Reginald Earnshaw

{{short description|British merchant seaman}} {{Use British English|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name=Reginald Earnshaw |birth_date={{Birth date|1927|02|05|df=yes}} |death_date= {{Death date and age|1941|07|06|1927|02|05|df=yes}} |birth_place= Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England |death_place= off Norfolk, England |burial_place=Comely Bank Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland |image=Grave of Reginald Earnshaw.JPG |caption= |nickname= |allegiance={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom |service_years= |rank=Galley Boy |branch={{Flagicon image|Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|25px}} British Merchant Navy |commands= |unit= |battles= World War II |awards= 1939 War Medal |other_work= }} '''Reginald Hamilton Earnshaw''' (5 February 1927 – 6 July 1941), known as '''Reggie Earnshaw''', is believed to have been the youngest person in the British services to die in World War II. He was just {{age in years and days|1927|2|5|1941|7|6}} old when he died under enemy fire off the coast of Norfolk on 6 July 1941.<ref name=BBC8498113>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8498113.stm |title=Youngest World War II service casualty identified |work=BBC News |date=5 February 2010 }}</ref>

Earnshaw was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, to Dorothy Earnshaw. She then married Eric Shires, and the couple had two daughters. Aged 12, he moved with the family to the Granton area of Edinburgh, attending Bellevue School. He left aged 14, and joined the Merchant Navy in February 1941,<ref name=BBC8498113/> giving his birth year as 1926 rather than 1927 in order to appear 15,<ref name="Reid">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6652994.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604180519/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6652994.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2011|title=Youngest casualty: Memorial for boy seaman, 14|last=Reid|first=Melanie|date=6 July 2009|work=The Times|location=London|access-date=5 February 2010}}</ref> which was the minimum age for recruitment. Earnshaw's body was recovered after the attack and his death certificate, based partly on the false information he had supplied on recruitment, gave his age only as "about 15 years".<ref name="Reid" /> Buried originally in an unmarked grave (section P, grave 440) at Comely Bank Cemetery, Edinburgh,<ref name=BBC8498113/> his story and his true age came to light after shipmate Alfred Tubb started a search for his burial place. In 2009, the grave was marked by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with a granite headstone.<ref name=BBC8498113/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2785911 Casualty details—Earnshaw, Reginald], Commonwealth War Graves Commission

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earnshaw, Reginald}} Category:People from Dewsbury Category:British civilians killed in World War II Category:British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II Category:1927 births Category:1941 deaths Category:People who died at sea Category:Royal Navy sailors