MOST Australian schoolchildren know about the legendary courage of South Shields man John Simpson Kirkpatrick, but his heroics are largely ignored in Britain.

The man with the donkey, as he became known, saved the lives of over 300 men during the bloody battle of Gallipoli during World War One.

Born in 1892 at South Shields in County Durham, Kirkpatrick is now honoured at the Australian War Museum in Canberra, yet in the UK he remains virtually unknown and unrecognised.

A television documentary, to be broadcast tonight on Tyne Tees Television, hopes to highlight the extraordinary courage of the young soldier.

His story, recounted across Australia, is a simple tale of courage and common sense in the face of extreme adversity.

Kirkpatrick arrived in Australia on board a merchant navy ship in 1913. He jumped ship in Newcastle, New South Wales, and spent four years doing all sorts of odd jobs from cane cutting in far north Queensland to cattle work in western New South Wales. In August 1914, Simpson was on board the SS Yankalilla as it steamed into Fremantle near Perth in West Australia.

He was astonished to learn that Britain and Germany were at war. Simpson saw the war as a chance for him to do his duty, and get back home to see his mother and sister in South Shields a lot quicker than he'd planned.

He was certain he would be sent to Aldershot for his training before he being dispatched to France and the Western Front - so there'd be plenty of time to get up to Shields to see his family in the meantime.

So he jumped ship a second time, to join up.

Kirkpatrick was afraid the Australian Imperial Force might not accept a deserter from the Merchant Navy, so he dropped his surname and enlisted as John Simpson.

He was the 202nd man to sign up. Having spent his merchant navy days working in ships' engine rooms shovelling coal, Simpson was the ideal build for a stretcher-bearer and after signing up he was sent to Blackboy Hill camp, 35 km east of Perth where he met up with the rest of the 3rd Field Ambulance.

Soon after training he was sent to England. On the way, the convoy was diverted to Egypt and in April 1915, Simpson found himself and the rest of the Australian troops landing at an unknown place on a far away Turkish peninsular called Gallipoli. This was the first time that the young men from Australia had fought as Australians and the eyes of the nation watched.

At dawn on April 25, 1915, Simpson landed with the rest of the fledgling Australian troops at ANZAC Cove.

Within days he had recruited a stray donkey to help in his work as a stretcher-bearer.

He spent the rest of his time at Gallipoli carrying injured men from the front line through Shrapnel Gully to medical aid, all the while dodging Turkish bullets and artillery shells, and is thought to have saved hundreds of wounded men.

Private Jack Simpson Kirkpatrick was killed on May 19, 1915, by machine gun fire as he and his faithful donkey Murphy were taking yet another casualty to medical aid. He was 23 years old.

He was buried beneath a simple wooden cross that had just his name on it. His donkey survived the hail of bullets that killed his master. Simpson was nominated for the Victoria Cross, through his unit, on the June 3, 1915.

He was also recommended by Colonel John Monash, commander of the 4th Brigade, who sent in a lengthy report on the May 20, the day after Jack was killed.

The report reads in part:

"Private Simpson and his little beast earned the admiration of everyone at the upper end of the valley. They worked all day and night throughout the whole period since the landing, and the help rendered to the wounded was invaluable.

"Simpson knew no fear and moved unconcernedly amid shrapnel and rifle fire, steadily carrying out his self-imposed task day by day, and he frequently earned the applause of the personnel for his many fearless rescues of wounded men from areas subject to rifle and shrapnel fire."

Unfortunately, Simpson was recommended under the wrong category of heroism and his VC request was denied. In July 1967, an attempt was made to rectify this mistake when a petition was sent to the British War Office on behalf of the Australian people, requesting that a posthumous Victoria Cross be awarded.

The request was denied on the grounds that it would create a dangerous precedent.

Tonight's one-hour documentary traces Simpson's story from his birthplace in South Shields to his grave at Gallipoli.

Australian journalist Patrick Condren, who will present the programme, says: "It's a tremendous honour to be in a position to tell the story of this incredibly brave man to his home country. I think a lot of Australians believe that Simpson was born and bred in Australia, in fact I almost ended up in a fight with my Scottish producer when he first told me Simpson was, in fact, English.

"This was a bloke who realised that he could do more for his fellow diggers by disobeying orders to use a donkey to ferry the injured from the front line to the medical facilities near the Gallipoli Beach.

"The sad thing is that his own country steadfastly refuses to honour his efforts"

An Ordinary Hero will be shown tonight on Tyne Tees at 10.50pm