The Scottish War Memorials Project

David McNay

Located in Gretna Green (in the car park to the visitor centre in fact) is a memorial to the men of the Royal Scots who lost their lives in the Quintinshill Railway Disaster:

Another Royal Scots emblem on the other side:

The plaque in the top is at a very difficult angle to get a good photograph, as you can see:

DerekR · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:52 pm Post subject:

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There must be a place under the sun where hearts of olden glory grow young .....

DerekR · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:06 pm Post subject:

What interests me is that the memorial faces away from the accident site at Quintinshill which is about a quarter of a mile north near the trees in the middle of this photograph.

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There must be a place under the sun where hearts of olden glory grow young .....

spoons · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject:

OS Map Ref: NY 322 686

I am totally confused about the UKNIWM memorial number 44218 - it seems to be describing this memorial (stone cairn near the blacksmiths shop) but the OS Map Ref is completely different and the inscription given bears no relationship to the one in this memorial.

UKNIWM quotes:

TO THE MEMORY OF THE 270 MEN OF THE ROYAL SCOTS REGIMENT WHO DIED IN THE QUINTIN'S HILL RAIL DISASTER WHEN ON THEIR WAY TO FRANCE FROM EDINBURGH IN 1917

Compare that with the actual memorial..............

Have they just had a new plaque put on an existing memorial and the OS Ref always been wrong? or a second memorial I have yet to find? Any idea what is going on? At the moment I am assuming that this is a new unlisted memorial and 44218 is yet to be found.

Here are a couple of shots of the scene of the crash from Blacksike Bridge towards Quintinshill Bridge.

DerekR · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:47 pm Post subject:

Spoons,
The current memorial was unveiled by the Scottish Branch of the WFA in 1995 and from memory, there was no memorial of any sort at that site beforehand.
I suggest that the error is at the UKNIWM end and more possibly with the person who sent in the details.
In the description the person also noted that:
"BADGE OF THE THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS ON TWO SIDES OF THE CAIRN".
There would be a few Royal Scots who would turn up their noses at being called Royal Scots Fusiliers. Confused

The OS Map Ref: NY322686 that you list is correct.
The one listed by the UKNIWM takes me to a field north of the wrong railway line.
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There must be a place under the sun where hearts of olden glory grow young .....

spoons · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the info, that wording obviously applies to the Quintinshill disaster but is so far removed from what is on the monument that I can only think that it was a very early draft.

spoons · Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject:

I came across this photo,

"GRETNA RAIL DISASTER, May 22nd 1915
This photograph shows men of the 7th Royal
Scots helping their injured comrades. The driver
and fireman and 214 soldiers were killed and 246
injured in this troop train accident."

DerekR · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:28 pm Post subject:

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There must be a place under the sun where hearts of olden glory grow young .....