Disaster

A long day today and after all the talk I needed a walk. Last night,  I had seen a TV programme about the Quintinshill rail disaster, which happened 100 years ago tomorrow. I knew about it already,  because it happened near Gretna,  not far from home,  but I hadn't realised that the soldiers were buried in Rosebank Cemetery in Leith. I decided to visit on my way home.
A full account  of the event can be found on Wikipedia. Briefly, over 200 soldiers were killed when their troop train crashed and caught fire. The soldiers were on their way from Scotland to fight at Gallipoli.
The memorial is in a corner of this large Cemetery. It was already almost dusk when I found it,  and a blackbird was singing on the top of the cross. Tomorrow there is to be a special commemorative event at Quintinshill, and on Saturday there will be a memorial service here in Leith to remember the dead.