A documentary film has been released recently called “The sinking of the Lisbon Maru”. The documentary was made by the Chinese director Fang Li and tells the story of the rescue of British Prisoners of War by Chinese fishermen on 1 October 1942. The armed Japanese troopship “The Lisbon Maru” was carrying 1816 British prisoners of war who had been captured by the Japanese after the Battle of Hong Kong and 700 Japanese Army personnel. The ship was torpedoed by the US submarine USS Grouper which did not know the POWs were on board.

The Japanese troops were evacuated from the ship, but the POWs were not; instead, the hatches were battened down above them, and they were left on the listing ship. After 24 hours, when the POWs, realised the ship was sinking, they broke through the hatch covers and some were able to escape from the ship before it sank. More than 800 POWs died in the sinking, either by drowning or being shot by Japanese soldiers as they attempted to escape from the sinking ship.

However, the sinking occurred close to the islands of Qingbang and Miaozihu. When Chinese fishermen from these islands saw the black smoke and debris from the wreck, they launched a fleet of their tiny fishing boats to rescue survivors and were able to save 384 POWs. They took them into their homes and temples on the islands and provided them with food and clothing. Susan Wilkinson, the daughter of Lisbon Maru survivor Pvt William Spooner, said, “Dad had passed out when he was rescued and when he awoke, he thought he was in heaven because an angel was caring for him. It was one of the women on the island!” Three days later, Japanese gunboats landed on the islands and recaptured 381 of the POWs, but 3 were hidden and protected by the local people and eventually got back to Britain.

This story illustrates what it means to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. The Chinese fishermen were willing to put their own lives at risk to save the lives of people they didn’t know. If they had been in danger on the sea, they knew that they would hope that someone would do the same for them. In our world, where hatred between peoples is sometimes encouraged, this example of our common humanity speaks powerfully to us. The supreme example of selfless love and self-sacrifice is seen in the life and death of Jesus. Hymnwriter Robert Robinson wrote, “Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.”