Private John Simpson

Australia, 1988

Film
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Episode of Series “Willesee’s Australians”.
One of the greatest symbols of Australia at war is that of Private John Simpson and the Battle of Gallipoli. Simpson and his donkey “Duffy” were a familiar sight on the shores of Gallipoli as they worked day and night carrying wounded allied soldiers from the frontline to the beach. He was attributed with saving the lives of hundreds, his tenderness and concern for the wounded were renowned. His death was inevitable and he knew it. Private John Simpson and his donkey have gone down in history as a bastion of valour amidst a world at war.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Henri Safran

co-producer

Pamela Vanneck

Ron Saunders

production company

Film Australia

Duration

00:48:00:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
1988

Appears in

Willesee's Australians

Group of items

Willesee's Australians

Explore

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

300834

Language

English

Subject categories

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Australia - Armed forces

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Kirkpatrick, John Simpson

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1914-1918

History → Kirkpatrick, John Simpson

People → Kirkpatrick, John Simpson

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/79856--private-john-simpson/ |title=Private John Simpson |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=21 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}