I would not have joined this contingent if I had known they were not going to England. At Gallipoli, the legend has Simpson Kirkpatrick being constantly cheerful and stoic.
But in Egypt, the letters reveal him to be, well, a whinging Pom. On December 20, he told his mother "we [are] camped about 10 miles out of Cairo at the entrance of the desert. You can see nothing but sand, sand, sand. We have got two pyramids about yards from our tents. It is a terrible long climb to the top. The "grub", he wrote, "is very bad Ten days before the Gallipoli invasion, Simpson Kirkpatrick and the other stretcher bearers members of the 3 Field Ambulance were transferred to the troopship Devanha.
One hundred years later, South Shields, is preparing for a huge day on May 19, the centenary of Simpson Kirkpatrick's death. Yet, as a local points out, Simpson was just one of men from South Shields who died in WWI including many who were killed at Gallipoli: "Australians seem to believe only Anzacs served at Gallipoli.
A delegation from the Australian High Commission will join the town's civic leaders for a service of remembrance at his statue. But in Australia, he is much more revered than probably in his home town. Please try again later. The Sydney Morning Herald. By Steve Meacham May 12, — 3. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later.
Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size. So who was the real John Simpson Kirkpatrick, as he became known, only in death? Legend Historians have long argued over how much of the Simpson legend was accurate. So why did he never carry a stretcher on the peninsula? Naming "Jack" was the name his family called him. So what do we know of Simpson Kirkpatrick before he became one of the original Anzacs?
Battler Jack Kirkpatrick was born on July 6, , one of eight children. He joined the merchant navy. His letters home are instantly apologetic. Opportunity The four years Simpson Kirkpatrick spent in Australia were the making of him. If he wrote any letters from Gallipoli, they weren't received.
Presumably he was too busy. I refer of course to John Simpson Kirkpatrick or Simpson as he is best known and his donkey, an unlikely couple who continue to fascinate the Australian public — from schoolchildren to politicians. But were they really special and does our commemoration of them help us better understand those Australians who fought in the Gallipoli Campaign? Was Simpson special? He did the same work and took the same risks around Anzac Cove as many other soldiers who are now largely forgotten.
The year-old's active service life on Gallipoli spanned a little over three weeks. He was killed by shrapnel close to the same place where Major-General Sir William Bridges was felled by a sniper's bullet four days earlier. Were such donkeys unique? New Zealand has its own hero whose photographs and paintings continue to be confused with that of Simpson. This is Richard Henderson , a stretcher bearer who also used a donkey to carry the wounded. He does not enjoy any particular place in that country's historical narrative and certainly lacks the star status accorded to Simpson.
Since World War One the story of Simpson and Murphy has been exploited for one cause or another: to support conscription, counter Communism and more recently to define our national identity. He appears on coins , medals , plaques , a banknote and the covers of dozens of kiddies' books. It was believed he named this first donkey Duffer, but such was the diversity of accents on the battlefield, what was Duffer to an Englishman may have sounded like Murphy to an Irishman or Abdul to an Indian.
Consequently, many names have been suggested. Whatever it was named, the donkey and Simpson made a great independent team. Instead of reporting to his unit, Simpson camped with the 21st Kohat Indian Mountain Artillery Battery - which had many mules and nicknamed Simpson "Bahadur" - the "bravest of the brave".
Just as the grapevine may have corrupted his donkey's name, it may have corrupted what he actually did. Folklore proposes that Simpson's refusal to report to his own field ambulance post was a direct affront to his Commanding Officer's ego, not to mention considerations of military tradition, etiquette and discipline. For the first 4 days he was technically a deserter until his CO, seeing the value of his work, agreed to turn a blind eye to rules and approved his actions.
Folklore also proposes that Simpson would start his day as early as 6. He made the one and a half mile trip, through sniper fire and shrapnel, times a day. He would leave his donkey under cover while he went forward to collect the injured. On the return journey he would bring water for the wounded.
He never hesitated or stopped even under the most furious shrapnel fire and was frequently warned of the dangers ahead but invariably replied "my troubles". For almost 24 days Simpson operated through the impossible conditions and was credited with saving the lives of almost wounded soldiers. After seeming to gain an aura of someone with divine protection, Simpson was killed. It is difficult to get evidence of any one act to justify the VC; the fact is that he did so many".
The commander of the 4th Brigade, Colonel Monash , said:. They worked all day and night throughout the whole period since the landing, and the help rendered to the wounded was invaluable. Simpson knew no fear and moved unconcernedly amid shrapnel and rifle fire, steadily carrying out his self-imposed task day by day, and he frequently earned the applause of the personnel for his many fearless rescues of wounded men from areas subject to rifle and shrapnel fire.
Padre George Green , who led Simpson's burial service, later said :. I often remember now the scene I saw frequently in shrapnel Gully, of that cheerful soul calmly walking down the gully with a Red Cross armlet tied round the donkey's head.
That gully was under direct fire from the enemy almost all the time. Hookway , his Section Sergeant, said of him:. I saw some brave things at Gallipoli. One thing that made a big impression on us was the actions of a man we called 'The Man with a Donkey'. He was a stretcher-bearer and he used to carry the wounded men down to the clearing station on the beach This man, Simpson his name was, was exposed to enemy fire constantly all the days I was there, and when I left Shrapnel Gully he was still going strong.
I considered, and so did my mates, that he should be given the Victoria Cross. Although Simpson had the respect of all those who knew him, his larrikin ways did not endear him to the authorities thus all nominations for posthumous decoration were declined.
The lack of posthumous decoration probably bothered Simpson's admirers far more than it would have ever bothered Simpson.
He just didn't have the character that sought recognition, decoration or awards. Despite the lack of military decoration, the wider community elevated him to iconic status a nd perhaps embellished his story in the process. There are arguments about how much the story has been embellished over the years, but nevertheless the simple heroism of John Simpson has come to symbolise the "Aussie" spirit and made him a household name.
Scroll down to learn more and to enjoy our colouring page and printable activities. John Simpson Kirkpatrick was born in England in , of Scottish parents. As a boy he worked in the summer holidays with the donkeys on the beach at South Shields, where he was born and went to school.
As a young lad he joined the Merchant Navy and sailed to Australia, where he promptly deserted. For the next few years he worked his way around Australia as a cane cutter and coal miner as well as working on coastal ships.
0コメント