HERO OF GALLIPOLI.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 4669, 9 July 1936, Page 1

HERO OF GALLIPOLI.

MEMORIAL > UNVEILED. Gallipoli veterans in New.’ Zealand will ’Temenlber the story of the man with the. donkey, for it was one of’the epic episodes of the campaign. Several years ago Meli bourne decided to honour the me- . moTy of : this i modest > hero, and an instantaneous response was made i to. an appeal for funds for a memorial. This memorial has just been unveiled on a site near the Shrine. Victoria’s memorial to the Avar dead. The longs delay between '.the raising of the, funds and the ’execution , of the work was due in part to "the sanctions policy, for the memorial was cast; in Italy and :-difficulty was ! found in arranging for its > delivery •'there. oThe ‘Man with the Donkey is al- . most an unknown hero. Some say ; that on .'Gallipoli he was known simply as Murphy, but ' the name’ under which he enlisted and 'the 'name graven .on the-memorial is Simpson. Actually his name was Kirkpatrick, according to .General, Sir Harry Chauvel, who' should .know. The memorial takes the form of a bronze..figure of iSimpson and his donkey, with a wounded man on the donkey’s back, ledning against Simpson. in a state of exhaustion. "There is a drinking fountain at each .end. The inscription on the front reads: —-“The -Man With the Donkey, Gallipoli, April 25 to May 19, 1915. In commemoration of the valour and compassion of the Australian soldier.” 1 On. the reverse side is written: —- “After . the landing at Gallipoli Simpson, with his little donkey, worked day and night, taking water to the .front line, and carrying the wounded back to the dressing stations. .He and. his donkey were killed by a shrapnel shell on May 19, 1915. Simpson was mentioned in despatches by Sir.lan Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.” In unveiling the memorial the Governor, Lord Huntingfield, desU cribed the erection of the statue as the reverent tribute of the people of Australia. to a great Australianhero. He expressed the hope that it would be an inspiration to those who came after —an example of courage, self-sacrifice and patriotism,- and a memorial to one who had lived and died for his country.

Sir Harry Chauvel traced the history of Private John Simpson (actually John Simpson Kirkpatrick). .Before the war, he said, Simpson worked. as a fireman on the liner Karinga. At' the out- 1 ’ break of war he enlisted in the Thifd Field Ambulance, A.1.F., and was with the ’ First Australian Division in Egypt and on Gallipoli. On Gallipoli he began the work of 'transporting wounded men from the-peak of the line, near Quinn’s I Post, down a gfilly to ' the base. Most of'the'daily casualties occurred along his “beat.” ' With -his- donkey, which he had' acquired in some unexplained way, Simpson was continually subjected; to’the fire of 'Turkish snipers and, to the danger of shrapnel shells. It' ■was a shrapnel shell which killed him in' 'Monash Valley, less than a month -after the’ landing. Sir‘Harry ‘Chauvel said he -often saw -Simp 7: son, sometimes with two wounded, men, : making - his, way down the gully. Simpson refused to take particular care of

Tt'was mentioned at the cere-, mony that -Simpson was aged only--22 at his death. One speaker said :' “It is significant- that a man so young and so unknown should have, •attracted to himself such ; genuine, admiration among 'the Australian people. ‘He was only a- boy, but he made a -name for - himself thatwill 1 never be forgotten.” \