John Simpson Kirpatrick – Man with the Donkey, South Shields
A memorial depicting Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick and his donkey stands outside Kirkpatrick’s public house on Ocean Road, South Shields. Also known as the ‘man with the donkey’, South Shields born Kirkpatrick emigrated to Australia where he joined the Army at the start of the First World War. He went on to become a household name for rescuing injured soldiers under heavy Turkish fire at the battle of Gallipoli. Sadly Kirkpatrick was killed in action in 1915, aged just 22 – but not before saving more than 300 wounded comrades by carrying them to safety on his donkey.