Weary Dunlop

Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop (July 12, 1907 - July 2, 1993) was born in Wangaratta, Victora Australia. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1934 with first class honours in Medicine. Weary Dunlop was a surgeon who was renowned for his bravery whilst being held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II.

During World War II, he served in the Middle East, including at Tobruk until the Australian Divisions were wtihdrawn for home defence. His troopship was diverted to Java in an ill-planned attempt to bolsdter the defences there. On 26 February, 1942, he was promoted to temporary Lt Colonel. Dunlop became a Japanese prisoner of war when he was captured in Bandung, Java.

After being held in a number of camps in Java, he was eventually moved to the Thai-Burma railway, where prisoners of the Japanese were being used as slave labour to construct a strategically important railway between the Indochina and Burma areas of operation. Conditions in the railway camps were primitive and horrific - food was totally inadequate, beatings were frequent and severe, there were no medical supplies, tropical disease was rampant, and the Japanese required a level of productivity that would have been difficult for fully fit and properly equipped men to achieve.

Along with a number of other Commonwealth Medical Officers, Dunlop's dedication and heriosm became a legend among prisoners.