Graveyard honour for teenage victim Reggie Earnshaw

Jun 25 2009 By Neil Atkinson

YOUNG Reggie Earnshaw was just a teenager when he signed up to serve in the war.

And now it turns out the former Dewsbury boy could be one of the youngest British men to be killed while serving his country in the Second World War.

The news came as it was confirmed Mr Earnshaw is to be honoured on the 68th anniversary of his death.

Records show Reginald Earnshaw was aged “about 15” when he died aboard the merchant ship SS North Devon on July 6, 1941.

But it is thought the boy, known to his friends as Reggie, may have lied about his age and could have been as young as 14 when he was killed.

The location of Reggie’s grave was never reported to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission or marked with a headstone until recently, when a simple wooden cross was erected as a temporary marker.

But that is set to change in less than a fortnight’s time, when the grave in Comely Bank Cemetery in Edinburgh will have a granite headstone erected by the commission.

The move comes thanks to the efforts of a small group of campaigners, one of whom served alongside Reggie on the SS North Devon.

Alf Tubbs, now 86, was an 18-year-old machine gunner on the ship when it was bombed by German aircraft heading to Tyneside.

After firing at the attacking planes, his thoughts turned to his young friend.

The machine gunner rushed to the engine room to try to find Reggie but he was beaten back by the steam.