Movie《Dongji Island》Real Events

Movie - Dongji Island - What is the real incident?What events is it based on?If you want to know these contents, you might as well read the introduction of this article. I hope that through the content of the article, you can better understand the contents of Dongji Island.

Movie《Dongji Island》Real Events

The movie - Dongji Island - is adapted from the Lisbon Maru shipwreck incident.

The Lisbon Maru shipwreck refers to the incident in 1942 when the cargo ship Lisbon Maru carrying British prisoners of war was torpedoed by a US submarine and sank.

On Christmas Day 1941, thousands of British soldiers defending Hong Kong were forced to surrender after seventeen days of fierce fighting with the Japanese army and became prisoners of war.At the end of September 1942, the Japanese army sent 1,834 of this group of British prisoners of war onto the cargo ship Lisbon Maru, with the intention of transporting them to Japan to become laborers.Because the hull was armed with cannons and did not have any prisoner of war markings, the ship was misjudged as a warship by the US submarine "Perch" when it was traveling near the East Pole waters of Zhejiang, and was hit by a torpedo fired by the latter.

During the 25 hours from when the ship was hit to when it sank, the Japanese sealed all the British prisoners of war in the bilge of the ship and nailed the hatches with wooden strips and canvas.The British prisoners of war bravely rescued themselves and escaped through the cabin.In times of crisis, fishermen in Zhoushan, Zhejiang risked their lives and paddled sampans to fish out 384 dying British prisoners of war from the water and provide them with food, clothing and shelter.Despite this, 828 prisoners of war were either drowned, shot by Japanese troops, or trapped in the ship and failed to escape.

The Japanese ship Lisbon Maru, carrying 1,816 British prisoners of war, was sunk by a torpedo attack by a U.S. submarine in the waters near Zhoushan, Zhejiang.People in Zhoushan risked their lives to rescue more than 300 British soldiers, and protected and rescued three British soldiers during a large-scale search by the Japanese army.This important and precious set of historical archives not only witnessed an important historical event in the world anti-fascist war, but also recorded the outstanding qualities of the Chinese nation.

Although the historical archives of the rescue of Lisbon Maru and British prisoners of war have never been publicly disclosed, in the era of reform and opening up, some people in Zhoushan have been paying attention to this matter.Mao Dechuan, a retired veteran cadre in Zhoushan, began to investigate the matter earlier. Later, Zhang Jian and Guan Yixing from the cultural system, Wang Yongjian from the original Zhouyu Company, etc. all went to Qingbang Island, Miaozihu Island, and Xifushan Island ((now part of Dongji Island) conducted field surveys and accumulated many precious oral historical materials.

Speaking of the Lisbon Maru shipwreck, local fishermen will also mention some historical witnesses.

Fisherman Zhang Fuqing's boat went out to sea to rescue people. The boat was already full of British prisoners. However, Zhang Fuqing heard music coming from the rocks nearby, so he still rocked the boat to the rocks.It turned out that there were three British prisoners on the reef, and one of them was playing the harmonica.The intention was obvious, hoping someone could save him.Later, the British prisoner who played the harmonica went into the sea and swam to Qingbang Island with the gang of Zhang Fuqing's boat.In order to thank him for saving his life, the British prisoner gave the harmonica to Zhang Fuqing.Therefore, many fishermen on Qingbang Island know that the Zhang family once had a special harmonica.However, life soon became too difficult, and Zhang Fuqing's wife finally brought her harmonica to Shanghai in exchange for a stone of rice.Wang Yongjian said:“ Today, when Zhang Fuqing's son Zhang Dingkang talked about this matter, he still felt very sorry. If the harmonica is still there, wouldn't it be a precious historical witness?”

In fact, there are still local fishermen who preserve items donated by British prisoners of war.Ren Furen, a fisherman on Qingbang Island, also participated in the rescue activities that year.Later, the rescued British prisoner gave him a Western knife.Wang Yongjian said: “Now, this Western knife is collected by his daughter Ren Meijun.”

The civilian investigation in Zhoushan also brought to light a key figure - the reason why the three British prisoners of war were able to successfully escape was ultimately due to Miao Kaiyun, who was the deputy captain of the Fourth Brigade at the time.So, why is such a key figure missing his name in historical archives?The reminiscence articles of the parties involved solved the mystery.

The person who wrote the memory article was Wang Jineng, whose name is listed in the historical archives.In the article he wrote during his lifetime, he described in detail the process of Miao Kaiyun helping three British prisoners of war escape.

At that time, Miao Kaiyun was visiting his father-in-law's home in Huludao.Hearing that there were Allied prisoners of war on Qingbang Island, he took the risk and went there by boat.On Qingbang Island, after talking to three prisoners of war, he immediately arranged for personnel and ships to transfer them.From Qingbang to Guoju, then to Kangtou, and then to Xiangshan, troops were sent to protect him all the way.Finally, the three prisoners of war went to Yunhe and then arrived in Chongqing.Wang Jineng's article said: Miao Kaiyun played an indispensable role in rescuing three British prisoners of war.However, before 1948, Miao Kaiyun had been killed by local officials on unfounded charges.

No wonder the historical archives only contain the name of Captain Wang Jineng, but not the name of Deputy Captain Miao Kaiyun.The author saw a historical photo in Zhoushan. The people in the photo included Wang Jineng and Miao Kaiyun. With them were three rescued British prisoners of war. They were all wearing Chinese clothes provided by Chinese fishermen.This is also a precious historical witness!

The larger witness should actually be a motor sailboat.Wang Yongjian said that later, British warships did not come to Dongji Island to deliver grants.We learned from looking through old newspapers that on February 18, 1949, the British held a thank-you ceremony in Hong Kong.On behalf of the British government, the then Governor of Hong Kong Grant-Hung presented a motorized fishing boat, the Haian, to Dongji Township, Zhoushan.However, no one can tell clearly about the final whereabouts of this fishing boat.

The above is an introduction to the real events in the movie - Dongji Island. I don’t know if you understand it. If it is helpful, you can continue to pay attention to the line class, and we will continue to bring you more content in the future..