Composer and musician Peter Hobbs has released the single '300 Yards Of Ground' to commemorate the centenary of the battle of Passchendaele – one of the worst days in New Zealand military history.
The song's lyrics are based on a letter by Private Leonard Hart who survived what was known as 'New Zealand’s Darkest Day' – the brutal defeat of the Allies on October 12, 1917.
The accompanying video is an immersive 360-degree experience best viewed with a virtual reality headset, but also available on YouTube.
RNZ Music's Tony Stamp experiencing '300 Yards Of Ground' Photo: RNZ Music
Tony Stamp from the RNZ Music team went to a special viewing of the clip to experience it for us.
It starts as a standard music video, featuring a band dressed in early 20th century garb. Gradually, the viewer is drawn into a virtual battlefield.
It's a stark tribute to those who lost their lives.
'300 Yards Of Ground' came about after Peter Hobbs read Private Leonard Hart's letter and was struck by the powerful imagery and honesty.
The letter had to be smuggled back to Leonard’s family in order to avoid military censorship. It contains heartbreaking details of the battle:
"Dozens got hung up in the wire and shot down before their surviving comrades’ eyes. It was now broad daylight and what was left of us realised that the day was lost.
"We accordingly lay down in shell holes or any cover we could get and waited. Any man who showed his head was immediately shot.
"They were marvellous shots those Huns. We had lost nearly eighty per cent of our strength and gained about 300 yards of ground in the attempt. This 300 yards was useless to us for the Germans still held and dominated the ridge."
- Private Leonard Hart (Letter to family, October 1917)
On October 12, 1917 at Passchendaele, Allied soldiers were hit by their own bombs before charging through the barbed-wire covered no-man’s land in an attempt to take German positions.
There were 2,735 New Zealand casualties.
Peter Hobbs Photo: Supplied
Peter Hobbs is a NZ film composer and musician. He recently won a 2017 New York World Gold Medal for his score to the film Jean and he was a finalist for the 2017 APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award.
He was also a finalist for the Taite Music Awards Best Debut for his psychedelic country band Lost Demos.
