Martin Curtis
New Zealand Singer / Songwriter - Trekking Guide
New Zealand Singer / Songwriter - Trekking Guide
The Daisy Patch
The Gallipoli campaign in 1915 was one of the most futile and callous military exercises ever embarked upon, and achieved nothing except the deaths of thousands of very brave men who were obeying orders from commanders whose military strategy was decades out of date. One of the most horrific massacres was to take place on the Daisy Patch - a totally exposed area of open ground covered in flowering daisies, which was dominated by fortified Turkish machine gun posts. Despite protests from the Kiwi officers like Moore and Malone, the British commanders insisted on daylight attacks again and again, and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade was all but annihilated. Martin wrote this song as a tribute to the 10,0000 New Zealanders who were sent there and the 2,700 who never came back.
The Daisy Patch is Martin's answer to the Eric Bogle classic "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda".
The song was first released in 1990 on the album The Daisy Patch and ha since been re-released on Live at Greendale and Below the High Country.
It also features on the Otago my Home DVD - the full excerpt of this can be viewed below, or from his YouTube channel