An Anzac Day Message from Our Chairman
Friday 24th April, 2020
Lest We Forget
Just outside the buildings of the War Memorial in Canberra stands Peter Corlett’s sculpture of Simpson and his donkey. John Simpson was a private in the Australian Army Medical Corps. With his donkey Murphy he carried the wounded ‘through deadly sniping and furious shrapnel fire’ to the safety of the beach at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. Simpson was killed in action three weeks after his Anzac Day landing. Dick Henderson of the New Zealand Medical Corps then took Murphy’s reigns and continued Simpson’s work.
Simpson reminds me of care, hope and courage in a time when all would have been scared. On a photo in the War Memorial’s collection, Simpson is smiling; together with Murphy he has found purpose in a scary world. Today, in this Covidian period, it is easy to feel so much closer to those sentiments. This Anzac Day think of our Anzacs, and especially Simpson and his donkey, and remember hope, courage, care, dedication and a smile.
Henk den Hertog
Chairman of the Harbison Board
Anzac Day 2020