Peter FitzSimons will be launching his latest book, 'The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop', at the Benalla Visitors Information Centre on October 28, 2025.
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Peter FitzSimons will unveil his latest work, 'The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop', at the Benalla Visitor Information Centre on Tuesday, October 28 at 6pm.
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Mr FitzSimons has chronicled the extraordinary tale of the Australian doctor, who became a symbol of hope for thousands of prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma Railway during World War II.
“My publishers asked me 15 years ago to write about Weary Dunlop and I resisted it because I found the story very complex to get into,” Mr FitzSimons said.
“But as I say in the book's dedication, the publisher who asked me to do it was right, and I was wrong.
“It is an amazing story, and he was a fantastic man.”
The book traces Dunlop's path from rural Victoria, where he began as a pharmacist before pursuing medicine.
Like Mr FitzSimons, Dunlop was also a Wallaby, though with notably less experience.
“The 16th match of rugby he ever played was for the Wallabies. He was a natural,” Mr FitzSimons said.
When World War II erupted in September 1939, Dunlop was practising as a surgeon in London.
He enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps and served across Palestine, Greece, Crete, Egypt and Tobruk before Japanese forces captured him in Java.
“It is fascinating when you go back into the diary accounts, the letters and the contemporary reports of what Weary did. He was like a modern-day saint,” Mr FitzSimons said.
“They absolutely loved him, and they loved him after the war, they still came back to Weary, as ‘Weary will fix it’.”
One of the most compelling stories, as recounted by Tom Uren in his maiden speech to Parliament, illustrates Dunlop's leadership philosophy that saved countless lives.
“In essence, what he said is, ‘We were Australians, we shared food equally. The officers will get exactly the same treatment as the men, we will all look after each other the way that Australians do,’” Mr FitzSimons said.
“And with that, the survival rate was phenomenally high despite the conditions.”
Mr FitzSimons, whose previous works include 'Kokoda', 'Ned Kelly' and 'Gallipoli', regards this book among his finest achievements.
“Of the war books I have done, this is the one that I am proudest of because I am hoping to have done my best, to bring to light a semi-forgotten episode in our history.”
The Benalla Information Centre author talk, featuring Peter FitzSimons, 'The Courageous Life of Weary Dunlop', is a free event, but bookings are required.
The book narrates the remarkable story of Weary Dunlop, an Australian doctor who became a beacon of hope for prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma Railway during World War II.
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Contributed
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