跟時間賽跑，搶救“里斯本丸”的珍貴歷史

陳靜

今年夏日，有一位中國人自掏200多萬元，在英國三大報紙《泰晤士報》《每日電訊報》和《衛(wèi)報》上刊登“尋人啟事”，尋找1942年“里斯本丸”沉船事件中的英軍戰(zhàn)俘和他們的后人，他計劃把這段快被人遺忘的歷史拍攝成紀錄片《The 828 Unforgotten》，預計在明年10月26日上映。

他叫方勵。

他對“里斯本丸”念念不忘

方勵，電影《后會無期》的制片人，我們熟悉或者不熟悉的電影《乘風破浪》《萬物生長》《二次曝光》《觀音山》等也由他打造。

2013年，方勵來舟山東極勘景時，船老大指著一片海域告訴方勵關(guān)于“里斯本丸”的故事。

“里斯本丸”是二戰(zhàn)期間日本從巴西征用的一艘客貨船，載重7152噸?！袄锼贡就琛钡牡谝粋€任務是從香港往日本運送戰(zhàn)俘，搭載了1816名英軍戰(zhàn)俘、僑民，以及778名日本士兵和平民。當時日軍只顧自己撤離，把英國戰(zhàn)俘關(guān)在底艙。

1942年10月1日早晨，沒有懸掛任何戰(zhàn)俘標志的“里斯本丸”航行至舟山東部海域時，被美軍潛艇“鱸魚”號發(fā)射的魚雷擊中船尾。

資料顯示，“里斯本丸”從中彈到沉船歷時一天，800多名英國士兵遇難。舟山漁民先后出動小漁船46艘65次，共救起384名左右英俘，其中絕大多數(shù)又被日軍抓走，在“里斯本丸”底艙的戰(zhàn)俘們，因為階梯斷掉，被生生困在船底，沉入海底。

聽到這個真實故事后，方勵久久不能平靜。后來，他在舟山海域進行了兩次海洋探測，一直到去年。方勵的行動得到了英國媒體的關(guān)注，一位英國記者被這個故事吸引，并進行了報道。很快，他就收到一封來自英國的Amanda女士的郵件。Amanda說，她爺爺MontagueGlister就死在那艘船上。

方勵隨即與Amanda取得了聯(lián)系。方勵和導演范銘在倫敦與Amanda會見后，被她對爺爺?shù)膽涯罡袆?，決定將這個故事重現(xiàn)于世人面前。

據(jù)方勵介紹，“里斯本丸”事件的當事人所剩無幾，目前已經(jīng)找到99歲的幸存者Dennis Morley和曾經(jīng)參加營救的94歲中國漁民林阿根。

為了方便照顧林阿根，老人的子女幾年前把他接到了普陀沈家門家中居住。據(jù)老人的兒媳婦介紹，老人家雖然已是94歲高齡，但依舊耳聰目明，身體也比較硬朗，除了兒媳婦送來的一日三餐以外，每天還要飲用4斤至5斤舟山老酒，“舟山老酒我們都是整箱整箱給他買的，一天起碼喝4頓。他自己把酒溫熱了，慢悠悠地喝?！?/p>

方勵深感自己必須有所作為，為他們拍一部紀錄片，講述“里斯本丸”上英國戰(zhàn)俘的故事。

幸存者回憶76年前的那一天

從今年4月踏上英國土地開始，方勵就在微博上詳細記錄了他的工作過程。

1942年9月27日，日軍將關(guān)押在香港深水埗集中營的1800多名英軍戰(zhàn)俘轉(zhuǎn)運到“里斯本丸”上，絕大部分戰(zhàn)俘被關(guān)押在3個狹窄悶熱的貨艙里，只有少數(shù)傷病人員留在甲板上。這艘船上裝載的戰(zhàn)俘，相當于駐港英軍的十分之一?！袄锼贡就琛彪x開香港向東前行。它先后經(jīng)過臺灣北端的東島燈塔、寧波象山縣的北漁山島燈塔。船上的戰(zhàn)俘身體瘦弱、疾病纏身。

