by Yu Aicen, Zhang Feng
LONDON, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — “From the island a never-to-be-forgotten sight met our eyes, for as far as the eye could see, the ocean was dotted with men and wreckage…”
These are the phrases of Andrew Salmon, a British Royal Artillery sergeant who was rescued by Chinese fishermen within the Lisbon Maru incident. There is an uncommon calmness in his account as he recollects an ordeal that introduced him nose to nose with demise.
It was Andrew’s want to have his account revealed. He needed to inform the story of his harrowing expertise and the way he survived with the assistance of Chinese fishermen. But that want was by no means fulfilled earlier than his demise in 2000. More than twenty years later, his son, Kenneth Salmon, took up the duty and at last noticed the manuscript revealed this 12 months beneath the title “Surviving the Lisbon Maru.”
“I had always felt a little bit guilty about not taking my father’s manuscript and doing something with it,” Kenneth mentioned in a latest interview with Xinhua, describing how he felt earlier than taking over the challenge. “I knew that it was his, if you like, his dying wish that the book would be published.”
Andrew’s manuscript largely corroborates what’s already identified concerning the calamitous incident. In October 1942, the Japanese-requisitioned Lisbon Maru, carrying greater than 1,800 British prisoners of warfare (POWs), was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine close to Dongji, Zhoushan, in japanese China. As the ship sank, native Chinese fishermen got here to the rescue. Historical data present that 198 Chinese fishermen helped 384 POWs attain security.
After escaping the sinking ship, Andrew spent about two hours within the water earlier than becoming a member of one other survivor, “Ginger” Howell, on a bit of floating wreckage. They had been ultimately rescued after Ginger, who spoke Shanghainese, hailed a fisherman in a sampan.
“The fisherman picked us up and took us to the opposite side of the island where there was a tiny beach on which he dropped us, fortunately, as the side nearest the Lisbon Maru was steep and rocky,” Andrew wrote.
He went on to explain the survivors’ first evening after the incident on an uninhabited island, the place they “huddled together for warmth.” They had been later taken by a fisherman to “a larger island,” the place they got meals and clothes, which they “welcomed gratefully,” earlier than being recaptured by Japanese troopers.
“He was lucky that he got out…” Kenneth mentioned. “And he was lucky that he was taken ashore, and the Chinese fishing community gave him food, drink, and shelter, and, of course, warmth, which was very important.”
But many others weren’t so lucky. A complete of 843 POWs died within the incident. Some went down with the ship, whereas others drowned or had been killed by Japanese troopers throughout the determined escape.
The determination to lastly full his father’s unfinished guide took form in 2024, when Kenneth was impressed by the discharge of the documentary movie “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru” and inspired by folks round him.
“When my father retired, it was his desire to do something tangible to memorialize people who were involved in the Lisbon Maru, not only the prisoners of war, but also the Chinese fishermen who rescued them.”
He, in his time period, “eventually gave in to that pressure,” and began to work on the unfinished manuscripts. They embody not solely Andrew’s writing, but additionally first-hand accounts from the man survivors that he was in contact with.
Kenneth accomplished the guide utilizing his father’s unfinished manuscript, which in flip drew on Andrew’s wartime diary. He believes his father carried the diary with him when he escaped from the Lisbon Maru, permitting its pages to outlive in opposition to all odds, simply as their creator did.
Kenneth additionally wrote components of the guide himself, filling in gaps and including his personal account of two visits to Dongji, in 2024 and 2025, to pay tribute to the waters that witnessed his father’s most traumatic expertise.
“I had prepared a wreath of poppies with my father’s photo in the center, which I threw into the sea,” learn in one of many a number of chapters by Kenneth, describing his journey to Dongji in 2024. “That particular wreath had adorned my father’s coffin in 2000 and it seemed an appropriate offering.”
“These first-hand accounts by survivors provide a deeply personal perspective on the tragedy,” Kenneth mentioned. “They show that wars are fought by ordinary people and this story demonstrates both the very best, and the very worst, of human nature in the reality of war.”