PublishedBig Sky, May 2012 |
ISBN9781921941740 |
FormatSoftcover, 416 pages |
Dimensions23.2cm × 15.5cm × 2.5cm |
This book examines and clinically debunks the myth that has grown up around Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, the so-called ‘Man with the Donkey’, the quintessential Australian ‘hero’ of Gallipoli. Based on historical documents, both official and unofficial, Graham Wilson shows that almost every word ever spoken or written about Simpson following his death is false.
There is no question that Simpson performed valuable work at Gallipoli using a donkey to transport lightly wounded men to medical facilities. However, claims made that Simpson ‘saved 300 men’; that he ‘ignored orders’ that medical personnel were not to go out to recover wounded as it was too dangerous and every other posthumous statement made about Simpson are examined in forensic detail, and found to be highly inaccurate. In particular, the book examines that part of the myth connected with the supposed ‘official recommendation’ for a Victoria Cross for Simpson.
