Gallipoli Hero Simpson May Get His Vc Yet

Sun Herald

Sunday December 23, 2007

By Frank Walker

GALLIPOLI war hero John Simpson, who rescued wounded diggers with his donkey, could be among the first recipients of an Australian-issued Victoria Cross (VC).

The Federal Government will set up a special war medals tribunal to assess cases of Australians who were denied VCs by the British in the two world wars and Vietnam.

Australians were eligible for the British-issued VC until 1991.

A total of 96 Australians have received the VC, the highest military honour for bravery: six in the Boer War, 64 in WWI, two in North Russia, 20 in WWII and four in Vietnam.

In 1991, the Australian Government decided it would rule if an Australian should get the VC.

None have been awarded since then, but several Australian war heroes could finally get their honour if the tribunal recommends retrospective VC awards.

These include heroes such as Simpson, who risked his life at Gallipoli in 1915, running a gauntlet of machine-gun fire and snipers 12 times a day to bring wounded diggers down from the battle front. He was killed after 24 days.

Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Mike Kelly, who will be in charge of the tribunal, said it would be made up of people with military service experience and would start work early in 2008.