Strecher-bearer John Simpson Kirkpatrick ferried wounded soldiers on a donkey from ANZAC Cove in April 1915 during the brutal fighting at Gallipoli. He is a hero to so many in New Zealand and Australia, but his story is almost unknown in birthplace of South Shields in the North of England, so a delegation from the RSL in Australia met members of South Tyneside Council who've named Kirkpatrick 'a son of the Borough' because of his acts of valour. They've started an online petition to award Simpson the Victoria Cross, almost 100 years after his death.
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