A memorial to one of Britain's youngest fallen servicemen has been unveiled in Edinburgh by one of his comrades.

Reginald Earnshaw was thought to be only 14 when his Merchant Navy ship was attacked by German bombers during the Second World War.

He died after becoming trapped in the vessel during the attack in July 1941. Five other sailors died in the incident.

On Monday morning, 86-year-old Alf Tubbs unveiled a granite headstone in honour of the fallen soldier. Mr Tubbs served alongside Reginald Earnshaw as a machine gunner, and tried to save his friend when the ship was attacked en route to Tyneside.

Mr Tubbs 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.

"During the attack he was trapped in his cabin, I tried desperately to get to him but the steam was like a scalding wall.

"That image has stayed with me forever, so the most important thing to me now is that he gets a fitting headstone.

"I am glad that after all these years the sacrifice of such a young man - my pal - will be properly marked."

The location of his grave was never reported to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, though his name is listed on the official naval memorial at Tower Hill in London.

Since the war Mr Tubb tracked down details of his friends' live, and found that he had lived in the Granton area of Edinburgh. He also found that he was the youngest member of the British armed forces to die in the Second World War.