2009 Quiet Lion Tour By Samantha Scott -- (2009 QLT Photos)

Esperance Senior High School has sent students on the Quiet Lion Tour for the past nine years, to retrace the steps of former Australian Prisoners of War on the Burma Thailand Railway, during World War II. This year was no different.

The Quiet Lion Tour 2009 saw 118 people spend 11 days in Thailand. This year the Esperance District High School contingent consisted of 18, with 14 students and four teachers.

The trip was hailed by all as a success – with the Dawn Service at Hellfire Pass (Konyu Cutting) and the 11am wreath laying ceremony at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery on ANZAC Day, being pinnacles of the tour.

Despite all the laughter, good times, friendships formed and learning experiences, both culturally and along the railway, this year something, or at least someone, was missing.

The late Ernie Redman OAM, of Esperance, was the main instigator in ensuring that local high school students participated in what has been described as a life-changing experience. Mr Redman along with other West Australian ex-Prisoners of War informed the younger generations of the atrocities of war, through first-hand accounts, so they could truly understand how lucky they were because of what their forefathers stood for, endured and fought for.

After assisting all year with fundraising for the students, this trip would have been Mr Redman’s ninth consecutive tour. Sadly, he suffered a heart attack just prior to the departure date and died one day after their return.

To those who knew him, Mr Redman was described as “a living legend”, “the best” and a “top bloke”. He was also a well respected veteran, good friend, community minded man and to others a hero. He will be sadly missed.

Esteemed Western Australian veterans and ex-PoWs Bill Haskell OAM (89), Milton (Snow) Fairclough (89) and Neil MacPherson OAM (87) carried on despite the sad news of their mate. These three well-respected men accompanied the tour group to the sites of the former PoW camps - the places where the Japanese had forced the Allies and local labourers to work on the railway in gruelling conditions. In those days (1942-43) it was hot, the jungle was harsh, they had no shoes, they worked in only a loincloth and the prisoners were malnourished, underfed and dehydrated. To add to those hardships, debilitating and deadly diseases spread through the camps and killed men daily.

The Quiet Lion tour is aptly named after Sir Edward Weary Dunlop, and each year his story is retold to a new group of enthusiastic listeners – young and old. His nickname was the Quiet Lion – “the man with the big heart and soft voice”.

Weary Dunlop was described as a medical genius, performing successful lifesaving operations in the jungle at night, with little light, basic equipment and minimal supplies.

He was also instrumental in distilling water and producing a precise saline solution which was used during the war to replenish fluids rapidly lost by the onset of cholera – the most deadly disease the PoWs suffered. The success rate was phenomenal, saving men daily from death.

The Esperance students found the trip eye-opening and informative. They gained a greater understanding of the past, particularly WWII history, and will ensure that the ex-PoWs’ accounts are carried on. They will present reports to their school community, to help keep the stories alive.

The students’ enthusiasm was contagious and a highlight of the trip was their beautiful rendition of Wind Beneath My Wings, which they sang at a ceremony at Home Phu Toey in memory of good friend of the tour Khun Kanit’s late wife Oonjai.

Another group will travel to Thailand next year, with Esperance participating again. A new group of students will discover a new found appreciation of their lives and an understanding of how devastating war can be.

The former PoWs hope that nothing this horrific ever occurs again and by retelling what happened, and by sparing no details, they are one step closer to ensuring it doesn’t.

The annual tour is organised by the Burma Thailand Railway Memorial Association Inc. Further information is available at www.btrma.org.au