Dunlop, Sir Edward (1907-1993), was an Australian surgeon and war hero. During World War II (1939-1945) he was captured in Indonesia by the Japanese, and was beaten and tortured. He stood up for the rights of his men and cared physically and mentally for Allied prisoners of war (POW’s) during the construction of the Burma Railway (also called the Burma-Thailand Railway). After the war, he worked hard to support POW’s on their return from Burma (now Myanmar). In 1986, he published The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop. This is a daily record of his experiences in prison camps in Java and on the forced march to labor on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
Ernest Edward Dunlop was born on July 12, 1907, in Wangaratta, Victoria, and was known by the nickname “Weary.” (The nickname came as a result of the association of his surname with the Dunlop make of tire, thus “tired”—and “Weary.”) He was the son of a farmer and studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1934. He went to London in 1938. When war started, he took a commission in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. After the war he continued his medical career and was knighted for his services to medicine in 1969. In 1976, he was named Australian of the Year. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1987. The Order of Australia is Australia’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. Dunlop died on July 2, 1993, in Melbourne.
