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The War Diaries Of Weary Dunlop
An account of Sir Edward Dunlop's experiences as a medical officer in the prisoner of war camps in Java and on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
504 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 1987
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About the author
E.E. Dunlop
3 books1 followerSir 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 6, 2024
Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop is an Australian Surgeon who was and still is highly respected in Australia and other parts of the world where there is knowledge of his work as a surgeon and Lieutenant Colonel on the Thai Death Railway during World War two.
In acts of bravery that were beyond the call of duty, he stood up to his Japanese captors and along with a disciplined but fair attitude to those under his charge, it meant that mortality rates among the Australian troops were lower than other Commonwealth countries.
These diaries were written under great danger and their survival is beyond useful for historians, scholars etc to understand the horrific conditions that the prisoners of war suffered.
The vast majority of entries are dry in detail as to the daily life in the POW camps and on the railway. They can be tough reads. Be that as it may they are written entry of daily events that left one wondering the guts and courage of the POWs and also the sheer cruelty of the Japanese.
An historical document of high importance.
In acts of bravery that were beyond the call of duty, he stood up to his Japanese captors and along with a disciplined but fair attitude to those under his charge, it meant that mortality rates among the Australian troops were lower than other Commonwealth countries.
These diaries were written under great danger and their survival is beyond useful for historians, scholars etc to understand the horrific conditions that the prisoners of war suffered.
The vast majority of entries are dry in detail as to the daily life in the POW camps and on the railway. They can be tough reads. Be that as it may they are written entry of daily events that left one wondering the guts and courage of the POWs and also the sheer cruelty of the Japanese.
An historical document of high importance.
August 2, 2020
4.50 Stars - One of the more frustrating things about being a parent of young children in these modern times, is the tragic realisation of how unfathomable-little they are taught about history. I mean, picture how stark you may feel this issue is.. Then multiply it by 200% - That’s probably still a solid amount short of just how little focus is given to even the even the very most demographically relevant history.
I make this point, because it saddens me, it saddens me even more deeply when reading the war-diaries of one of Australia’s most heroic & Inluencial figures. Weary Dunlop is not someone any Australian should ever live longer than a handful of years being unaware of. The content in these diaries not only reaffirmed this in my lament, but the writing itself against the context for which much if it was written, paints a vivid and engaging portrait of life inside the Australian Defence force at a time when being so was as akin to being in a long-term relationship with a game of Russian roulette.
Dunlops words though are always extraordinarily measured, often selfless & of a man with a true sense of the bigger picture & what the stakes were. It is mesmerizingly captivating how poised many of the men and women we meeting the way are despite every reason to not be. A truly great novel that should be mandatory curriculum for all young Aussie students.
I make this point, because it saddens me, it saddens me even more deeply when reading the war-diaries of one of Australia’s most heroic & Inluencial figures. Weary Dunlop is not someone any Australian should ever live longer than a handful of years being unaware of. The content in these diaries not only reaffirmed this in my lament, but the writing itself against the context for which much if it was written, paints a vivid and engaging portrait of life inside the Australian Defence force at a time when being so was as akin to being in a long-term relationship with a game of Russian roulette.
Dunlops words though are always extraordinarily measured, often selfless & of a man with a true sense of the bigger picture & what the stakes were. It is mesmerizingly captivating how poised many of the men and women we meeting the way are despite every reason to not be. A truly great novel that should be mandatory curriculum for all young Aussie students.
November 11, 2017
Fascinating, though rather dry.
April 26, 2020
This a difficult book to read, and I don't mean because of the content. I read the paperback version, and the book is just too long for that format with 476 pages of long sentences in a tiny font. The spine of the book would obviously split if you opened the book right up and that made reading it difficult as well. Overall there was not much fun in reading it.
The book is in a diary format so there are parts which drag on with a great deal of unnecessary detail. I assume there would be other books on Dunlop and the incredible work he did and the conditions he suffered under and they might be a better way to go. Disappointingly, after detail upon detail during most of the book, freedom from the Japanese camps is confined to only one page.
So after all that, it is still worthwhile reading this book, as it is an important piece of history and one which does not have that "Hollywood" effect written into it. Dunlop was a remarkable man who saved countless lives while living and working in the most primitive and brutal conditions.
The book is in a diary format so there are parts which drag on with a great deal of unnecessary detail. I assume there would be other books on Dunlop and the incredible work he did and the conditions he suffered under and they might be a better way to go. Disappointingly, after detail upon detail during most of the book, freedom from the Japanese camps is confined to only one page.
