Private Archibald Baxter

Private Archibald Scott Baxter, 1st/7th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Royal Scots. He died on Service from injuries, aged 46, on the 22nd May 1915 suffered during the Gretna rail disaster. He had been born in Galashiels and was the son of Alexander and the late Jemima Baxter of 247 Galapark Road, Galashiels and the husband of Janet Baxter of Henderson Street, Leith. He had worked as a stevedore vin Leith Docks and had been a member of the 5th Volunteer Battalion Royal Scots. As a Reservist he was mobilised in August 1914 and joined the 7th (Leith) Battalion The troops were en route to Liverpool to be embarked to take part in the Gallipoli campaign and “A” and “D” Companies of his Battalion were involved in the rail disaster at Quintinshill near Gretna where 210 Men were killed and another 224 injured in the worst disaster in British railway history. The survivors were sent back to Leith. He is buried in Rosebank Cemetery, Leith, Edinburgh where the names are commemorated on a wall behind a Memorial cross.