Simpson & His Donkey Gallipoli

	The Man With The Donkey: a Digger History Associate Site

	John Simpson Kirkpatrick; The Good Samaritan of Gallipoli by Sir Irving Benson

The Man With The Donkey, John Simpson (Kirkpatrick)

Webmasters Note:

This water colour painting depicts Private John Simpson (Kirkpatrick) of the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance and his donkey, 'Murphy'.

"Simpson" is shown as a full-length figure, moving forwards along a cliff edge, supporting a wounded soldier seated on his donkey.

Later research undertaken by the Australian War Memorial suggests that the water colour was copied by Moore-Jones from a photograph of a stretcher-bearer with the New Zealand Medical Corps, Lt. Richard Alexander Henderson.

This work was reproduced by the British Historical Section (Military Branch) of the Committee of Imperial Defence, London, in July 1926.

It was owned by the Commonwealth Government in London and then came back to Australia during the 1960s, where it became property of the Prime Minister's Department and from there entered the National Gallery of Australia's collections during the 1980s. The painting was presented to the Commonwealth Government through Sir John McEwan.

To see what the author believed go HERE.

To see original photo go HERE.

Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. St Paul's House London

TO ANNIE SIMPSON PEARSON SISTER OF "THE MAN WITH THE DONKEY" WHOSE GENEROUS SPIRIT AND GLOWING MIND HELPED TO MAKE THE RECORD POSSIBLE I DEDICATE THIS BOOK WITH AFFECTION AND GRATITUDE.

CONTENTS
Chapter No	Chapter Name (linked)	Page
1.	How Jack Went to the War	13
2.	In the Land of the Pyramids	19
3.	The Lemnos Base	23
4.	The Landing in the Dawn	28
5.	A Light Shining in Death Valley	40
6.	The Retreat and The Return	52
7.	In Search of Simpson	54
8.	Simpson in Australia	67
Postscript:
9.	What Happened to The Donkey?	88
9.	Thanksgiving	94
9.	Bibliography	96
10.	Simpson Memorabilia

List of Illustrations
Links are to image only. For link to page see right.	Link	Page
John Simpson Kirkpatrick on his 21st birthday	Page 1	F/piece
Andrew, the horse he drove for four years	Page 7	32
The house at 14 Bertram Street, South Shields, where his mother lived	Page 7	32
S.S. Kooringa in which Simpson sailed round the Australian coast	Page 8	33
In camp at Blackboy, Perth, W.A. 1915	Page 1	33
Mrs. Sarah Kirkpatrick, the mother he adored	Page 8	64
Annie, his sister, at the age of seventeen	Page 8	64
The "only authentic" snapshot of John Simpson with his donkey, taken at the foot of Shrapnel Gully	Page 5	65
The original wooden cross at Private John Simpson's grave at Hell Spit	Page 5	80
The bronze statue by Wallace Anderson to the memory of "The Man With The Donkey" at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne	Page 9	81
A map showing the Gallipoli Landing areas, Shrapnel Gully and Monash Gully appears on page 27

Illustrations added by the Webmaster
Simpson head stone (current)	Page 1
Simpson and friends	Page 1
Simpson of Red Cross; Recommended for VC	Page 5
Australian 5 penny stamp issued with Simpson's likeness	Page 6
Simpson's medal rack. (1914/15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal with MiD)	Page 10
The Memorial Plaque sent to Simpson's mother.	Page 10
Simpson's identification disk.	Page 10
Anzac Medallion	Page 10
Anzac medallion reverse
Photo of Henderson mistaken for Simpson	Page 10
Simpson painting	Page 10
Simpson; informal photo	Page 10
Simpson sculpture (Corlett)	Page 10
Medical arm band worn by donkey	Page 10
Medallion awarded to donkey	Page 10

GLOSSARY
These notes may be of interest to readers beyond Australia.
Anzac	The code name from the initial letters of Australian & New Zealand Army Corps.
Black pan	The remains of a meal, the bottom of the pan.
Bunkers	Ship's Coal Storage. Coal.
Cobber	Friend, companion.
Cotton (on to)	To become attached, to befriend.
Crook	Ill. e.g. to be (feel) crook. or to Go crook = be angry, annoyed.
Dead broke	Down on one's luck. Without money.
Digger	Originally a Gold-miner. Later, an Australian soldier. Not used at Anzac
Duds	Clothes.
Hump	To shoulder, carry. e.g. humped his swag.
Padding the 'oof	Walking, tramping.
Pecker	Keep your pecker (spirits) up.
Possum	Opossum. Australian marsupial.
Stonker	To defeat, outwit, put out of action.
Swag	A rolled blanket containing effects. (Cf. the Australian song "Waltzing Matilda".)
P.O.	Post Office Money Order (called Postal Order)
Chuck the sack.	Dismissed.
Bans	Bannocks, home-made loaves.

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The Man with the Donkey John Simpson (Kirkpatrick); A Digger History Associate site