Rydges North Melbourne

Born and raised in Victoria, Edward Dunlop attended school in Benella and after leaving worked in a pharmacy until 1927 when he left for Melbourne to study medicine
He was a keen athlete and played Rugby for the Wallabies, Ausralias national team, he was also a champion boxer

after graduating medical school he took a post as ships surgeon, and enlisted in the Australian army as soon as war was declared

he was posted to Java, but was captured by the Japanese army within two weeks.
He, as were many others, was taken via Singapore and Burma to Thailand where the Japanese army were using prisoners of war to build a 412km long railway
conditions on the "Death Railway" were horrific and Dunlop struggled to improve the treatment and conditions of the men in his care, often risking retribution from the Japanese officers

after the war he eturned to Australia and resumed work as a surgeon, he also woked towards healing the wounds between the Australia and Japanese nations

he was knighted in 1969, and died 10 days before his 86th birthday
more than 10,000 people lined the route at the state funeral for "The Surgeon of the Railway"we only stopped to look at his statue because he looked such a kindly man, after reading more about his life and work Im really glad we did