The Lisbon Maru Association
August 2005 marked the 60th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War (or the War of Resistance Against Japan as the Chinese saw it). In 2004 the authorities in Zhoushan began to plan for a ceremony to be held to commemorate the sinking of the Lisbon Maru and the part played by the fishermen in saving the lives of British prisoners of war. Officials went to Hong Kong to try to find some survivors. They contacted the Second World War Veterans' Association in Hong Kong and were assisted by the Chairman, the late Nelson Mar, BEM. With the help of Tony Banham, the author of the book on the sinking, Mar was able to track down a former coastal gunner, Charles Jordan, who had survived the incident and was living in the UK.
Jordan was duly invited to the ceremony in 2005 where he had an emotional reunion with the fishermen who had saved his life as well as the lives of hundreds of his comrades.
This experience spurred Mar to set up the Lisbon Maru Association in Hong Kong, with the aim of keeping alive the memory of the tragedy through publicity and other means and helping to support the surviving fishermen and their families. Although sadly Mar died in November 2009, the Association continues to flourish and maintains strong relations with the Zhoushan authorities. The courage of fishermen provides one of the finest examples of people-to-people co-operation between China and Britain, and the Association is keen to build on this past example for the future, by encouraging scholarships and educational and cultural exchanges.
The Lisbon Maru Association has kept in touch with the Dongji Museum and has arranged for regimental plaques from those units whose members were on the ship to be put on display there.
The Zhoushan authorities are arranging to send two elderly fishermen, who were involved in the rescue, to the UK in 2012, to mark the 70th anniversary of the sinking. Brian Finch will host their visit to the UK, and is planning to arrange a reunion with some of the remaining survivors from the Lisbon Maru as well as a presentation formally thanking them for the courage they showed in rescuing British prisoners of war.
