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Brian Finch

In the 75th anniversary year of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, A FAITHFUL RECORD OF THE LISBON MARU INCIDENT is a recent translation from an original Chinese publication covering an important chapter in Hong Kong’s wartime history. It gives details of the Lisbon Maru Incident of 1942, seen through the eyes of the Chinese fishermen who rescued hundreds of British prisoners of war from Hong Kong, whose ship had been torpedoed. The Japanese had tried to keep them in the holds as the ship sank so that they would drown, and then shot at them as they tried to escape. These courageous fishermen not only prevented hundreds more deaths, they also hid three prisoners under the noses of the Japanese until they could be sent secretly on a journey across more than 1,000 miles of China to reach Chongqing, from where they could tell the world what had happened. The book also recounts the visit to Zhoushan in 2005 of one of the survivors of the sinking and his emotional reunion with those who saved him; as well as a visit to Hong Kong in the same year of the last few remaining fishermen who had taken part in the rescue.

Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Asian Studies Series

Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Asian Studies Series

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