Simpson and His Donkey S & S Distress Fund Appeal 1938 Badge

Click image to enlarge

Irregular pentagonal shaped badge of celluloid over cardboard measuring 24mm wide by 38mm high. Badge comprises a sepia toned photograph with the words S & S DISTRESS FUND APPEAL 1938 at the top and SIMPSON & HIS DONKEY at the bottom. Simpson is John Simpson Kirkpatrick, an English immigrant to Australia who served as a stretcher bearer for the AIF at Gallipoli. He was killed by gunfire on 19 May 1915. It was noted by high ranking officers at the time of service that he worked day and night and regardless of shrapnel and machine gun fire.

The badge itself was part of the the S & S Distress Fund Appeal (Sailors and Soldiers Distress Fund) of 1938 which aimed to raise £20,000 in the first part of 1938 until Anzac Day of that year (April 25). It was hoped that the badges would be worn on Anzac Day in 1938 by members of the general public. The money was to be raised to provide immediate relief to returned soldiers and sailors and to provide the core of a new fund after the South Australian Soldiers Fund ceased to operate. The South Australian Soldiers Fund helped returned World War 1 Soldiers and their families for 22 years before running out of money.

The photograph depicts a man and his donkey carrying a wounded soldier who is slumped against the man who is leading the donkey. The photo which was taken by one Sgt. Jas G Jackson of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was used as the basis for this famous painting by Horace Moore-Jones. The painting is found in the Australian War Memorial and is an iconic image familiar to many Australians. For many years it was was believed to depict Simpson. However it depicts Dick Henderson, a New Zealander who performed stretcher bearer duties at ANZAC Cove after Simpson was killed.

References:

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA) Page 23, Saturday 12 March 1938
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA) Page 22, Wednesday 20 April 1938