Duckworth's victory years (4)

I believe the answer is:

vera

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'duckworth's' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'victory years' is the wordplay.
'victory' becomes 'v'.
'years' becomes 'era' (I've seen this before).
'v'+'era'='VERA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for vera that I've seen before include "Woman" , "Girl's name (meaning faith or true)" , "senior songstress?" , "& 16 'The Forces' Sweetheart'" , "Duckworth, Lynn" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app