根據(jù)幸存者們的回憶，每個貨艙大約關(guān)押了600人?？拷^的一號艙關(guān)押著皇家海軍的戰(zhàn)俘，船頭前方的二號艙中是皇家蘇格蘭軍團、米德爾賽克斯軍團、皇家工程兵、皇家信號兵團、皇家醫(yī)療隊的戰(zhàn)俘，船尾的三號艙里是皇家炮兵團的戰(zhàn)俘。擁擠不堪的船艙里，沒有空間，沒有光線，也不知道時間，汗水、體味、嘔吐物和排泄物令人透不過氣來。

紀錄片《The 828Unforgotten》攝制組來到倫敦西部的小鎮(zhèn)查爾福德，拜訪二戰(zhàn)沉船“里斯本丸”事件中在世的幸存者Dennis Morley（當時所知道的唯一一位）。

今年99歲的Dennis Morley曾是皇家蘇格蘭軍團的一員，在“里斯本丸”上被日軍關(guān)進二號船艙。

活了近一個世紀，Dennis仍精神矍鑠，和攝制組見面時堅持站著聊天，脊背仍像一個戰(zhàn)士那樣挺得筆直，“我是一個樂觀的人?！彼f，“這一生中從來沒有什么事能讓我擔心。”

攝制組跟著Dennis的思緒回到“里斯本丸”被擊沉的那一天。那已經(jīng)是76年前的事了，Dennis閉著眼睛沉思了好一會，才緩緩向攝制組描繪出當時的畫面：

魚雷擊中船體時，巨大的聲響從船底傳來，燈滅了，他們都還不知道發(fā)生了什么，船艙一片死寂；接著又有幾枚魚雷襲來，船體開始傾斜，那一刻他能回想起來的，除了恐慌、恐慌，還是恐慌。

很快，日軍開始用帆布和木板釘死艙口，他們撤離了，只留下十幾個士兵看守戰(zhàn)俘?！斑@幫混蛋，他們要把我們淹死！”意識到危機的Dennis和戰(zhàn)友們開始想方設(shè)法逃離船艙，他們找出一把刀，從木板縫里戳出去割破帆布，用蠻力將釘死的艙口捅開。

第一批逃出的戰(zhàn)友被守在艙口的日本士兵開槍打死，Dennis在艙底都能聽到“突突”的槍聲，“就好像火車從頭上開過一樣?！?/p>

但很快，逃出去的人越來越多，看守的日本士兵被他們消滅，逃生通道上的障礙被清理干凈了。

Dennis是最后幾個逃出去的人之一，他清楚地記得，當人們亂作一團、驚恐地爭搶逃生機會的時候，正是前幾天采訪中給攝制組留下深刻印象的Norman Cuthbertson上尉安慰大家，控制了局面。“他是個英雄，真正的英雄?！盌ennis一提起Cuthbertson上尉，聲音就抬高八度。

逃出船艙的Dennis在已經(jīng)傾斜成45度的甲板上靜靜等待，此時日本人還在對跳進海里的戰(zhàn)俘掃射。他一直等到船沉前的最后一刻才跳入水中，躺在水面上靜靜等待日出。

有一些中國漁民劃著小船來救人，而Dennis則是被一艘日本海軍船撈起的?！叭毡救藨撌呛ε轮袊鴿O民把他們的罪行告訴全世界，所以才開始救人的?！辈贿^，這些對于今天的Dennis來說都已經(jīng)不重要了。

方勵和Dennis Morley有個約定：“明年10月26日他百歲生日時，我們將把這個紀錄片作為生日禮物呈獻給他……”

據(jù)其他幸存者回憶，最絕望的是三號艙的戰(zhàn)俘，三號艙所在的船尾最先被魚雷擊中，漏水情況也最為嚴重，戰(zhàn)俘們拼命輪流泵水一整夜，筋疲力盡，在逃生的關(guān)鍵時刻，通往甲板的梯子突然斷裂。他們中的很多人，是唱著一首思鄉(xiāng)的歌曲沉入海底的。

10月2日上午10點半左右，“里斯本丸”船頭向上噴出巨大的水花，沉入海底。

我們所能做的都是搶救性采訪

遇難者家屬的每一次回憶，都讓方勵感到心碎。

83歲高齡的Ron Brooks是遇難者家屬之一，他的父親當年是英國皇家炮兵團香港赤柱炮臺的主炮手，1942年10月2日隨“里斯本丸”沉入海底。遇難時，Ron的父親在香港被俘期間寫下的最后一封家書仍在郵寄途中。年邁的Ron回憶起父親的離去，淚水涌出，哽咽得說不出話來。

