Simpson and his Donkey

This is one of the most inspiring stories to come out of the Gallipoli landing during World War 1.

This is the story of an ordinary man who did extraordinary things in a critical situation. He was a plain private - a stretcher-bearer on Gallipoli. On the day after the landing he found a wandering donkey feeding idly in a gully. He was one of the few men who knew how to handle donkeys, for he had loved them from his childhood. The idea seized his mind that this donkey would be useful to carry men with leg wounds from the forward positions to the casualty station on the Beach. Once he got going there was no stopping him. "The Man With The Donkey" became one of the familiar sights of Anzac. Day after day and into the nights he carried an amazing number of wounded men down the shrapnel-swept valley and saved innumerable lives at the risk, and finally at the cost, of his own. Link

A truly extraordinary story of courage and dedication to duty. In an amazingly short 24 days in Gallipoli, Jack Simpson became a hero, a name still known to todays generation. His life was tragically cut short on the 19th of May 1915 when a machine gunner caught him of guard. An alarm was raised when his Donkey, Murphy, returned to camp without him. In that tragically short time, Simpson and Murphy saved many lives. With Murphy able to carry men will leg wounds on his back, Simpson and Murphy were able to make light work of returning fallen Soldiers to their camp for medical treatment.

The Ambulance Bearer divisions landed with their respective brigades. They took no medical equipment except surgical haversacks and water-bottles. The 3rd Field Ambulance, which had landed with the covering party, had three men killed and fourteen wounded. At daylight they attended to the stricken men on the Beach and then made their way under fire behind the positions captured. Collecting-posts were established. The chorus of praise for the stretcher-bearers came from all men's mouths. The Army Medical Corps had been regarded by some as a soft job. They had been the butt of flippant remarks and dubbed "Linseed Lancers", "Body Snatchers" and other such jovial names. But on the Peninsula wherever the cry "Stretcher-bearers!" went up, day and night they performed miracles of bravery. It was impossible to land transport for the wounded. They had to be carried often for a distance of a mile and a half in a blistering sun and through shrapnel and machine-gun fire. Ask any Australian who were the bravest men at Anzac and you will almost certainly hear the unhesitating answer: "The stretcher-bearers." Link

The only authentic snapshot of John Simpson with his donkey, taken at the foot of Shrapnel Gully
(AWM Memorial Photograph)

One of the things I love most about Australia is how we celebrate our heroes lives. People who make extraordinary sacrifices for others, those who often give their lives to save the lives of people they will never know are not forgotten to us. Jack Simpson is a shining example of that. His ingenuity in catching and using his Donkey to transport injured Soldiers to medical aide deserves to be long remembered in our proud history.

Please take the time to read the whole site dedicated to Simpsons memory. What one man did in 24 short days will lst a lifetime.

A_C