-
Edward 'Weary' Dunlop born in Wangaratta
-
Edward Dunlop moved to Melbourne
Edward Dunlop moved to Melbourne and started going to Melbourne university - he studied medication. -
Edward Dunlop was honored to be named an Australian rugby union player.
-
Made it to nationals and played against the 'All Blacks'
-
Enlistment in WW2
At the outbreak of The Second World War in 1939, he immediately enlisted, saying "I couldn’t get into the army quick enough". He contrived to bypass the normal procedure, which required him to return to Australia first, and was posted to an Australian Unit in Jerusalem, Palestine. Weary continued his service with the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps in Crete, Greece, Tobruk (Libya) and Alexandria and Cairo (Egypt). -
Japan enters the war
In 1942 Weary was one of the 30 000 Australians and 110 000 other allied soldiers as well as thousands of civilians taken prisoner after the Japanese swept through Asia between December 1941 and July 1942. -
Taken Prisoner
Weary was sent to Java, Indonesia to help treat allied and Australian troops who were stationed there in order to counter the Japanese threat. In March of that year the Japanese captured Weary’s hospital in Bandoeng, Java. Weary could have escaped but he would not hear of leaving his patients and became a prisoner of war (POW). All POWs were taken by ship to Singapore and from there some, including Weary, were railed in crowded rice trucks and sent to Thailand. -
Burma-Thai Railway
The Japanese utilised these men to build a continuous strategic rail line between Burma and Siam (now known as Myanmar and Thailand respectively). Over four hundred kilometres long, this ambitious Japanese engineering project became known as ‘The Railway of Death’ - it has been estimated that including POWs and native labour, the construction of this railway cost one hundred thousand lives. -
Weary in charge of a prisoner worker group
Weary led the first Australian group to arrive in Thailand and to work on the now infamous Burma - Siam Railway. In his dual capacity of Commanding Officer and Surgeon he had the care and responsibility for over one thousand men. This group became known as ‘Dunlop Force’ or ‘Dunlop’s Thousand’. -
Liberated from war
-
Marriage and Family
In 1946, three weeks after he returned to Melbourne, Sir Edward married his sweetheart Helen Ferguson at the Toorak Presbyterian Church. They had been engaged since 1940. Their first child, Alexander Boyd, was born on the 5th August 1947 and their second son, John, was born in June 1949. -
Awards and Activities
In the post-war years, Sir Edward continued his distinguished medical career. In 1969 he was knighted in recognition of his contribution to medicine. In 1976 Sir Edward Dunlop was honoured as Australian of the Year. He was very active in the ex-service community and was awarded an honorary life membership of the Returned and Services League in 1979.