Early life and Family

John Simpson Kirkpatrick was born on 6th July 1892 at South Shields, Durham which is in England. He was one of the eight children of Sarah Simpson Kirkpatrick and Robert Kirkpatrick. When he was young he worked with donkeys in the summer holidays. He also worked as a milk boy for 4 years.

Australia and Army

At the age of 17, John Simpson joined the Merchant Marines where he headed to Australia. There, he briefly tried cane cutting, coal mining and also joined the gold rush. However, John did not dig a fortune from the ground. He also worked as a storeman who stocked shelves. Then on 25/8/1915, he joined the AIF( Australian Imparial Force) at Blackboy Hill camp in Perth. His main reason for joining was not wanting to become a soldier but like many others, it was the prospect of returning to England.

Egypt and WWI

Since John thought they were going to go back to England, he was disappointed when they landed in egypt to do training. In the boiling hot deserts, John became a stretcher-bearer and his previous job as a stoeman helped. He was posted to 3rd Firld Ambulance in the Medical Corps. Simpson was amongst those who landed at Gallipoli on 25/4/1915. A few days later, while he was on a delivery, he found a little scared donkey in the bushes. Simpson decided to take advantage of it and he named the donkey Duffy. For the next few weeks, Simpson and Duffy worked continuesly to save soldiers. He would tie Duffy to a tree and then run out to save an injured soldier and carry him onto Duffy's back. He also made friends with the Indian soldiers who were also there. They called Bahadur which meant 'bravest of the brave'.

Death and Memorial

John was a brave soldier but his short life ended on may 19th when a turkish machine-gun shot him through the heart. When his comerades found him beside the footpath, they buried him at a place called Hell Spit. When the Indian Soldiers heard that Bahadur was dead, they made a wreath out of wild floweres and placed it on his grave. John Simpson Kirkpatrick is remembered for his bravery in the war and there is a bronze sculpture of him at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.