Re: POWs Given Hope by Legendary Friend

Date: April 21, 2004

"Soldiers given hope by legendary friend


Reflective: Cliff Moss recalls his time in the trenches and his friendship with Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop.Picture: Ray Sizer

By Mark Brown Shepparton News


Numurkah's Cliff Moss OAM certainly didn't know what all the fuss was about following his first meeting with the great Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop.

Held up in the Hintok prisoner of war camp at the time, Mr Moss had heard all the stories.

"Every now and then a story would trickle down the line about this bloke named Dunlop," Mr Moss recalled this week.

"You would hear how he'd managed to cure someone on their deathbed or something similar, but to be honest they sounded like fairytales.

"No-one could be that good."

Mr Moss was awaiting treatment for an ulcerated foot when in walked Weary Dunlop.

"To be honest, he didn't look all that impressive to me," Mr Moss said.

"I remember thinking `God, is this the great Dunlop, bit of a disappointment.'

"He was tall and skinny, and had a dreamy look about him.

"Anyway, he eventually took a look at my foot. He stared at it intensely for a few minutes, took a bottle out of his pocket and dropped a bit of white powder onto my foot and that was it."

A few days later Mr Moss' foot had cleared up and it became obvious there was a lot more to Dunlop than met the eye.

"It didn't take me long to realise just how tremendous a man he was," Mr Moss said.

In all, Mr Moss spent 31/2 years in prisoner of war camps across Thailand and Malaysia during World War II.

While he met hundreds of remarkable men during his captivity, Mr Moss said Dunlop stood above them all for one basic reason.

"He could inspire hope," Mr Moss said.

"Wherever he was, men that were dying got hope again, without Dunlop doing anything.

"You knew if Dunlop was there, everything that could be done, would be done."

Mr Moss said Dunlop's ability to inspire hope was remarkable, especially given the often horrendous conditions in which he worked.

"You have to remember that there were no real medical supplies," Mr Moss said.

"An intravenous drip would be a glass bottle, the rubber from a doctor's stethoscope and a needle made out of bamboo.

"Yet somehow Dunlop managed to save hundreds of lives."

Following the war, Mr Moss and Weary Dunlop formed a strong friendship, with the two often seen enjoying a beer in the Numurkah pub.

The friendship remained until Dunlop passed away in 1993, 10 days shy of his 86th birthday.

Mr Moss said every Anzac Day a story about the great Weary Dunlop would inevitably be told; with this year certain to be no different.

mbrown[at]mcmedia[dot]com[dot]au "