The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru 2 October 1942
by Brian Finch
The background involves units stationed in Hong Kong at the time of the Japanese invasion in December 1941. My own regiment – The Middlesex Regiment (The Diehards) – was amongst those who fought valiantly but in vain against overwhelming odds. In 1942 some 1,800 of these prisoners of war were shipped to Japan on a cargo vessel called the Lisbon Maru. The ship never reached Japan because, not being marked as carrying POWs, it was torpedoed by a US submarine off the coast of China near the Dongji group of islands in Zhoushan County. The Japanese military battened down the hatches on the holds containing the prisoners hoping that they would all drown as the ship went down. Some managed to break out and were then fired on by the Japanese army. Many of the survivors were shot in the water and many others drowned. The local fishermen saw what was happening and rushed to the rescue, managing to save hundreds of prisoners.
In recent years the Zhoushan authorities have made efforts to trace some of the POWs and with the help of the Lisbon Maru Association in Hong Kong tracked down one survivor who was taken to Dongji in 2005 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The Dongji Museum of History and Culture has now opened with a major exhibition on the incident.
The museum’s website is only in Chinese and I have translated it for the benefit of anyone interested in the Chinese perspective on this tragedy. A more detailed and well-sourced account of the incident is in the book ‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru’ by Tony Banham, published in 2006 (ISBN 962-209-771-5).
Since completing the translation, I have decided to do a sponsored walk later this year to raise funds to support the Dongji fishing community whose courageous action at that time saved the lives of so many British POWs. In particular, a small group from Dongji will be coming to UK in 2012 and I plan to host the visit and find some way of expressing our collective gratitude in a proper manner. Click on: www.wix.com/bfinch/walkforwarheroes for full details of the project, which contains details of how to make a donation as well as a sponsorship form should you wish to help with fundraising. The website also has a link to the English version of the Dongji Museum’s website. If you would like a separate copy, please e-mail me at bfinch@tiscali.co.uk and I will be happy to send it electronically. If you are fortunate enough to be able to get to the Museum yourself, it is located in Mountain Road, Zhouzi Lake Street Central, Dongji Town. Entry cost 30 yuan. The ticket office telephone number is 05803826641.
www.wix.com/bfinch/walkforwarheroes
Brian’s contact: bfinch@tiscali.co.uk