Britain's worst train disaster took place at Quintinshill near Gretna Green, southeast of Dumfries on 22nd May 1915. 227 people were killed and a further 246 injured when a troop-train collided with a stationary train and was then hit by an express passenger train. Fire ripped through the wreckage contributing significantly to the carnage.
This collision was found to be due to negligence on the part of two signalmen at the Quintinshill signalbox, who were both jailed.
The troops were members of the 7th Battalion, Royal Scots, who were on their way from Larbert, where they had been stationed, to Liverpool where they were to embark for Turkey to take part in the Gallipoli campaign. Many had come from Edinburgh and Leith and are buried at Rosebank Cemetery (Edinburgh) where a monument was erected to their memory.
