The Lisbon Maru has been waiting for 778 Japanese soldiers who are to be carried back to Japan. They're on board and at 8 a.m. the ship finally leaves Hong Kong.
The POWs are crammed into three filthy and unhygienic holds, but they're allowed on deck for an hour as the ship steams away.
Robert Wright, of the Middlesex Regiment, recalls:
It was a hot, sunny afternoon, and I found myself beside a Mr Gorston ((probably Thomas Gorman - Tony Banham's note)), who had served with the Hong Kong Police. Neither of us spoke at first, and as we sailed past Stanley Point, where we had made our last stand, I saw tears streaming down the man's cheek.
Source:
Tony Banham, The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, 2010, Kindle Location 986-998
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