Youngest Brit to die in WWII to be given proper resting place

Reginald's comrade Alf Tubb, now 86, aboard the SS North Devon

By Oliver Farrimond

HE was one of hundreds of thousands of young men killed fighting the Nazi menace during the Second World War – perhaps even the youngest.

Slain aged just 15 by German bombers aboard a merchant navy ship, Reginald Earnshaw has lain in an unmarked grave in his adopted hometown of Edinburgh for decades.

But now, thanks to the efforts of one of the men who served with him aboard the SS North Devon, the young sailor who died fighting for his country will finally receive a fitting headstone.

And new research has even shown that he might have lied about his age to join the war effort – making him the youngest British casualty of the Second World War.

86-year-old Alf Tubb served alongside Reginald as a machine gunner, and tried in vain to save his friend when the ship was attacked by German bombers en route to Tyneside on 6 July 1941.

Six sailors died in the attack, but the memory of his young friend drove Alf to chase down details about his life.

Alf, who was only 18 himself while aboard the vessel, said: “He was a cheerful lad, and we used to chat in the saloon of the ship.”

“After we were attacked, my last memory of Reggie is seeing him carried off the vessel when we docked at Immingham – he’d been cooked by boiling steam.