Edinburgh (Rosebank) Cemetery
- Country United Kingdom
- Total identified casualties 309 Find these casualties
- Region Edinburgh
- Identified casualties from First & Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: 55.96813, Longitude: -3.18366
Location information
Rosebank Cemetery is a large cemetery on the outskirts of the City of Edinburgh, on the way to Leith. The main entrance is on Pilrig Street which can be reached from Leith Walk (the A900) or Bonnington Road (the B900). There are regular bus services which stop close to the cemetery entrance and the nearest railway station is Edinburgh Waverly.
Visiting information
The majority of the burials are in the Memorial Ground.
History information
During the First World War, Edinburgh was headquarters to the 4th,5th,6th and 9th Battalions of the Royal Scots, with the 7th Battalion at Leith. The 2nd Scottish General Hospital (1,000 beds) occupied Craigleith Poorhouse, the Edinburgh War Hospital (2,600 beds) was in the Asylum buildings at Bangour and the Leith War Hospital (585 beds) in the infirmary at Leith. The port of Leith was used by hospital ships from north Russia and about 4,500 officers and men passed through it.
Second World War military hospitals were in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Bangour. The city was also Scottish Command Headquarters.
Edinburgh (Rosebank) Cemetery contains 270 First World War burials. Most died in the Gretna railway disaster, when two trains collided at Quintinshill Junction near Gretna on 22 May 1915, killing 210 officers and men of the 1st/7th Royal Scots on their way to embark for Gallipoli. Victims of the disaster are buried in the Memorial Ground. The cemetery also contains 36 Second World War burials.