Leith's Darkest Dawn video

GRETNA 110, The Royal Scots Regimental community outreach exhibition that commemorates the 110th anniversary of Britain’s worst rail disaster at Quintinshill, near Gretna, on 22 May 1915.
The exhibition, staged at the 1st/7th (Leith) Battalion’s Drill Hall in 1915, raises awareness of the 227 people killed in the crash, including the 216 Royal Scots officers and soldiers from the Battalion, who were on the first leg of their journey to fight at Gallipoli. The terrible disaster left an indelible scar on the close-knit Leith and Musselburgh communities, with several families losing both fathers and sons. Many of the dead were taken to a temporary mortuary that had been established in the Drill Hall before the majority were buried in the nearby Rosebank Cemetery, Pilrig Street.


The GRETNA 110 exhibition includes:

· A short documentary film, 'Leith's Darkest Dawn', about the Crash and the aftermath

· An accurate model of Larbert Station in 1915, from where the train departed

· Displays:

o Moving illustrated stories from some of the local soldiers involved and their families

o The important role played by the people of Gretna and Carlise after the Crash

o Leith Academy’s GRETNA 110 researched creative exhibits

o Trench warfare training for men from Leith, Musselburgh and West Lothian

o Temporary morgue at the Drill Hall following the Gretna Crash

o Funeral procession to Rosebank Cemetery

· Dedicated Research Room to explore family ancestors