The worst railway disaster ever in British history occurred at a place called Quintinshill, near Gretna Green in Scotland on 22 May 1915.

More than 200 people lost their lives when a packed troop train taking Soldiers of the Royal Scots Regiment from Leith, near Edinburgh, to the war collided with a stationery train at high speed. The crushed wooden coaches caught fire and to compound the tragedy an express train going the other way was unable to stop in time and ploughed into the survivors and debris. Many died trapped in the coaches unable to escape the fire.

214 of the 226 who died were soldiers and their remains were taken back to Edinburgh where they were buried in a mass grave at Rosebank Cemetery. A large memorial was erected at that point within the cemetery and my picture shows that location.

For many years the disaster was mostly forgotten but interest was rekindled on the 100th anniversary of the event.