John Simpson Kirkpatrick, generally known as "Simpson", is one of the most famous Anzacs of the Gallipoli campaign.1-3 From the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1915 until his death 25 days later, Simpson and his donkey retrieved perhaps 300 casualties from the battlefield. He did this work independently, sometimes in disregard of orders, and frequently with a disregard for danger that kept the onlooking soldiers in the trenches enthralled as they watched him moving calmly to rescue wounded soldiers while under direct fire from the enemy. He is often thought of as the quintessential larrikin Anzac, although he was born in England and only spent four years in Australia before enlisting in the Australian Army Medical Corps in 1914.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
We thank particularly Dr Christopher Gardner-Thorpe, Consultant Neurologist of Exeter, for much encouragement; Mr John Moreels of the Ward Philipson Group, Gateshead; and Mr James Fell and the Tyne and Wear Museums for gracious permission to publish photographs.