Remembering Duffy No. 1, Duffy No. 2, Murphy, Queen Elizabeth, and Abdul
ANZAC – Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Today, April 25, is ANZAC day: a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand who have served and died in the armed forces.
Originally designated Anzac Day in 1916, it marks the exact day, a year earlier, when the Anzacs started their offensive to take the heavily defended Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman army, who were allied with Germany. The conflict soon turned into a stalemate and eight months later, after heavy losses on both sides, the allies retreated.[1]
So, what has this story got to do with donkeys and who are the Duffy’s (1 & 2), Murphy, Queen Elizabeth, and Abdul?
The human connection in this story is John Simpson Kirkpatrick. Born in South Shields, England, in 1892 to Scottish parents he joined the British Merchant Navy, and jumped ship in Newcastle, NSW, Australia (1910). At the outbreak of WWI, he enlisted in the Australian Army as a field ambulance stretcher bearer. He landed at Gallipoli on April 25th, 1915 and immediately began carrying wounded soldiers to safety. After spotting a donkey on the beach he started to use the donkeys as ‘stretcher bearers’. Over the next three weeks he rescued many wounded Anzacs. On May 19th, 1915, Simpson and his donkey were killed by enemy fire.
Duffy 1 & 2, Murphy, Queen Elizabeth and Abdul were the donkeys Simpson used whilst in Gallipoli. It was dangerous work for all concerned. Several of his donkeys were injured and at least one was killed whilst carrying the wounded.
Other Anzacs continued Simpson’s work, one of whom is immortalised in this painting. Although attributed as Simpson, it is now accepted as a New Zealand Anzac, Dick Henderson, who was also a stretcher bearer at Gallipoli.
Moore-Jones’ painting has inspired commemorations of Simpson and his donkey that can be found at many war memorials across Australia (this one is at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra) and in his hometown of South Shields, UK.
But let’s not forget the donkeys and their work and sacrifice. Murphy, one of Simpson’s donkeys, continued rescuing wounded soldiers at Gallipoli, under the guidance of Dick Henderson. In 1997, the Australian RSPCA awarded its Purple Cross to Murphy for performing outstanding acts of bravery towards humans. And in the late 1970s, the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) adopted a donkey as its mascot.
Meet Pte Jeremy Jeremiah Simpson (MA 0090).
Lest we forget.
[1] By the time the campaign ended, more than 130,000 men had died: at least 87,000 Ottoman soldiers and 44,000 Allied soldiers, including more than 8700 Australians. Among the dead were 2779 New Zealanders, about a sixth of all those who had landed on the peninsula. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/the-gallipoli-campaign/introduction