27 Dec 2024
Music News - Tribute song released to Marquette Angels
05 October 2015 - 0 Comments
Marquette Angels, a heartfelt tribute
to the 10 New Zealand nurses who died in the sinking of the Marquette in World War
One, has been released on iTunes.
The anniversary of the tragedy is on October 23, marking 100 years since the transport ship Marquette was bombed in the Aegean Sea. Among the deaths were 32 New Zealanders, including 10 nurses. To this day it remains the largest number of Kiwi nurses to lose their lives in a single event.
It was the morning of October 19, 1915, when 36 New Zealand nurses - led by Australian-born matron Marie Cameron - boarded the Marquette in Alexandria, Egypt.
All up there were around 700 passengers, including those from the No 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital from Port Said, where they had been treating casualties from Gallipoli. The medical unit also included eight officers, nine NCOs and 77 orderlies; as well as 500 men and officers of the British 29th Division, some 500 mules, and other military equipment.
The Marquette was under escort and for three days the ship and her company cruised peacefully through the calm and sunny Mediterranean.
Nurse Edith Popplewell recalled: “The happiest and most peaceful… I have ever known at sea.”
But on the evening of October 22, the escort ships were suddenly called away and the following morning, as the Marquette was nearing her destination at Salonika, a torpedo struck: “On the starboard side, well forward, and the vessel almost at once dipped to the bow and developed a marked list to port.”
As the stern rose, a lifeboat - with its davits caught - broke free and landed on a boat directly below it, already in the water.
Survivor Jeannie Sinclair wrote: “The Marquette was slowly coming over” and “seeing a large gaping hole and all the mules there, and wondering if the vessel would fall on top of us”.
Other witnesses spoke of “the appalling sound”, as mules and heavy machinery rolled inside the ship before she went down.
In 10 horrifying minutes, the mighty vessel slipped beneath the waves and 10 brave New Zealand nurses lost their lives.
Now, as the 100-year anniversary of the tragedy approaches, Brydon Stace lends his voice to an emotional tribute penned by Ted Egan, Nerys Evans and Garth Porter – the stirring ballad ‘Marquette Angels’.
From the haunting SOS introduction, to the resounding male choir finale, ‘Marquette Angels’ powerfully evokes the terrible events of October 23rd, 1915.
Egan, a renowned singer and composer, and his wife Nerys Evans, were first inspired to write the song after Egan spent many years researching Anzac.
“For over thirty years I researched the Anzac story. I write songs about people and the research was a component of my FACES OF AUSTRALIA series – albums and books,” he says.
“In 2014 I published THE ANZACS 100 YEARS ON. One section of the book was about nurses. In my research I read of the Marquette Angels and made minor mention of the story in my book. The theme was in my mind nonetheless and I found the song developing.
“We thought it might be a good present for New Zealand from Australia, to show that Australia recognises the joint ownership of the word "Anzac" and that our two nations shared the horrors of the dreadful war that should never have been fought.”
Egan and Evans enlisted the talents of the award-winning New Zealand expat Garth Porter to co-write, arrange and produce ‘Marquette Angels’.
Singer Brydon Stace honed his craft as a Choral Scholar at Tewkesbury Abbey in England and is a ‘behind the scenes’ vocal director on The Voice, Australia. Stace, a long time collaborator with Porter on many projects, was invited to do a guide vocal on the demo of Marquette Angels. His performance was impossible to improve and he willingly became a participant in the final version of the project.
“To all of the nurses who have tended the wounded, through a century of conflict, Marquette Angels is a tribute to all of you, too often forgotten” – Garth Porter.
Marquette Angels is available to purchase now on iTunes
The anniversary of the tragedy is on October 23, marking 100 years since the transport ship Marquette was bombed in the Aegean Sea. Among the deaths were 32 New Zealanders, including 10 nurses. To this day it remains the largest number of Kiwi nurses to lose their lives in a single event.
It was the morning of October 19, 1915, when 36 New Zealand nurses - led by Australian-born matron Marie Cameron - boarded the Marquette in Alexandria, Egypt.
All up there were around 700 passengers, including those from the No 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital from Port Said, where they had been treating casualties from Gallipoli. The medical unit also included eight officers, nine NCOs and 77 orderlies; as well as 500 men and officers of the British 29th Division, some 500 mules, and other military equipment.
The Marquette was under escort and for three days the ship and her company cruised peacefully through the calm and sunny Mediterranean.
Nurse Edith Popplewell recalled: “The happiest and most peaceful… I have ever known at sea.”
But on the evening of October 22, the escort ships were suddenly called away and the following morning, as the Marquette was nearing her destination at Salonika, a torpedo struck: “On the starboard side, well forward, and the vessel almost at once dipped to the bow and developed a marked list to port.”
As the stern rose, a lifeboat - with its davits caught - broke free and landed on a boat directly below it, already in the water.
Survivor Jeannie Sinclair wrote: “The Marquette was slowly coming over” and “seeing a large gaping hole and all the mules there, and wondering if the vessel would fall on top of us”.
Other witnesses spoke of “the appalling sound”, as mules and heavy machinery rolled inside the ship before she went down.
In 10 horrifying minutes, the mighty vessel slipped beneath the waves and 10 brave New Zealand nurses lost their lives.
Now, as the 100-year anniversary of the tragedy approaches, Brydon Stace lends his voice to an emotional tribute penned by Ted Egan, Nerys Evans and Garth Porter – the stirring ballad ‘Marquette Angels’.
From the haunting SOS introduction, to the resounding male choir finale, ‘Marquette Angels’ powerfully evokes the terrible events of October 23rd, 1915.
Egan, a renowned singer and composer, and his wife Nerys Evans, were first inspired to write the song after Egan spent many years researching Anzac.
“For over thirty years I researched the Anzac story. I write songs about people and the research was a component of my FACES OF AUSTRALIA series – albums and books,” he says.
“In 2014 I published THE ANZACS 100 YEARS ON. One section of the book was about nurses. In my research I read of the Marquette Angels and made minor mention of the story in my book. The theme was in my mind nonetheless and I found the song developing.
“We thought it might be a good present for New Zealand from Australia, to show that Australia recognises the joint ownership of the word "Anzac" and that our two nations shared the horrors of the dreadful war that should never have been fought.”
Egan and Evans enlisted the talents of the award-winning New Zealand expat Garth Porter to co-write, arrange and produce ‘Marquette Angels’.
Singer Brydon Stace honed his craft as a Choral Scholar at Tewkesbury Abbey in England and is a ‘behind the scenes’ vocal director on The Voice, Australia. Stace, a long time collaborator with Porter on many projects, was invited to do a guide vocal on the demo of Marquette Angels. His performance was impossible to improve and he willingly became a participant in the final version of the project.
“To all of the nurses who have tended the wounded, through a century of conflict, Marquette Angels is a tribute to all of you, too often forgotten” – Garth Porter.
Marquette Angels is available to purchase now on iTunes
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