Bertie's Death on the Torpedoed Lisbon Maru; William's Internment in Hong Kong
The contributor's mother's cousin, Bertie Tait, drowned on the Lisbon Maru ship, that was torpedoed while taking prisoners of war from Hong Kong to Japan. The ship was attacked by a US submarine as it was not marked as a POW ship. 828 people drowned, and only a few survived. Those who did survive were rescued by Chinese fishermen. The family received a telegram notifying them of Bertie's death and women 'melted'. The contributor noted that the family were preyed on by psychics after Bertie's death which prolonged the family suffering. Bertie's mother could not accept his death and kept searching for him.
The contributor's grandfather, William James Carrie, joined the Colonial Service from Edinburgh University. On Christmas Day 1941, Hong Kong fell to Japan. William's family were evacuated to Singapore, then took the last boat out before Singapore fell. William himself was interned in Hong Kong, at Stanley Internment Camp. He was head of burials at the camp. See a firsthand account from William's diary that shows daily life before Hong Kong fell. The diary was mundane to William's family but includes events that were very significant in the context of the war.
History
Item list and details
Photo of Berty Tait, who died on the 'Lisbon Maru' as a POW Photo of Berty Tait's grandmother, Manon White, and Berty's brother, Willie Tait, who was in the navy Newspaper article from April 1935 - about David's granfather, Mr W J Carrie Diary of life in Stanley Internment Camp Hand drawn map of internment camp on Hong Kong islandPerson the story/items relate to
Bertie Tait and William James CarriePerson who shared the story/items
David and Jan BatchelorRelationship between the subject of the story and its contributor
Bertie was the Jan's mother's cousin. William was the David's grandfather.Type of submission
Shared at University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh on 25 November 2023.Record ID
109177 | EDI022Usage metrics
