ZhejiangPictorial | Friendship never sinks as Chinese, British families honor heroic WWII rescue-Xinhua
ZhejiangPictorial | Friendship never sinks as Chinese, British families honor heroic WWII rescue
Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2026-05-21 21:42:15
Flowers are laid in front of the monument for Dongji fishermen's rescue of British prisoners of war (POWs), on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)
ZHOUSHAN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Twenty descendants of British POWs aboard the Lisbon Maru gathered in Zhoushan of east China's Zhejiang Province for a commemorative ceremony honoring a remarkable act of courage from Tuesday to Wednesday.
After the flowers were laid, relatives of British soldiers and local fishermen's descendants took up shovels. Together, they planted a boxwood sapling, a gesture intended to symbolize a friendship that has outlived war and distance.
In October 1942, the Lisbon Maru, a cargo vessel requisitioned by the Japanese army to transport more than 1,800 British POWs from Hong Kong to Japan, was torpedoed off the Zhoushan Islands by a U.S. submarine after failing to display mandated POW transport markings.
Local Chinese fishermen, despite Japanese soldiers firing into the water, made 65 trips in 46 small wooden sampans to rescue 384 British POWs from the sinking ship.
Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru carry wreaths bearing photos of predecessors participating in the commemorative ceremony on the Lisbon Maru rescue, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Pamela Allison searches for name of her great-uncle, a former British prisoner of war (POW) aboard the Lisbon Maru, at an exhibition of archival materials on the Lisbon Maru rescue, in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru attend a commemorative ceremony in front of the monument for Dongji fishermen's rescue of British POWs, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru shed tears during the commemorative ceremony on the Lisbon Maru rescue, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)A descendant of a former British prisoner of war (POW) aboard the Lisbon Maru lays flowers in front of the monument for Dongji fishermen's rescue of British POWs, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru visit an exhibition of archival materials on the Lisbon Maru rescue, in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru and local fishermen attend the China-UK friendship tree planting ceremony in memory of the Lisbon Maru Rescue, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026.(Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)James Murphy, a descendant of a former British prisoner of war (POW) aboard the Lisbon Maru, lays wreath in front of the monument for Dongji fishermen's rescue of British POWs, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru visit an exhibition of archival materials on the Lisbon Maru rescue, in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)This combo photo shows Susan Donnelly, a descendant (above C and below C) of a former British prisoner of war (POW) aboard the Lisbon Maru, embracing Wu Xiaofei (above R and below L) and Liang Yindi, the descendants of Chinese fishermen who once helped in an operation on the rescue of the Lisbon Maru, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)Descendants of former British prisoners of war (POWs) aboard the Lisbon Maru holding wreaths head for the monument for Dongji fishermen's rescue of British POWs, on Dongji Island in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)■
