Andrew’s warfare diary contains a number of hand-drawn illustrations of the Lisbon Maru. Pointing to one of many sketches, Kenneth stated his father had been held in No. 3 maintain, which was closest to the strike level and flooded quickly.
By Xinhua Writer Yu Aicen, Zheng Bofei
LONDON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) — Seventy-two-year-old Briton Kenneth Salmon lives together with his spouse in a modest however cozy bungalow in southern England. Among the couple’s fastidiously displayed assortment of cherished objects, Kenneth’s most exceptional possession is his late father’s warfare diary, which information how the British Royal Artillery sergeant was taken prisoner by Japan, boarded onto a hell ship named Lisbon Maru, and rescued by Chinese fishermen when the ship sank off the coast of jap China.
Kenneth stated he wouldn’t be right here at present with out the Chinese fishermen who rescued the prisoners of warfare (POWs) onboard the Lisbon Maru, together with his father, Andrew Salmon.
Andrew was captured by Japan after the autumn of Hong Kong in December 1941 and was later boarded onto the Japanese-requisitioned Lisbon Maru certain for Japan, together with greater than 1,800 different British POWs.
“He did not talk much about his war experience, and that is quite common among people who survived the war,” Kenneth stated. “But he kept a diary. My first knowledge of the Lisbon Maru came from reading his diary.”
In October 1942, the unmarked ship was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine close to Dongji, Zhoushan, in jap China. While Japanese troops had been evacuated from the sinking vessel, the POWs had been left locked inside battened-down cabins. Some managed to flee, whereas others drowned.
Andrew’s warfare diary contains a number of hand-drawn illustrations of the Lisbon Maru. Pointing to one of many sketches, Kenneth stated his father had been held in No. 3 maintain, which was closest to the strike level and flooded quickly.
Andrew was amongst those that managed to leap into the ocean, however quickly discovered himself beneath hearth from Japanese troopers making an attempt to cease the escapees.
It was at that second that Chinese fishermen from Dongji got here to the rescue, rowing out with paddles, fishing junks and sampans. Historical information present that 198 Chinese fishermen introduced 384 POWs to security, together with Andrew.
“When my father got off the Lisbon Maru, he was swimming in the sea and was eventually picked up by a Chinese fisherman,” Kenneth stated. “The fishermen were remarkably friendly. They gave them food, drink and clothes.”
“He was very grateful,” Kenneth continued, “because they had not eaten for so long. They were on a starvation diet under the Japanese.”
Kenneth described the Chinese fishermen as “very courageous” and stated he want to categorical his heartfelt thanks.
“If you didn’t save the POWs, and in particular if you didn’t save my father, I would not be here today,” he stated.
Kenneth believes his father suffered from what’s now generally known as “survivor’s guilt,” a situation by which survivors of traumatic occasions battle to grasp why they lived whereas others perished.
He stated this will likely clarify why his father determined to jot down a e-book after retirement in reminiscence of the comrades he misplaced on the Lisbon Maru. Although the e-book, titled Remember My Face, was by no means actually printed, Kenneth has been exploring the potential of its publication.
In the summer time of 2024, 24 years after his father handed away, Kenneth and a bunch of different descendants of British POWs visited Dongji, generally known as “the easternmost island of China.”
They took a ferry to the waters the place the Lisbon Maru sank. After a memorial ceremony that includes poetry recitation and a second of silence, Kenneth solid a crimson poppy wreath bearing his father’s {photograph} into the ocean.
The wreath was the identical one positioned on his father’s coffin throughout the funeral. Kenneth stated he needed to depart it on the website of his father’s most defining life expertise.
Kenneth stated he felt a powerful sense of friendship with the descendants of the fishermen he met in Dongji and has since shaped lasting bonds.
“The descendants of the rescuers were very friendly,” he stated. “To this day, we stay in touch by email.”
Kenneth stated he hopes extra “Lisbon Maru relatives” in Britain will go to Dongji to honor their ancestors and meet the descendants of the rescuers.
“As I am quite an expert on the Lisbon Maru now, I would be happy to offer my services as a kind of ‘tour guide,'” he stated. “My background as the son of a survivor and the friendship I share with Chinese families make me somewhat uniquely qualified.”