Remembrance 2026

Field of Remembrance

5th to 15th November

This year for the first time LiMMA has a plot in the the Field Of Remembrance, which was opened by the Duchess of Gloucester on Thursday 5th November. Also present at the Opening Ceremony were LiMMA Committee Members Leigh Gray and Geoff Haviland. The Duchess of Gloucester came over to view the LiMMA plot and spoke to Leigh, so once again we have spread the story of the sinking and the men a little further. Thank you Leigh.

The Field of Remembrance is at St Margaret’s Church at Westminster Abbey and is now open to the general public until Sunday 15th November. Our plot is planted with memorial crosses purchased by you to remember all our relatives, who were on the Lisbon Maru.

Leigh and Geoff kindly photographed as many of the crosses as they could, so if you click on the carousel of photos above, the pictures will expand and you can look for your relative's cross. If you don't spot it, please let us know by emailing events@lisbonmaru.org.uk and any of us who are visiting will try and take a photo.

We will continue to update this page and photos over the next week, so if you are lucky enough to get to the Field of Remembrance please send your photos to events@lisbonmaru.org.uk and come back and visit this page later in the week.

In the meantime, here are some comments from Leigh and Geoff about the day and the Field of Remembrance.

"It was a lovely morning and great company with the other plot attendees around us. There was lots of interest in our LiMMA plot because we were new, so the story of the sinking and the men has spread a little further."

"The Duchess of Gloucester asked about the plot and who we represented and also asked how I was connected. Then she actually said it's so much more meaningful if you have a personal connection."

"I am exhausted after a very eventful day, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

"It was another emotional day and we met many people, who were interested to hear about the Lisbon Maru."

"The Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey was packed with people all there for the purpose of honouring the memory of those who gave everything in the service of King and Country. It was wonderful to be part of it."

As soon as we saw the plot and the first photos we felt so proud that together with all of you we had managed to honour the men in this way. Do you know we now have contact with over 800 relatives? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have memorial markers for every one of their men? If you get the chance to visit please do, the Field of Remembrance is something really special.

Remembrance Sunday

Sunday 8th November 2026

As many of you may know, Lisbon Maru relatives and descendants will be taking part in the March at the Cenotaph again this Sunday 8th November. This is a great achievement for LiMMA, and we are very excited to be representing all of the men aboard the Lisbon Maru. We are quite an international group this year with relatives joining us from Australia and Canada.

The marching group will be among the first to step out onto Whitehall, but the last to leave. In terms of Order of March the Lisbon Maru Memorial Association will be Column R10. Further details can be found on the Royal British Legion website.

We hope some of you will be able to get to London to watch and if not that you will be able to see the LiMMA group on TV. Television coverage is on BBC1 from 10.15am to 12.40pm and then available on BBC iPlayer.

Please join me in wishing all those representing LiMMA the very best for a memorable and meaningful day.

Anthony Jones
Chairman

We will be updating this section to let you know what happened on the day and adding photos of this year's Cenotaph Parade, so please come back later in the week.