Competition

First Prize

Grandad’s Purple Donkey
by Kym Eitel
Limestone Creek, Qld

My Grandad told me stories, back when I was just a girl,
of fun and far-off places and my mind would be awhirl.
Exciting stories filled my head, I’d sit upon the floor,
and beg him, “Tell the donkey stories Grandad - just once more.”

To hide the gore of war from me, he’d make the stories fun,
and “happy ever after” was the close of every one.
He spoke of World War Two, Fromelles, the Sinai, Palestine,
showed medals, faded telegrams, old letters tied in twine.

Young faces smiled in tattered photos - smooth-faced teenage men,
but soon my thoughts would wander, “Tell the donkey one again!”
“A steam boat with a thousandⁱdonkeysⁱⁱ sailed to Anzac Coveⁱⁱⁱ,
and into clear blue water all the laughingiv donkeys dove… ”

But I was just a five year old, I didn’t see the truth
or heartache in the stories of his war-time stolen youth.
“And mule-teams^v too, they liked to play in mud pools, Ypres, France.
When grumpy though, long ears laid back they’d freeze in stubborn stance.”

The shed was Grandad’s refuge, like his peaceful, secret place.
From time to time, his words would slow, He’d stare off into space.
“They ’re God’s own special creatures - see the cross upon their backs?
They’re mighty strong They hauled supplies^vi&vii and food in heavy packs.^viii&ix

He jig-sawed wood and sawdust flew. He sanded smooth each piece.
Exertion seemed to soothe his soul, as though it brought release.
“The donkeys walked on silent hooves when men played hide and seek
pulled stick and canvas stretchers for the soldiers, hurt or weak”

As droplets spattered, Grandad sniffed, “By Christ, it’s hot in here.”
It wasn’t sweat. Each splatter was a burning, grief-filled tear.
The timber soaked up anger as he freed himself of pain
by telling funny stories^x  - how the donkeys kept him sane.

“Poor Belle slid down the mountain once, we had to winch her up^xi,
and Duffy, he liked whiskey, he would slurp it from my cup.
And when their hungry tummies growled they watched us as we ate.
I ’d let them have my hard tack and the crumbs right of my plate!”

And then he’d droop, his hands would stop, "Their hearts were full of trust.
I gladly shared my food with them…can't live on rocks and dust.”
He glued and hammered softly, and I soon began to see,
he’d built a donkey rocking horse, especially for me!

“The dark haired donkeys, they could hide beneath the veil of night,
but grey ones glowed like night lights, if the stars were shining bright.
And so, to make them darker, and to keep them safe from view,
we dyed the donkeys purple with a Condy’s Crystals^xii   brew.

The camouflage of purple hid them well… until they brayed^xiii!”
He laughed and shook a can of paint - a pretty purple shade.
Each brush stroke went on lovingly, like Gramps was grooming coats^xiv
of tiny, gentle donkeys on the shore, straight off the boats.

“Those fearless purple angels pulled the Red Crossxv stretcher beds,
while fireworks whizzed and sparkled, making halos ‘round their heads.”
When Gramps was sure the paint had dried, I touched it, cool and sleek,
then placed a thousand kisses on his smiling, stubbled cheek.

I rocked upon that special toy my dear old Grandad made,
and asked incessant questions, “What is shrapnel? What’s grenade?”
He’d flinch, a mask would hide his face, “Those words are full of woe. `
Courageous mates like Blossom and Delilah helped me though. ”

I memorised each donkey’s name, each story and each deed 
“new shave tails^xvi” - untrained donkeys that he had to train and feed 
“hey, saddler! - bring a plate and punch!^xvii”, as tummies shrank with thirst _
“those faithful donkeys…” Grandad paused and then his big heart burst… 

“They swam through blood-filled water^xviiifrom the boats to get to shore
where bullets fall like hail stones in that thudding hell of war.
Through cannon’s boom and sniper fire, with shrapnel overhead –
the ground was wet with blood where men and beasts lay sprawled out, dead.”

Tales tumbled out I’d never heard - he’d kept them locked inside.
I didn’t want to hear them, so I snuck away and cried.
I made a little stretcher and pretended ‘nurse at war’,
with dolls as injured soldiers, crayoned blood across the floor.

When Grandad saw me acting out that gruesome war-time scene,
he snatched my purple donkey and he slammed the kitchen screen.
I cringed to hear the anguish in his voice as Grandad fled –
“I’ve filled her mind with poisoned thoughts! Oh, God just strike me dead.”

My Grandma chased him, sobbing, but he pushed her hugs aside.
I’d shot him in the heart. He snapped. His joy for life just died.
The doctors gave him sedatives to keep him numb and calm.
They put him in a hospital to keep him safe from harm.

“Come out and fight, you bastards! Come and face me, man to man.
Your name is on my bullet! Come and shoot me Q’ you can! ”
My Grandma hugged me close and told me I was not to blame,
but Gramps had been okay until he saw my stupid game.

My rampant curiosity just would not let him be.
I gouged and clawed my probing way inside his memory.
Yes, I had brought those horrid visions back to haunt him so;
the stench of death and holding gutted mates while cursing foe.

He only lived a few more weeks before he passed away.
The doctors said that Gramps gave up. His heart just stopped one day.
His shed became my refuge where I cried each day and hid.
I swept the floor and tidied tools, the way that Grandad did.

One day, a glimpse of purple caught my eye, then gasps of joy –
wrapped carefully in blankets was my wooden donkey toy.
Gramps’ stories flooded back anew. I knew them word for word
as though it was just yesterday, his rumbling voice I’d heard.

