Zhoushan Visit
LiMMA members and relatives visit Zhoushan 17th to 24th May
Day 1 Football Event
The Zhoushan trip this year kicked off with a visit to the Wu-Yue Cup. During a short break in the cup match, a special Lisbon Maru Sino-British Football Event saw descendants of Lisbon Maru POWs take to the pitch alongside descendants of the Zhoushan fishermen, who saved some of the POWs. David Hillon, relative of Seaman Gunner David Knox, and Catherine Cooper representing the families of the British POWs gave gifts of Liverpool FC flags to the Zhoushan and Quzhou teams.
David and Catherine kicked off the match. Then 2 football enthusiasts from the UK, William and Kwasi both wearing number 84 shirts, marking 84 years since the Lisbon Maru sank, took part alongside Chen Tao, a descendant of the Chinese fishermen.
Day 2 Zhoushan City Museum
The first full day of activities for the relatives, included a visit to the Zhoushan City Museum to view the exhibition on the Lisbon Maru incident. Chen Chong, Secretary of the Zhoushan Municipal Party Committee was present and James Murphy, son of Lance Corporal James Laurence Murphy delivered a very moving speech on behalf of the relatives.
Day 3 Qingbang Island Chinese Memorial
The next day saw the relatives travelling to Qingbang Island for a commemorative ceremony at the Chinese Memorial. The ceremony was both simple and moving. Wreaths and fresh flowers were laid at the memorial and there was a tree planting ceremony nearby to symbolise the friendship between the Chinese and British peoples. Speeches were also delivered by local officials, Catherine Cooper, Kirsteen Dugan and Chris Borge whose grandfather Private John Borg and great uncle Private Duncan Edwin Cameron were rescued by the fishermen.
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Day 4 Lisbon Maru Memorial Museum
In the morning, the relatives visited the Lisbon Maru Memorial Museum, where Catherine Cooper presented a commemorative gift to the museum for its collection and gave a deeply moving speech. They then went on a tour of the island and returned to Zhoushan by boat.
Day 5 Dinner with the Mayor of Zhoushan
On the evening of 21st May 2026 a delegation of relatives of the passengers of the Lisbon Maru from the UK was invited to dine with Xu Renbiao, Mayor of Zhoushan. This marked the first time since 2005 that a senior official from Zhoushan had dined with the British relatives. Rob Golding LiMMA Treasurer, whose father Lance Corporal William Golding survived the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, spoke on behalf of LiMMA and the relatives of all the men on the Lisbon Maru.
Read the full text of Rob Golding's Speech...
Text and photos courtesy of Kent Shum, LiMMA members and relatives on the 2026 trip to Zhoushan.