A KIRKLEES teenager has been confirmed as Britain’s youngest known service casualty of the Second World War.
Aged just 14 and 152 days, Reginald Earnshaw, known as Reggie, died under enemy fire aboard the SS North Devon nearly 70 years ago. Relatives will today honour what would have been his birthday by laying flowers at his grave.
The Merchant Navy cabin boy had lied about his age, claiming he was 15, so that he could join the war effort.
Reggie was born in Dewsbury on February 5, 1927 to Dorothy Earnshaw.
Dorothy, of the Millers Arms, Healey, later married Eric Shires and the couple had two daughters, Pauline and Neva, before the family moved to the Granton area of Edinburgh in 1939 when Reggie was 12.
Official confirmation of Reggie’s age by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) became possible after his sister, Pauline Harvey, responded to their nationwide appeal for his relatives to come forward.
Mrs Harvey, 77, and her great-niece Jenny will mark Reggie’s birthday today by laying flowers at his grave in Comely Bank Cemetery, Edinburgh.
She will meet relatives of Douglas Crichton and Reg Mitchell, who were also killed in the attack off the Norfolk coast as she sailed to Tyneside.
Mrs Harvey, a retired teacher from Epworth in North Lincolnshire, who was just nine when her brother was killed, said: “Reggie’s death at such a young age and after just a few months at sea came as a great shock to the whole family.
“I am immensely grateful to so many people who helped research my brother’s forgotten story, and to the War Graves Commission for providing his grave with a headstone.”
Reggie’s story came to light after a shipmate led a four-year quest to find out what happened to his friend.
Former machine gunner, Alf Tubb, was 18 when their merchant ship was bombed by German aircraft on July 6, 1941.
He returned fire before rushing to the engine room to find Reggie, but was beaten back by steam. Five other people died in the attack that night.
More than four years ago, Mr Tubb, 86, of Swansea, decided to find out where the youngster had been laid to rest and he tracked down information through an internet appeal.
It emerged that Reggie’s body had lain in an unmarked grave in Edinburgh for decades.
Thanks to Mr Tubb’s efforts, a permanent granite headstone was erected by the CWGC last summer in a ceremony the pensioner was able to attend.
Mr Tubb has been informed of the latest development and it is understood he and Mrs Harvey have plans to meet up.
Ranald Leask, of the CWGC, said: “Having last year erected a headstone at Reggie’s grave, we at the War Graves Commission are very pleased that Mrs Harvey contacted us.
“She will now be able to choose an inscription for her brother’s headstone and provide Reggie with a fitting final tribute.”
The youngest known service casualty of the Second World War was previously recorded as Raymond Steed, another merchant seaman who was killed aged 14 years and 207 days.
