Man with the Donkey

Have you heard the story of Simpson and his donkey?

This sculpture ‘Man with the donkey’ by Wallace Anderson is a tribute to the stretcher bearers and their donkeys on the Gallipoli Peninsula in the First World War.

Many soldiers wounded at Gallipoli owed their life to the stretcher bearers. They braved enemy fire to rescue men from the frontline and carry them to dressing stations on the beach.

The best known of the bearers was John Simpson Kirkpatrick. He was famous for using a donkey to aid him as casualties grew and manpower was at its limits. Simpson, as he was known, was at the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and was killed on 19 May 1915. His story is well known in Australian history.

Rosemary plants grow at the base of the sculpture. This is a plant of remembrance and can be found growing wild on the Gallipoli Peninsula. On Anzac Day, you often see people placing poppies in this garden. They are remembering the work of stretcher bearers and other medical staff in times of war.

View of the Shrine of Remembrance with Wallace Anderson's The Man with the Donkey sculpture in midground, Unknown, 1950s
Men from the Gallipoli Legion of Anzacs laying a wreath beneath Wallace Anderson's Man with the Donkey sculpture, Gascard Collection, The Age, 1933-75