Know Your Park Lands Art: Simpson and Donkey

by Jeannie White

Our series of stories, Know Your Park Lands Art, guides you through various creative displays within your Adelaide Park Lands.

This statue, ‘Simpson and his Donkey’, was commissioned in 2007.

“Simpson and his Donkey” by Robert Hannaford off King William Road in Angas Gardens, Red Gum Park' / Karrawirra (Park 12)

The artist, Robert Hannaford, made several models, before the final version was decided upon and cast into bronze, and officially unveiled on 9 February 2012 by South Australia’s Governor Kevin Scarce.

The statue is a tribute to the service and sacrifice of Australian medical health personnel in all theatres of war.

It portrays the heroism of Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick at Anzac Cove in Turkiye in 1915 during the First World War. It shows Private Simpson holding a wounded soldier on the back of a donkey as he leads them towards help.

This is not the only major artwork that pays tribute to Simpson and his donkey.

'The man with the donkey' is also commemorated by another bronze statue at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and by paintings in Canberra and Auckland.

About the artist

Robert Hannaford is one of South Australia’s greatest and best-known artists. He was born in 1944 and grew up on his family's farm in the Gilbert Valley near Riverton.

During his early working life, he served as a cartoonist at the ‘Adelaide Advertiser’. But later, he progressed to become a professional painter and sculptor.

He won the Doug Moran national portrait prize in 1990.

He has been a finalist at the Archibald Prize 27 times since 1992, and won the People’s Choice award in 1992, 1996 and 1998.

In 2001, he received the Australian Centenary Medal "for service to the community through art".

In 2014 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for significant service to the visual arts as a painter and sculptor", and also received the Premier's Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Ruby Awards.

Robert Hannaford, AM, in 2014. Pic: Hobart Mercury

Among Robert Hannaford’s dozens of award-winning portraits and sculptures he is also known for this Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander war memorial on the Torrens Parade ground, also in Red Gum Park / Karrawirra (Park 12). Pic: Doug Butler



John Simpson (Kirkpatrick)

John Simpson Kirkpatrick was born in 1892 at Shields in Durham. At the age of 17 he joined the merchant navy in England, which led to his travels to Australia. In 1910, he deserted at Newcastle in New South Wales, then spent the next four years working in jobs around Australia as a cane cutter, station hand and positions such as a miner.

John Simpson enlisted in the AIF, hoping to return to England eventually. During the 3rd Field Ambulance at Gallipoli, his original intention was to be a stretcher bearer, but Simpson decided a donkey could provide better assistance with his duties.

The Australian troops, including Simpson, landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 2015. On the beach known as ANZAC Cove, Private Simpson assisted wounded men, loading them onto his donkey to get them to medical attention. His trips with wounded soldiers were regularly under fire, and he was shot dead after only three weeks, on 19 May 1915.

Simpson and his donkey, Gallipoli, 1915. Pic: Australian War Memorial

Tom Curran, author of “Not Only A Hero” describes Simpson’s dedication as a member of the 3rd Field Ambulance as an “epic tale of devotion”.

Read more about Private John Simpson at the Australian Dictionary of Biography,

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kirkpatrick-john-simpson-6975

See the earlier stories in this series: