The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop

Edward E Dunlop

Mar 2005 · Sold by Penguin Group Australia

About this ebook

This extraordinary first-hand account of Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop's experiences as senior medical officer in the infamous prisoner-of-war camps in Java and on the Burma-Thailand Railway, is not only an account of great historical significance but also a testament to the ability of the human spirit to overcome the most unbearably cruel conditions.
'I have the testimony of hundreds of Australians who had served with me and who accompanied Weary to Burma and Siam that he was both their inspiration and the main instrument of their physical and spiritual survival.' Laurens Van Der Post
'His experiences – and the manner in which he handled them – are what have made Weary Dunlop one of our most loved and most respected countrymen.' Herald Sun
'Sir Edward's care and concern for his men and his unbreakable spirit made him a living legend.' Sunday Times

Ratings and reviews

Good book.

About the author

Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, AC, CMG, OBE, KCSJ, MS, FRCS, FRACS, FACS, LL D Melb. (Hons) D.Sc. Punjabi (Hons) was born at Stewarton, Victoria in 1907. After a brilliant academic career, he qualified as a pharmacist in 1928 and as a doctor in 1934. In 1938 he went to England for post-graduate studies at St Bartholomew's Hospital and at the outbreak of World War II he became a specialist surgeon to the Emergency Medical Services at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. In 1940 he was posted to Jerusalem and after service in Greece, Crete and at Tobruk with 2/2 Aus. CCS, landed in Java in February 1942 and was promoted to command No. 1 Allied General Hospital. At capitulation, he elected to stay with his hospital and patients and became a prisoner-of-war. In the 1960s he returned to South-east Asia to the Vietnam War, where he was Team Leader, Australian Surgical Team, caring for civilians. Sir Edward was the first Honorary Surgeon appointed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after the war, and was Honorary Surgeon to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Consultant Surgeon to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Specialist Surgeon to the Repatriation Department, and the second Australian to become Vice-President of the International Society of Surgeons. Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop died in July, 1993. He was given a state funeral with full military honours. On Anzac Day 1994, P.M. Paul Keating scattered Weary Dunlop's ashes over The Burma Railway.