Leave sunken WW2 ship at rest: survivor

A SURVIVOR of one of the worst atrocities of the Second World War has criticised a plan to recover a ship in which 820 British soldiers drowned.

Dennis Morley, 97, was on board the Lisbon Maru when Japanese guards sealed the ship’s hatches, trapping hundreds inside while it was sinking.

He is thought to be the last survivor of the horror, and 75 years later, he has sparked a debate over whether the shipwreck should be raised from the seabed.

Researchers recently discovered the ship’s remains, using sonar images, four miles from the island of Dongfushan in the East China Sea.

A drone with a magnetic sensor flew over the site, confirming the wreck was made of steel and was at least 5,000 tons, leading researchers to be certain it was the Lisbon Maru.

But Mr Morley said: ‘It’s a war grave and that should be left.’

The Lisbon Maru had 1,800 captured British soldiers on board in September 1942 when it was hit by an American torpedo.

As the 7,000-ton boat started to take on water, Japanese guards sealed the hatches with planks and tarpaulin. Mr Morley, a private in the Royal Scots, said: ‘There was no way that anyone was going to get out – they intended us to go down with the ship. You can’t imagine it. Blokes were climbing up that ladder and pulling down the one in front of them so they could get out.’

One soldier used a knife to cut through the tarpaulin but Mr Morley and others who escaped were shot at on the deck and in the sea. The massacre eventually stopped when a flotilla of Chinese fishing boats arrived and began rescuing the soldiers.

After escaping, Mr Morley was recaptured and spent the rest of the war in a work camp in Kobe, Japan.

Fang Li, a Chinese businessman and film producer who commissioned the search, told The Sunday Times: ‘Everybody [would] like to see this boat be salvaged. We want to send those British soldiers home.’ But he added: ‘Of course, everyone has to respect the family wishes.’

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission said it had no jurisdiction over maritime wrecks but would urge ‘that the remains of the men who died on the Lisbon Maru are left in peace’.