Text of Catherine's message on behalf of her father Major (retired) Brian Finch on Tuesday 19th May 2026 at the Lisbon Maru Memorial Museum which documents the Lisbon Maru Incident.

Ladies and Gentlemen

My father, Major Brian Finch, has asked me to read out the following message addressed to the People of Zhoushan:

I was commissioned into The Middlesex Regiment in 1960 and it was then that I first heard about the sinking of the Lisbon Maru. I learned about the horrors that the prisoners of war suffered, locked in the holds for some 24 hours without food, water, light or sanitation whilst the ship was slowly sinking, unsure of whether they would survive; and being shot at when they managed to jump into the sea to avoid going down with the ship. One of the survivors of the sinking was still serving with the Regiment at that time, and the memory of hearing about these horrors has remained with me for the past six decades.

It was many years later, after I had been in Hong Kong for a long time, that I first heard about the intervention by the brave fishermen of Zhoushan who saved the lives of hundreds of men. Since then I have been keen to do what I can to make sure more people are aware of the courage shown by these fishermen. I started to help by giving talks arranged by Kent Shum, Secretary of the Lisbon Maru Association of Hong Kong. Later I translated into English the book written in Chinese by the Association and more recently helped Producer Fang Li in the making of his documentary film.

Whilst the production of the film was underway I helped to organise the building of a memorial to the victims of the sinking at the National Memorial Arboretum in the UK. This was unveiled in October 2021 in a service attended by around 650 people, mainly relatives and friends of prisoners of war who had been on the ship. Mrs Denise Wynne, daughter of the last survivor, the late Dennis Morley of the Royal Scots, later wrote to President Xi Jinping asking that a memorial be built in China to honour the memory of the Zhoushan fishermen. When President Xi replied that he would arrange this, the letter was given to Mrs Wynne by the Chinese Ambassador in London, Zheng Zeguang. I met him then and have since worked closely with him and other members of the Embassy to build relations and bridges between the relatives of those on the ship and the Chinese people, especially the people of Zhoushan and the descendants of the fishermen. This visit by relatives to Zhoushan and to the memorial here is a great example of the continuous building of these links.

Throughout the time I have been doing what I can to help spread knowledge of the sinking and the courage of the fishermen I have been impressed by the support of the people of Zhoushan, in particular by the leadership of Mr Hu Mu, who has done so much to ensure that the memory of these events has been kept alive by holding ceremonies every October. What has moved me in particular is that whilst obviously these ceremonies pay tribute to the courage of the fishermen in saving so many lives, they also honour the memory of the 828 men whose remains still lie on the cold sea bed in the waters of Zhoushan.

I regret most sincerely that I have never been able to make the journey to Zhoushan despite many invitations, and now age and infirmity prevent me from doing so. But I am pleased that my daughter Catherine is there on my behalf and carries with her my personal best wishes to you all.