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Possibly the most famous stories regarding donkeys in WWI is that of John Kirkpatrick Simpson and his donkey, who together became an ANZAC legend. Simpson landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 and, from the first night, took a donkey (or possibly a couple) that had been landed for one of the field artillery units, and began carrying wounded soldiers from the battle line to the beach for evacuation. Leading the donkey/s, which he variously named Duffy or Murphy, he began his journeys from the beach, up Shrapnel Gully and then Monash Valley. He carried water on his way and wounded on his way back. Simpson continued this for three and a half weeks, disregarding the danger until, on the morning of 19 May 1915, he was killed by Turkish machine gun fire near Steele's Post, as he was returning down Monash Valley with a wounded man. The donkey continued on the well-worn track, obediently carrying the wounded man to where he would be tended.
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