Description:
A forgotten World War II atrocity. A remarkable survival story. A tribute to courage, endurance, and humanity.
In October 1942, the Japanese transport ship Lisbon Maru carrying 1,816 British prisoners of war from occupied Hong Kong toward forced labour camps in Japan was torpedoed off the coast of China by an American submarine. The POWs were trapped below deck in sealed holds and abandoned to their fate. Hundreds drowned, suffocated, or were machine-gunned as they tried to escape. It is one of the darkest and least-known tragedies of the Pacific War.
Among the survivors was Andrew Salmon - a Cockney boy who joined the British Army at fourteen, served in Hong Kong, and endured the horrors of Japanese POW camps, the sinking of the Lisbon Maru and the years in labour camps afterwards. Drawing on Andrew Salmon's diaries, letters, and unfinished manuscript, his son Ken Salmon reconstructs an extraordinary story of suffering, survival, comradeship, and resilience.
Surviving the Lisbon Maru is both a gripping personal memoir and an important historical record. It tells of the terror inside the sinking ship, the bravery of prisoners trying to save each other, and the courage of Chinese fishermen from the Zhoushan islands who risked their own lives to rescue survivors from the sea.
But this is also the story of what came after: years of slave labour in Japan, the emotional scars carried home by survivors, and one man's lifelong determination to ensure that the dead - and those who saved the living - would never be forgotten.
Brief description: The only son of a Lisbon Maru survivor, Ken was born and raised in Hong Kong by his expatriate British father (Andrew) and Chinese mother (Lina). A proud KGV School alumnus, he graduated with an Honours Degree in Computer Science from the University of Essex. His first job was as an engineer in computer hardware design for Digital Equipment Corp. He remained in the office automation industry for a total of 37 years, the latter 25 years in a variety of Marketing roles for Xerox Corp. including an assignment to China, based in Hong Kong as an expatriate for two years in 1996-97. He has been happily retired since 2011 and lives in rural NE Hampshire in the UK with his wife (Trish). They have two children (Vicki & Barry), and two granddaughters (Sophia & Laila).
Review Quotes:
"By presenting the full story of the Lisbon Maru through the eyes and life of a single survivor, this vivid account of the tragedy saves all those on board from obscurity." - Tony Banham, historian and author of The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru
"This book tells his full life story of one of the survivors of the Lisbon Maru, including, but not limited to, the atrocity. It is important that the 1,816 men who were on that ship should be remembered as individuals and I look forward to many more such books about both the survivors and those that did not get back home." - Major (Ret'd) Brian Finch, Translator of A Faithful Record of the "Lisbon Maru" Incident and Military Adviser to the documentary film "The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru"
"This work certainly offers a different perspective on the truth of the events concerning the Lisbon Maru. What is even more commendable is that this work is imbued with a profound sense of humanity, and furthermore the narrative is enriched with stories that go beyond the historical perspective; your accounts of participating in the Shanghai International Film Festival and the unveiling of the monument commemorating the rescue of British prisoners of war on Dongji Island have made the story of the Lisbon Maru all the more complete." - Kent Shum - Head of the Hong Kong Lisbon Maru Association