Afghanistan Memorials

Last month, after the soldiers of the first Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland marched down the Royal Mile to celebrate their return from Afghanistan, their Commanding Officer's speech paid tribute to their comrades who had been killed during their tour of duty there.

Their parade would have passed within a few hundred yards of this monument on North Bridge to their predecessors in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, who were casualties of the Second Afghan War a century beforehand.

The memorial, by William Birnie Rhind, was erected in 1906 and also commemorates KOSB casualties in other wars of the Victorian era. Its inscription reads - "In memory of officers, non-commissioned officers and men who, whilst serving with the King's Own Scottish Borderers (The Edinburgh Regiment), gave their lives for their country during the following campaigns - Afghanistan 1878-1880. Egypt 1888-1889. Chin Lushai 1889-1890. Chitral 1895. Tirah 1897-1898. South Africa 1900-1902".