General News
23 April, 2026
Weary Dunlop: “A lighthouse of sanity in a universe of madness and suffering”
The above quote by one of Weary’s men, author Donald Stuart, goes some way to explaining why over ten thousand people turned up at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne for Lieutenant Colonel Weary Dunlop’s State funeral in 1993.
The above quote by one of Weary’s men, author Donald Stuart, goes some way to explaining why over ten thousand people turned up at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne for Lieutenant Colonel Weary Dunlop’s State funeral in 1993.
In World War II, Edward Weary Dunlop served in the Australian Medical Corps as a surgeon.
He became a Japanese prisoner of war in 1942 when he was captured in Bandung, Java, together with the hospital he was commanding.
After a period in Singapore’s Changi Prisoner of War Camp he was transferred in January 1943 to command the first Australians sent to work on the notorious Thai segment of the Burma-Thailand railway.
Here prisoners of war were being used as forced labour to construct a strategically important railway for the Japanese between Bangkok and Rangoon.
Hellfire Pass was an especially infamous section of this railway.
Conditions in the railway camps were primitive and horrific - food was totally inadequate, beatings were frequent and severe, there were no medical supplies, tropical diseases were rampant.
Weary remained there until the war ended, labouring tirelessly as a doctor to save wounded, sick and malnourished men.
Many times he put his own life at risk as he stood up to the brutality of his Japanese captors.
Though not the only medical officer to act in this selfless way, his name was to become a legend among Australian POWs and an inspiration for their own survival.
After the war Dunlop resumed his medical practice where often his patients were survivors from the Burma railway.
Dunlop had a special interest in promoting good relations between Australia and Asian nations, especially Thailand.
He taught and undertook surgical work in Thailand, Ceylon and India.
Weary’s involvement in Indian medicine was particularly strong and he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Association of Surgeons in 1972.
Dunlop maintained an ongoing concern for the health and welfare of former POWs of the Japanese.
He supported individuals making pension claims and advised and lobbied governments on their behalf.
He was Chairman of the Prisoners of War Trust Fund from l969-77.
Dunlop also remained active with ex-prisoner of war and veterans associations, being for a time federal president of the Ex-POW Association of Australia.
In a sign of his great humanity he rejected hatred of his former captors and promoted reconciliation with the Japanese.
Prime Minister at the time Paul Keating, paid tribute to Sir Edward, saying, “He was courageous, determined, humble and, above all, ever generous in helping those who needed help,”
The president of the Victorian RSL, Bruce Ruxton, said Sir Edward had been revered by former POWs, the veterans’ community and many more Australians.
“He bore no hatred or malice to anyone on earth,” he said.
“He was a world-famous surgeon and expert in tropical diseases.
“He will be sadly missed.
“Surely one of Australia’s greatest sons has died.”
Weary Dunlop had plenty of reasons to hate his captors but he didn’t.
He recognised Australia’s relationship with Asia and worked to strengthen it.
His sense of humanity sets him apart as an extraordinary human being.
Sir Edward Weary Dunlop typified the “Anzac Spirit” as he worked tirelessly and with great courage for service men and women during and after the war.
Lest we forget