“A steam boat with a thousand donkeys sailed to Anzac Cove,
and into clear blue water all the laughing donkeys dove…”
Oh how I’d love to kiss him now, tears burned and welled. I sniffed.
His heart and soul, his spirit, lived inside that special gift.

lf I could tum back time, I’d change that day that caused his end –
my Gramps would still be living… if I hadn’t played pretend.

1. Vets At War, Ian Parsonson, (page 128) - …  General Allenby… Palestine… 40,000 camels, 46,000 horses, 15,000
   mules and several thousand donkeys…"
2. Forgotten Heroes, The Australian Waler Horse, Jill Mather (page 102) - “The use of donkeys as pack animals was not
   uncommon and like the Walers they shared the load not onlv in the Middle East but earlier in South Africa during the Boer War, when donkeys and mules were extensively used The number of donkeys purchased for service in the Middle East totalled 12 790 between September and December l 9l 7. " l am assuming they would have been used for the same purposes at Anzac Cove.
3. Animal Heroes, Anthony Hill (page 14) - “Murphy ...was one of several hundred donkeys rounded up from their island homes on Imbros and Lemnos, and slung aboard the transport ships to join the mules brought from Egypt to haul guns and supplies. Next morning, they steamed across the narrow sea… the animals were loaded into barges and ferried ashore. Some even had to swim the last few hundred metres… to the beach… In all of the confusion, some of them  wandered off to find a safe place to graze. … Simpson… came across one of the donkeys, As a lad, Jack [John Simpson Kirkpatrick] had often seen donkeys taking people for holiday rides on the beach, Now, on the shores of Anzac Cove he thought they might also be good for carrying those injured in war."
4. Personal correspondence from Jill Mather - “Donkeys were very bad travelers (the Canadians and US Vets reports) state that lots died of sheer fright or took ages to recover from being shipped", but Grandad is making it a happy story to tell to a child.
5. Animal Allies, Ross Pearson (pages 29 - 48) - Mules were used on the Kokoda Track, Gallipoli, Ypres in France, Palestine, Kurdistan, Burma, Italy and Syria. Photo on page 32.
6. The Old Campaigners - Camels, Mules, Donkeys and Waler Horses, Jill Mather (page 128) - "obscure references in
   British Army stories mention the use of donkeys for the delivery of ammunition, stores and as comforters in the trenches where one soldier records cuddling up to a little donkey for succour and warmth. As pack animals they were loaded up with gear that far exceeded the recommended weight of 68kg."
7. The Old Campaigners - Camels, Mules, Donkeys and Waler Horses, Jill Mather (page 132) - “The little donkey, said
   to be “The King of Beasts " in Palestine, was loaded up with packs double the size of the animal and on top of the load was a Gyppo, sitting with his legs swinging. An Australian took a dim view of this added weight and was included to yank the rider off the poor donkey but later came to appreciate what a 'wonder‘ the little donk was. No matter what task he was called on to do, he did it, living on ‘the smell of an oily rag‘. ”
8. Forgotten Heroes, The Australian Waler Horse, Jill Mather (page 101) - "Albert Facey in his book ‘A Fortunate Life’
   mentions donkeys were worked by Indians sent to Gallipoli for that purpose. Guarding the donkey trains was one of the duties as the ‘donks ’ carried the ammunition to the troops on the firing lines."
9. Vets At War, lan Parsonson (page 131) - "Wheeled vehicles were useless… a special service of 2, 000 donkeys and
   thousands of camels was hastily organised. The agile little donkeys bearing enormous loads… climbed the steepest
   tracks in the wilds of Judea, slithering in the mud… the donkeys and camels saved the transport situation and Allenby was enabled to feed his men and maintain his advanced position."
10. During recreation breaks, donkeys were used to play bareback donkey polo matches - photograph, Animal Allies, Ross Pearson (page 50, Donkeys WWI)
11. Animal Allies, Ross Pearson (page 40, Mules ln Burma) - “the track was hazardous and conditions very bad Then there was the problem of traffic passing you - particularly mule teams. On steep down-grades the muleteers would call out "Mulesl "from the top. If they hit you on a narrow path you ’d go over the edge. Sometimes a mule would go over but they were seldom injured They could fall hundreds of feet, spilling their loads and nine times out of ten, they 'd be just eating bamboo where they landed just as if nothing had happened."
12. Animal Allies, Ross Pearson (page 43 - Mules In Syria) - "As the mules were either white or pale grey, D-Company's
    CSM, Charlie Shea, very sensibly realised that they were a conspicuous target. He… prepared a solution of Condy‘s
    crystals with which the mules were painted. The resulting purple blended well with the reddish rocky hills."
13. To prevent detection from enemy hearing the mules braying, their voices boxes were sometimes removed. Animal Allies, Ross Pearson (page 38, Mules in Bunna) - “On the track the mules made very little noise as their voice boxes had been removed to ensure quiet in jungle operations.”
14. Forgotten Heroes, The Australian Waler Horse, Jill Mather (page 101) - "One trooper complained he is sick of
    grooming donkeys.”
15. Animal Heroes, Anthony Hill (page 11) - “ he’d painted a red cross on a white brassard - an armband - to be tied
    between Murphy 's ears [Simpson's Donkey], to show that he was a proper ambulance donkey."
16. ...website I can’t find again
17. ...website I can’t find again
18. Animal Heroes, Anthony Hill (page 15) - "they steamed across the narrow sea: away from the peaceful life they’d known, to the thundering hell of war. And there, amid the roar of gunfire, the animals were loaded into barges and ferried ashore. Some even had to swim the last few hundred metres through blood-stained water to the beach."