SIMPSON AND THE DONKEY

I guess there are some unhappy campers in Oz following the release of the report which debunks much of the myth surrounding 'Simpson and the Donkey' at the Gallipoli landings in 1915.    You can read it here but at the end of the day Simpson should be honoured as have done his duty and done it well.   He made the ultimate sacrifice and his exploits were recognised with a Mentioned in Despatches (the same award given to our own Lieutenant Colonel William Malone of Chunuk Bair fame).  

The simple reality is that many war stories grow with the telling.   That is human nature enhanced by the 'fog of war'.

There is a New Zealand corollary to the story which is less well known.   When Simpson was killed 3/258 Private Richard (Dick) Henderson of the 2nd Field Ambulance, NZ Medical Corps, continued the work right through until the end of the campaign using the Murphy the donkey.   "It was easier carrying a wounded man on the donkey than it was on a stretcher or over ones shoulder" said Henderson in an interview in 1950.

Henderson was a teacher at Mt Roskill (later renamed Three Kings) School when he enlisted on 10 August 1914.   Following Gallipoli Henderson served on the Western Front where he was gassed.   At the Battle of the Somme his courage was again on display and he was awarded the Military Medal for repeatedly bringing in wounded men under heavy shell fire.

The personal toll on Henderson was considerable.  On his return to New Zealand he resumed teaching but never fully recovered.   He went blind in 1934.   He died in Green Lane Hospital in 1958 aged 63.

On ANZAC Day we should remember with pride both Simpson and Henderson (and perhaps spare a thought for Murphy).