Foxy,

"The only mention of Weary Dunlop's pistols is in
the one sentence you cited earlier where he
was travelling in Java prior to the Japanese
occupation."

Can't help getting things wrong can you? Comprehension problems?

In the sentence cited he was already a POW as it was the day after the surrender and the soldier to whom he spoke was Japanese, else why use the word 'shoko'?

However, here's what the author wrote: "Dunlop did not tread lightly around the Japanese from the start'
That was not something he was capable of. He drove around the chaos of Bandung, in Java, the DAY AFTER THE SURRENDER [my capitalization] a pistol in each pocket of his bush jacket"

The Colonel was firstly a great doctor and surgeon but he was also a very brave man and a soldier.

Here's an excerpt from 'The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop" (ISBN0 14 012861 1)
"25 July 1945 Alas I have little doubt that the crisis deepens.
The pattern seems to be a death march of 'fit' men ahead of any invasion...The rest to be bumped off...I have compromised by selecting 10 NCOs of high courage and discretion, each to select 10 men not otherwise chosen. Each man to devise a weapon such as a stone...I have plotted ur desperate breakout as frontally towards a machine gun post in the wall which can be approached with visual cover to either side from enfilading fire, by parallel hutments up to the last fifty metres." (continued)

One of Sir Weary Dunlop's famous quotes Was:

" The moral is obvious it is that great armaments
lead inevitably to war."

He provided compassionate medical care and leadership
to fellow POWs. Which made him a hero. And he did this
without the use of guns.

Here is another link on Weary Dunlop that gives clarity
to his character:

http://www.anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/burma-thailand-railway-and-hellfire-pass-1942-1943/events/surviving/sir-edward-weary-dunlop

The ANZAC Portal tells us many things. It
tells us that the POW experience is remembered for
service of the medical personnel who with little
equipment or medicines cared for desperately ill
men in primitive hospitals.

Most famous of these doctors is the POW surgeon
Sir Edward Weary Dunlop. His statue now stands
outside the Australian War Memorial in Canberra,
as well as in Melbourne and Benalla.

Although Dunlop was only one of 106 Australian medical
officers, he has come to represent them all and the values
of courage and compassion that they and many Australians
manifested in captivity.

Over the years the story of atrocity and suffering has
become an affirmation of Australian courage and reilience.
Although POWs suffered the humiliation of being defeated
and captured they came to be portrayed as men who
triumphed over adversity displaying in captivity the
qualities of humour, resourcefulness and mateship.

They were able to integrate their experiences into the
dominant national memory of war since the Gallipoli
campaign of 1915, the ANZAC legend.

Its these values of courage and compassion that they and many
Australians manifested in captivity that truly shows our
national character. And it is for that and his compassion
and leadership that Sir Dunlop will be remembered.

Foxy,

I was going to continue but I now realize that to do so would be dangerous, with two feet in your mouth you might choke.

In what is perhaps the key to the immense respect
and reverence felt for Sir Weary Dunlop by so
many Australians, he combined compassion and
loyalty to his fellows with tolerance and
forgiveness of his enemies.

As one who had suffered so much and still been able
to forgive his captors, he seemed to offer a way
forward for the many others who had also endured the
trauma of war.

Is Mise,

Talking about feet being dangerous ...

Take heed.

"I will not let anyone
walk through my mind
with their dirty feet."

Mahatma Gandhi.