The Daisy Patch
8 May 2015
On the 8th of May 1915, New Zealand forces on Gallipoli were involved in the disastrous charge across a piece of land known as “The Daisy Patch.”
By Sarah Johnston
The charge was part of the Second Battle of Krithia, which began on 6th of May, when the Allies launched a series of unsuccessful daylight assaults on the Ottoman trenches in the south of the peninsula. They suffered heavy losses and were unable to break through.
The New Zealand Infantry Brigade went into action on the 8th, and as Joe Gasparich of the Auckland Infantry Battalion recalled years later, the attack against well dug-in Turkish machine guns was either murder – or suicide. Listen to Joe’s first-hand account here.
For more information on the Battle of Krithia visit nzhistory.net.nz
Hero image: Joe Gasparich.