Lisbon Maru heroism remembered by grateful families

Brian Finch, convenor of the Lisbon Maru families, said: "At the moment, everyone who knows about the story remembers it, relatives are very keen, but the vast number of people in the UK do not know about it. What we need to do is to make maximum publicity within the UK and internationally to get the story widely known."

During the event on Saturday, Wu Xiaofei, granddaughter of another now-deceased rescuer, Wu Qilin, gave Wynne a painting she had done of the fishermen from Dongji Island. And British artist Paul Christien, who was moved by the story of the rescue, reciprocated by giving to Wu a woodblock painting he had done based on the Lisbon Maru incident.

"It's important for us to get together culturally, and have contact with each other, even though the survivors have sadly died off through time, to keep that memory going," said Christien.