Weary Dunlop's Pows

In 1941, two years after the commencement of World War Two, Japan entered the war and invaded much of Southern Asia, capturing and imprisoning 22’000 Australians, who became POWs. One of those prisoners was Colonel Ernest Edward Dunlop, known to his fellow Australians as ‘Weary’. A medical officer responsible for over a thousand men on the Burma-Thai railway, who has been remembered because of his significant devotion to his fellow POWs and how he resisted Japanese brutality. Weary Dunlop’s significance in WWII and into the present day, is mostly the product of his effect on his fellow Australian POWs, who saw him as a leader amongst men and a man of profound altruism, in addition to establishing him as a symbol of hope and security because

The lack of medical supplies provided by the Japanese and poor hygiene conditions saw many thousands of men suffering from life-threatening diseases such as malaria and cholera. Sickness and disease ran riot, and malnutrition was a way of life. Dunlop, neglecting his own health, as Former Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen put it: “worked ceaselessly to save men who were…suffering” (Cowen, 2004). Honoured war general and original ANZAC soldier Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee corroborates the views of Cowen, stating that Dunlop constantly worked long hours, at the detriment of his own health, resulting in the saving of many lives (Sturdee, 1946). Furthermore, Dunlop’s profound altruism extended far beyond the simple duty of a medical officer. He demonstrated devotion and dedication to his patients beyond all expectation, as stated by prominent biographer Sue Ebury in her biography of Dunlop, in saying that he had remained in the Allied General Hospital after the Japanese had seized Java, refusing to abandon his patients (Ebury, 2009). Dunlop, in saving the lives of so many, sacrificed his own health – as illustrated in his War diaries - contracting threatening diseases such as Cholera and subjecting himself to the torment of tropical infection (Dunlop, 1986). Ray Parkin, fellow POW confirms this in his book: “Weary’s legs are bad – ulcers and beriberi. But he keeps going all day at the hospital” (Parkin, 1963, pg. 51). Dunlop’s willingness to persist in the face of serious illness to aid those men who were suffering, illustrates a man who is selfless until the end, with an unshakeable dedication to his men, who was willing to sacrifice his own health for the good of others. This tireless support he provided for his men created their image of him – a representation of hope and