Weary Dunlop Contribution To Australia

During WWII many Australians risked their lives and put others before themselves in honour of their country. Weary Dunlop was a man who displayed true ANZAC spirit, he worked as a doctor with the A.I.F (Australian Imperial Force), until he was taken prisoner by the Japanese in Java in March of 1942 when the hospital he was working in was captured. Weary not only became a POW (prisoner of war) but saved many lives gaining respect from his peers in a variety of camps in the region. His work during the war built himself a future legacy that Australia still acknowledges today.

Since being an adolescent, Weary Dunlop had been an Armed Force Cadet, he continued to work part-time in the Armed Forces until he dropped out to further his pharmaceutical studies in 1929. In 1934 Dunlop graduated from Melbourne University with a medical degree and the opportunity to become one of Australia's most renowned surgeons. In mid 1938 Dunlop left Australia and went to London, England where he attended St Bartholomew's Medical College later becoming a Fellow of the Royal

College of Surgeons in 1939.

When WWII began in 1939, Dunlop instantly volunteered for the A.I.F and soon returned to Australia to begin preparation for deployment.

When he arrived back in Australia he was posted to an ANZAC Unit in Jerusalem, Palestine and was quickly given the rank of Captain in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps 6th division 2/2nd Casualty Clearing Station. Dunlop was given the nickname Weary because of what he wasn't, Dunlop was always cheerful even in the most horrific conditions and always had the energy to fight for his country and his men. He further pursued his interest in the Australian Army Medical Corps by later working in Crete and the Middle East including being a surgeon in Tobruk before being sent to work in Java Indonesia in 1942. Dunlop's job in Java was to work in the hospitals and treat troops in the A.I.F and the British Expeditionary Forces who were working strenuously to counter the Japanese

threat.

In March of 1942 two weeks after his arrival, the Bandoeng hospital where Dunlop was working was captured by the Japanese. Dunlop had the opportunity to escape but refused to leave patients immediately becoming a POW. The POWs were taken by ship to Singapore and from there distributed throughout Thailand and Indonesia. Dunlop was packed into a crowded rice truck and sent to Thailand where he would work in a hospital helping the POWs who were injured on the Thai-Burma railway a 415km track where nearly 3,000 Australians would later die. Dunlop's leadership skills and experience was valued by the Japanese troops and he was given the position of Commanding Officer and Surgeon where he would take responsibility for over a thousand men, these men were later known as the 'Dunlop's Thousand’.

During his time in various prisoner of war camps, Dunlop made great impressions on his fellow POWs and Japanese captors. His leadership skills as well as his positive attitude, courage and constant resilience gave hope to POWs and gave them confidence in their futures. During his time as a POW Dunlop stayed in an abundance of camps including Konyu River camp, Hintok Mountain camp, Chunkai and Nakom Paton all located off of the Thai-Burma Railway.