Daisy Martin by Olivia De Angelis

 

Daisy Martin was just starting her life when it was cut tragically short due to the Darwin bombings on the 19^th of February 1942. Daisy was born in 1924 with a mixed race of half indigenous and half white. The years of Daisy’s childhood were during the “Stolen Generation” period, and it is very likely that Daisy would have spent time or even been raised at one of these missions or facilities in the Northern Territory.

At the time of the bombings, Daisy was working as a housekeeper at Government house. At this time Mr Abbot was the administrator of Darwin. At the time, a large group consisting of Government House staff, including Daisy Martin, Mr and Mrs Abbot and Mrs Abbot’s servants were taking refuge in the Administrator’s office as the bombs fell. The office took an almost direct hit, only 15 metres separated the office from the impact (Figure 1). In a letter that was written by Mr Abbot after the bombings he details the events that lead to Daisy Martin’s death. He recalls: “The entire office structure seemed to rise in the air. The concrete floor above us lifted and the reinforced pillars snapped like dry sticks, then it settled down amid the crash and rumble of falling masonry and grey dust. The bomb obliterated one half of the office, making a crater 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide”. The rest of the group seeking shelter in the office was able to escape with minor injuries, Daisy was not so lucky. Mr Abbot remembers “The walls and floor were blown in and a huge block of concrete fell on Daisy Martin, burying her from head to waist and killing her instantly. I [saw] her legs twitch and then stop”. Daisy Martin was only 18 when she died.  She is buried in Adelaide River Cemetery and is remembered for her service with a memorial plaque near her place of death (Figure 2).

After later inspection of the ruined office, it was revealed that the rest of the group would all have been crushed if not for the steel door of the strongroom which swung open because of the blast and jammed under one corner of the floor, holding it up.