So after all that, it is still worthwhile reading this book, as it is an important piece of history and one which does not have that "Hollywood" effect written into it. Dunlop was a remarkable man who saved countless lives while living and working in the most primitive and brutal conditions.
February 29, 2012
Facinating. Detailed daily life of a POW camp from a doctor's POV. Two of my favorite authors were interned in Changi, Laurens Van Der Post (A Story like the wind) and James Clavell(Shogun, King Rat, etc) Weary chats about them in this diary when they came in and how they affected the camp. Manditory Commonwealth countries WW2 reading, but interesting from an American point of view, too.
February 5, 2022
Have always been interested in reading more about the Thai-Burma Railway ever since I saw The Bridge on the River Kwai. Of course the reality of life in the POW camp was much more brutal than what was depicted in the iconic war film.
I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a while, but like my aversion to the topic of genocide I have avoided reading it up until now. Sir Ernest Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop was an Australian surgeon who was sent to a POW camp following his capture by Japanese forces during WWII. His diaries provide great insight into not only the brutality of his captors, but also the realities of treating fellow POWs who were subjected to horrendous conditions.
I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a while, but like my aversion to the topic of genocide I have avoided reading it up until now. Sir Ernest Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop was an Australian surgeon who was sent to a POW camp following his capture by Japanese forces during WWII. His diaries provide great insight into not only the brutality of his captors, but also the realities of treating fellow POWs who were subjected to horrendous conditions.
November 29, 2025
This was a big read. I embarked on it after my cousin told me that our great uncle, Tim Godlee, was mentioned in it.
So many things surprised me about this diary. The way a somewhat normal life existed in this situation with an economy, hospitals, sporting events, education, concerts etc. Side by side cholera, malaria, appalling tropical ulcers, diseases caused by poor nutrition and so on. As I was reading it I was suffering ill health myself and reading about this put my sufferings truly into perspective. Every day I was grateful that I wasn't a POW in 1944.
Weary Dunlop has give us a gift in this. It is difficult to give it a star rating. He lived it. Heroic.
So many things surprised me about this diary. The way a somewhat normal life existed in this situation with an economy, hospitals, sporting events, education, concerts etc. Side by side cholera, malaria, appalling tropical ulcers, diseases caused by poor nutrition and so on. As I was reading it I was suffering ill health myself and reading about this put my sufferings truly into perspective. Every day I was grateful that I wasn't a POW in 1944.
Weary Dunlop has give us a gift in this. It is difficult to give it a star rating. He lived it. Heroic.
September 17, 2025
What an amazing collection of diary entries written at the time of being a POW at the same time as my Dad. ‘Weary’ was a hero and helped the men under his care and the horror of the war was gruesome but also the fun and education they created in that time to keep their spirits up was inspirational.
June 18, 2022
ery interesting first hand account of trials as a POW
February 28, 2015
A most deserving 5 stars.
This is one of the finest books I have read. Having been somewhat underwhelmed by the Booker Prize winning 'Narrow Road to the Deep North', I am so grateful to Flanagan for stimulating my interest in Weary Dunlop's account of this period.
My own review could scarcely do justice to the writings and records of this great man, or his contemporaries, a number of whom contributed illustrations to the journal.
If you need to read a review, do so; all I can say is, "Read the book!"
This is one of the finest books I have read. Having been somewhat underwhelmed by the Booker Prize winning 'Narrow Road to the Deep North', I am so grateful to Flanagan for stimulating my interest in Weary Dunlop's account of this period.
My own review could scarcely do justice to the writings and records of this great man, or his contemporaries, a number of whom contributed illustrations to the journal.
If you need to read a review, do so; all I can say is, "Read the book!"
January 19, 2014
Lent to me by Win, a visitor to the community reading room and a nurse. If you think you're having a bad day requiring a lot of frustrating workarounds, dip in. Dunlop describes with simplicity experiences that show the struggles but also the inventive triumphs in order to survive Java and the Thai-Burma Railway. There's a lot of stuff that's military and medical (especially acronyms) but, as with 'big' words, one learns well enough from the context.
December 10, 2014
I think every Australian should read this book. Personally I have read it numerous times and every time I do I come away with more respect and pride of our Anzacs. Every high school student should be reading this in when being taught modern history.
April 30, 2022
excellent. along with forgotten higlander and colonel of tarmakan, gives something close to a real understanding of life of pow's after the fall of singapore and the dutch east indies. not your bridge on the river kwai.
March 10, 2015
very descriptive, and a learning of what truly evolved over the war years.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews