an altitude of 20,000ft, Blue Peter was seen to behave erratically, and then descend through the clouds. David Hunter Blair had fallen unconscious due to a fault in the oxygen system, and regained consciousness as the aircraft plunged to a lower altitude.

Unable to regain control, he baled out. However, his parachute did not deploy fully before he landed, and he died in the remote valleys of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn in South West Scotland. He was nineteen.....

The accident was witnessed by a local farm worker, and David was subsequently buried with full military honours on the family estate of Blairquhan Castle, some 15 miles from where he had been killed.

The wreckage of Blue Peter was buried on site and lay undiscovered until 51 years to the day after it crashed, by a team including members of the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Group, led by Ralph Davidson, chairman of the Scottish region of The Spitfire Society, and later covered by a team from the BBC children`s programme Blue Peter.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/pwgrieve/newpage3.html