EDITORIAL: 'Donkey' award reflects Anzac spirit | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

ROGER MORONEY

One of the most iconic symbols of Gallipoli is of a man leading a donkey along a treacherously narrow cliffside path.

The donkey bears a critically injured soldier.

It says everything.

It's basically a bloke who has chosen to ignore the risk to his own life in favour of doing everything he can to save the life of another bloke.

We learned of ``Simpson's donkey' at primary school and, of course, being 7 or 8 years old, several of us asked ``but was the donkey all right?'

Bravery, courage, spirit and comradeship were forged tougher than the steel of any bayonet at Gallipoli as ordinary men were plunged into an extraordinary situation.

Gallipoli was no adventure. It was a disastrous waste of life - as is any conflict.

The legend of the man with the donkey will never fade because it is so emotionally strong.

And as it has transpired, there is a strong Kiwi connection to it.

While known as ``Simpson's donkey', historians have declared that the painting was actually taken from a photograph of New Zealand medic Dick Henderson ... although the painter believed it was Simpson.

Both men used donkeys as ambulances in the field, and Simpson eventually paid the ultimate price for his undaunted commitment and compassion.

Simpson and Henderson rescued hundreds of wounded Anzac soldiers and their devotion and heroism led to soldiers at Gallipoli often asking ``has the bloke with the donkey stopped one yet?'.

The image of the man and the donkey carrying a wounded soldier will only strengthen, despite the passing of the years, and it is an image which has sparked what will be an annual award in New Zealand to recognise the efforts and achievements of an individual or group who have best emulated the Anzac spirit.

Fittingly, announcement of the new award, in the form of a statuette of the man and donkey, was made this week in the lead-up to Anzac Day 2009.

Veterans Affairs Minister Judith Collins said nominations for the award could be made on behalf of any New Zealand citizen, with the first to be presented on Anzac Day 2010 - which will also be the 95th anniversary of the start of the Gallipoli campaign.

It is easy to become blase about awards and honours but here is one which is very much from the heart of the New Zealand nation.

It is from an era, and an event, which we should never forget.

Those future recipients can indeed stand proud in the knowledge they have reflected the Anzac spirit.

A spirit that will never die.