PWSTS Forum for Old Boys, Family and Friends

"They Shall Grow Not Old...." dedicated to over 500 boys age 16 and under who died in service with the Merchant Navy during WWII including fifteen boys age just 14 years old is due for publication soon. The book is chronologically indexed by date of the losses from 1939-1946 on how these boys met their fate, detailing convoy, cargo, destination and cause of loss. Each month also records the official tonnage losses for Allied and neutral Merchant shipping and a monthly break down of the number of casualties throughout the war including DEMS gunners. There are 60 black & white photographs representing various types of ships sunk as well as 22 colour photographs of all the grave stones of those buried ashore throughout the world. A number of photographs of individuals have also been found and are incorporated into the ship photographs they were lost from.

Ecerpt

CRICHTON, Boy, DOUGLAS STEWART, S.S. North Devon (Newcastle-on-Tyne). Merchant Navy. 7th July 1941. Age 16. (Recorded as 17 years old by CWGC. Family member states true age as 16.)

EARNSHAW, Boy, REGINALD, S.S. North Devon (Newcastle-on-Tyne). Merchant Navy. 6th July 1941. Age 14. Son of Dorothy Earnshaw. Buried Comely Bank Cemetery, Section P. Grave Space 440.

Cargo ship North Devon, 3,658grt, (North Shipping Co. Ltd) On the 5th July 1941 the ship left Ipswich in ballast for the Tyne and joined up with the 82 ship coastal convoy EC-42. On the evening of the 5th at 21.30 (GMT) the convoy was attacked by a number of German bombers. Four bombs which were all near misses exploded close by North Devon fracturing the ships main steam lines causing the ship to stop dead in the water. At 00.30 (GMT) on the 6th July another enemy aircraft attacked the North Devon with machine gun fire while releasing another three bombs which again were all near misses. An hour later the HM Trawler "Neil Mackay" arrived to offer assistance and towed the ship towards the Humber. Mean while it was discovered that six of the crew including young Reginald, whose body was found in the Engineers alleyway had been killed, while others would die from their injuries, all scalded to death after the main steam line had burst in the first attack. The following day the ship docked at Immingham and the bodies of two crewmembers were taken ashore, with one other being found the following day and brought ashore. Reginald Earnshaw was recorded as being just fifteen years old, but was actually only fourteen.

Reginald Earnshaw was commemorated on Tower Hill Memorial on Panel 74, which records all those who have no grave but the sea. Back in 2005 my attention was drawn to the fate of a young Reginald as one of the survivors from the attack named Alfred Tubb who was serving as a DEMS gunner at the time remembers the body of Reginald being taken ashore at Immingham. The first thing to do was to trace a copy of the ships Log Book & Survivors Report for 1941 held at Kew, which was obtained by a contact of mine Mr. Roger Griffiths. Next a simple application with the General Register Office for a death certificate was made and within a week I had an official copy of his death certificate recorded at Cleethorpes reference 7a 1170., which proved his body had been landed ashore and examined as to be given a death certificate. The next phase was to find out where he was buried. A check of all burials in Grimsby and Cleethorpes for this period drew a blank so contact was made in Reginald's last place of abode in Edinburgh, which revealed he was buried in Edinburgh's Comely Bank Cemetery, Section P Grave Space 440. (Details from Edinburgh City Council Phone No 0131 664 4314 Morton Hall Edinburgh) and was unmarked. A temporary cross baring his details was added and all documents were forwarded to the CWGC. Finally in 2008 our combined effort and findings were officially accepted by the CWGC. On Monday the 6rh July 2009, in a ceremony 68 years to the day of his death an official CWGC headstone was finally mounted on Reginalds grave. There was also some confusion of Reginalds age. The ships Log Book has his date of birth as 5th February 1926 in Dewsbury and his death certificate has him aged about 15. Only problem being there was no birth registered at Dewsbury for a Reginald Earnshaw in 1926, but there was one registered in Dewsbury in the March quarter 1927 in Volume 9b page 864. Having obtained a copy of the birth certificate, I can verify he was born the 5th February 1927, so the Log Book shows an error of exactly one year to the day, which made him 14 years 152days old when he was killed. At present Raymond Steed, 14 years 207 days is recorded as the youngest service war death from WWII. Another twist in the tale revealed that the bodies of two other seamen commemorated on Tower Hill from the North Devon were also landed ashore. One of the men Reginald Mitchell has been found to be buried in Piershill Cemetery in Edinburgh and Commission is in the process of producing a headstone to mark his grave. The other Douglas Crichton has his death registered in Grimsby. The CWGC inform me his body was cremated. His last known address was 2 Henderson Row, Edinburgh.

Late in 2009 it was discovered the young Reginald had a surviving half sister and her family had found details of our research on the web and contacted the CWGC to back up the documentation previously sent regarding his true age. In December 2009 I received the following email from the Commission confirming this young boy is now officially the youngest recorded service death from WWII. None of this would of been possible without the help of my close contacts and Merchant Navy researchers Roger Griffiths, Ray Buck, Hugh MacLean, Bill Watt and Alf Tubb who after so many years wanted closeur to that terrible day back in 1941.

----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Brown
To: billy1963@ntlworld.com
Cc: ranald.leask@cwgc.org
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 4:03 PM
Subject: COMMEMORATION OF BOY REGINALD EARNSHAW

Dear Mr McGee,

I have now taken over Peters responsibilities. Just one of the case files which Peter has passed onto me is that of Boy Reginald Earnshaw.

I can confirm that the certification provided is sufficient for us to add Age 14 to our records. As far as I am aware, this would indeed make Reginald the youngest known service death of the 1939-1945 war.

Naturally, we will have to amend the headstone but this also presents the opportunity to offer the step sister (being a blood relative) the choice of a personal inscription, should she so wish, which can be engraved at the foot of the headstone. The inscription should be no more than 25 letters and spaces per line with a maximum number of 4 lines being available.

We will write separately to the step sister, Pauline Harvey, on this matter but it seems likely that any additional engraving required on the headstone will necessitate its removal at some stage for the work to be carried out.

Yours sincerely

Tim Brown
Records Administrator
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 7DX
Direct Line: 01628 507105