Australian Military

JOHN SIMPSON (KIRKPATRICK) was a young Englishman who worked his passage on a ship to Australia where he jumped ship and worked in various labouring jobs. At the outbreak of WW1 he enlisted in the Australian Army changing his name from Kirkpatrick to Simpson. He was drafted into the 3rd Field Ambulance. After landing at Anzac Cove he took charge of a donkey he named Murphy. He took it upon himself to transport the wounded downhill from the front-line to the beach and medical care. For three weeks he transported the wounded through Shrapnel Gully. On 19 May 1915 his luck ran out and a piece of shrapnel killed him. The stamp shows the memorial the subject of my photographs on sheet 4 (above).

Also on sheet 4 is a photograph recalling the Australian actions at Lone Pine Ridge on Gallipoli where fierce fighting took place from 6 to 10 August 1915. Of 9 VC's awarded to Australians at Gallipoli 7 were for acts of bravery in the action at Lone Pine Ridge. When Susan and I were at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne I picked up a pine cone from the tree in the photograph - sadly I could not find any seeds to propagate.



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