Edward Dunlop

Infobox Military Person
name=Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop


caption=Brass relief of Dunlop in uniform
allegiance= Australia
rank=Lieutenant Colonel
branch= Australian Army
unit=Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
family=
nickname=Weary
lived=12 July 1907 - 2 july 1993
placeofbirth= Wangaratta, Victoria
placeofdeath= Melbourne, Victoria
currentlyresides=
serviceyears=1939 - 1945
laterwork=
battles=World War II

South West Pacific

New Guinea Campaign

South East Asia Campaign
Syria-Lebanon campaign
Burma Campaign
Burma Railway

awards=Companion of the Order of Australia
Knight Bachelor
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John
portrayedby=

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop AC, CMG, OBE, KStJ (July 12, 1907 – July 2, 1993) was an Australian surgeon who was renowned for his leadership whilst being held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. He was born in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia.

Early life and family

Dunlop was the second of two children to his parents James and Alice. He started an apprenticeship in pharmacy when he finished school, and moved to Melbourne in 1927. There, he studied at the Victorian College of Pharmacy and then the University of Melbourne, where he obtained a scholarship in medicine. [ [http://www.vcp.monash.edu.au/125/stories/dunlopw.html 125 Stories for 125 Years ] ] Dunlop graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1934 with first class honours in pharmacy and in medicine, [At that time, it was not uncommon for a student to first study pharmacy; because the gaining of a pharmacy diploma guaranteed advanced-level admission to a medical degree at Melbourne University.] and excelled as a sportsman at Melbourne University and Ormond College, where he lived during his studies.

Rugby union career

While at university Dunlop took up rugby union commencing as a fourth grade player with the [http://www.melbourneunirugby.com/ Melbourne University Rugby Club] in 1931. He made a lightning-fast progression through the grades, to state and then to the national representative level becoming the first Victorian-born player to represent for the Wallabies.

He made his national representative debut against the All Blacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 23 July 1932 as a number 8.

In the first Test of 1934 he again appeared for Australia this time as a lock. Australia took the match 25-11 and two weeks later the second and final match of that year's Bledisloe Cup series finished in a draw. Although Weary missed that match due to injury he stands as a member of the first Wallaby squad to have won the Bledisloe Cup away from New Zealand.

Posthumously he was inducted into the Wallaby Hall of Fame and he is to date the only Victorian so honoured. [ [http://www.rugby.com.au/qantas_wallabies/wallaby_hall_of_fame/sir_edward_weary_dunlop,89427.html Wallaby Hall of Fame] ]

Pre-war career

Dunlop had been a school cadet, and he continued his part-time army service until 1929, when his service ceased under pressure from his pharmacy studies. He re-enlisted in 1935 and was commissioned into the Australian Army Medical Corps on 1 July with the rank of Captain. In May 1938 Dunlop left Australia for London by boat. He was the ship's medical officer. In London he attended St Bartholomew's Medical School and in 1938 became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. The distinguished medical mentors Dunlop met in London, Professor Grey-Turner and Sir Thomas Dunhill, impressed him with their dedication to their job and he resolved to emulate their example.

War and imprisonment

During World War II, Dunlop was appointed to medical headquarters in the Middle East, where he developed the mobile surgical unit. In Greece he liaised with forward medical units and Allied headquarters, and at Tobruk he was a surgeon until the Australian Divisions were withdrawn for home defence. His troopship was diverted to Java in an ill-planned attempt to bolster the defences there. On 26 February, 1942, he was promoted to temporary lieutenant-colonel. Dunlop became a Japanese prisoner of war in 1942 when he was captured in Bandung, Java, together with the hospital he was commanding.

Because of his leadership skills, he was placed in charge of prisoner-of-war camps in Java, was later transferred briefly to Changi, and in January 1943 commanded the first Australians sent to work on the Thai segment of the Burma-Thailand railway.

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 forced labourers to construct a strategically important supply route between Bangkok and Rangoon. 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 heroism became a legend among prisoners.

A courageous leader and compassionate doctor, he restored morale in those terrible prison camps and jungle hospitals. Dunlop defied his captors, gave hope to the sick and eased the anguish of the dying. He became, in the words of one of his men, "a lighthouse of sanity in a universe of madness and suffering". His example was one of the reasons why Australian survival rates were the highest.

Post-war life

After 1945, with the darkness of the war years behind him, Dunlop forgave his captors and turned his energies to the task of healing and building. He was to state later that " in suffering we are all equal". He devoted himself to the health and welfare of former prisoners-of-war and their families, and worked to promote better relations between Australia and Asia.

He was active in many spheres of endeavor. In his own field of surgery, he pioneered new techniques against cancer. He became closely involved with a wide range of health and educational organizations, and his tireless community work had a profound influence on Australians and on the peoples of Asia. As well as numerous tributes and distinctions bestowed upon him in his own country, he received honors from Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.It was ironic that a man of such enormous energy should be nicknamed "Weary" - a result of word association (Dunlop, tyre, tired, Weary) in his undergraduate days.

Honours and awards

'Weary' Dunlop received many honors and awards throughout his life, including; the Order of the British Empire (1947); Companion of the Order of Australia (1987), Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1992), Knight Grand Cross (1st Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Royal Crown of Thailand (1993); Honorary Fellow of the Imperial College London; Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; Honorary Life Member of the Returned and Services League of Australia; and Life Governor of the Royal Women's Hospital and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. In 1976 he was named Australian of the Year and in 1988 he was named one of '200 Great Australians'. His image is on the 1995 issue Australian fifty cent piece with the words "They Served Their Country in World War II, 1939 - 1945". The fifty cent piece is part of a set including the one dollar coin and the twenty cent piece.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/dunlop/index.htm Australian War Memorial Site]
* [http://www.siredwarddunlop.com.au/bio.htm Biography at "Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop Medical Research Foundation"]
* [http://www.melbourneunirugby.com/sir-edward-weary-dunlop Biography and timeline at Melbourne University Rugby Club]
*
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/4859766/Some-Inspirational-People-profiled-by-Laurence-MacDonald-Muir/ "Some Inspirational People"] Profiled by Laurence MacDonald Muir.