The Museum reflects on the success of their GRETNA 110 project.
A generous AMOT grant of £2,000 enabled maximisation of the opportunity taken by The Royal Scots Museum, in Edinburgh Castle, to reach- out to the much wider community to remind of Britain’s worst ever railway accident 110 years ago on 22 May 1915.
216 Royal Scots of the 7th Battalion (7RS) from Leith, Edinburgh were killed at Quintinshill just north of Gretna when their train carrying them to Liverpool to embark to sail to Gallipoli crashed into a static local train, and was then struck by an express train. Many more soldiers were injured. The people of Gretna and the surrounding area, including Carlisle, helped extract and care for the survivors.
Over a period of eight months the Museum Outreach Team of dedicated volunteers worked tirelessly with the Museum’s Curator and provider partners to research, plan , coordinate and deliver GRETNA 110.
A highly successful 19- week social media campaign was conducted Jan- May. Significant ‘column- inches’ were achieved by the development and issue of a targeted press release.
A much praised short film Leith’s Darkest Dawn was produced.
A six- day interactive exhibition was held in the same Leith Drill Hall where the soldiers had left from in 1915, and which so sadly was a temporary mortuary for many of those killed- before their burial in the nearby Rosebank Cemetery. The focus was very much on soldiers and family experiences, with objects from the Museum Collection and some loaned by the Carlisle Museum and the Devil’s Porridge Museum, near Gretna, displayed. The Family Research Area (Royal Scots Research, National Records Scotland, Scottish Genealogy Society, Commonwealth War Graves Commission) proved very popular with direct descendants of the Crash tragedy, and other visitors. The National Railways Rolling Stock Trust presented a fine model of Larbert Station 1915- where the ill- fated train had left from. Leith Academy played an important part in the overall display.
The granddaughter and great granddaughter of Tancy Lee, a boxing legend.
On 22 May wreath layings hosted and organised by the very welcoming Gretna Community Council took place at the actual Crash site and at the Memorial Cairn in Gretna. The son and grandson of Lt Bell, who survived the Crash- and both who served as Royal Scots- took part. The primary school closest to the Crash site created a GRETNA 110 display and sang two very poignant songs at the Cairn.
The Annual Regimental Commemorative Service at Rosebank Cemetery took place on 24 May.
Currently there is a further reaching- out GRETNA 110 exhibition at the Carlisle Museum of Military Life, using displays from the main exhibition and objects loaned by our Museum.
Martin Gibson
Colonel Martin Gibson OBE DL
Lead The Royal Scots Museum Outreach Team