與幸存者家屬Ken Penny和Simon Penny見面時，兩兄弟拿出那張他們父親Gerald Penny去世前長期放在自己隨身錢包里的小紙條，紙條是他們當時22歲的大伯Richard Penny在被送上“里斯本丸”前夕，在香港深水埗戰(zhàn)俘營里寫給他們父親的最后一封信。信中Richard Penny托付自己年僅5歲的小弟，希望他長大后能照顧母親，撐起這個家庭。這封短短十幾個字、全部由大寫字母寫成的信，飽含遺憾、不舍和期許，讓方勵淚流不止。

方勵形容，此次采訪和拍攝讓他如同經(jīng)歷一場戰(zhàn)爭一般，有太多令人心碎、震撼、感動的瞬間。十余天的旅程，不僅獲得了大量素材，更難忘的是他們所有人經(jīng)歷了無數(shù)的情感沖擊，體念到了戰(zhàn)爭帶給人類的切膚之痛……他認為，“里斯本丸”的故事必須被講出來，這不但是他的心愿，也是他給逝去的828個年輕生命的承諾。

7月10日，“里斯本丸”紀錄片小組在倫敦接受了三撥采訪：BBC電臺Radio 4、《歐洲時報》、BBC電視臺WorldNews……

據(jù)了解，經(jīng)過《泰晤士報》對方勵的采訪，以及其他英國媒體的跟進，再加上方勵在英國主流大報上的廣告，已經(jīng)有100多位“里斯本丸”英軍戰(zhàn)俘家屬聯(lián)系了他們。戰(zhàn)俘后人的信息幾乎每天都在更新，現(xiàn)在團隊手里已經(jīng)有200多個戰(zhàn)俘后人家庭的線索。

最令人激動的是又有一位英軍戰(zhàn)俘聯(lián)系上了他們，他現(xiàn)居溫哥華。方勵準備盡快去拜訪這位現(xiàn)年98歲的 William Ben-ingfield。

方勵說，“我們每天都在跟時間賽跑，所能做的都是搶救性采訪”。

Fang Li， the producer of the 2014 Han Han film and several other films， has paid more than two million yuan out of his pocket just to tell an untold tale. A documentary he is working on and titled ， devoted to a lesser-known chapter of the World War II， is scheduled to be released on October 26， 2019.

The inspiration of the documentary came from Fang Lis visit to Dongji island in Zhoushan， Chinas largest archipelago and part of Zhejiang province， in 2013. A local fisherman took him to the waterfront and shared with him the forgotten tales sinking into the seabed together with the legendary cargo liner on the morning of October 1， 1942.

Lisbon Maru was a Japanese Cargo liner built at Yokohama in 1920 for a Japanese shipping line. The ship was 445 feet （135.6 meters） long， and measured 7，053 GRT and 4，308 NRT. During World War II the ship became an armed troopship. On her final voyage she was also transporting 1，816 British and Canadian prisoners-of-war captured after the fall of Hong Kong in December 1941 and 778 Japanese Army personnel between Hong Kong and Japan when torpedoed on 1 October 1942， sinking with a loss of over 800 lives. The POWs were held in “appalling conditions ... [those] at the bottom of the hold ... showered by the diarrhea of sick soldiers above”.

On 1 October 1942 the ship that was not marked to alert Allied forces to the nature of its passengers was torpedoed by USS Grouper （SS-214） when it reached the waters in eastern Zhoushan. The Japanese troops were evacuated from the ship but the POWs were not. Reportedly 384 British POWs were first rescued by fishermen in Zhoushan， but later fell back into the talons of the Japanese troops.

The story left Fang Li sad and unsettled for a prolonged period of time. He revisited Dongji twice， trying to find more about Lisbon Maru. What the film producer did caught the attention of the British media and led to a news story written by a British reporter and published in the UK.

The turning point of Fang Lis query came from an email sent by Amanda， who shared with Fang Li that her grandpa died on that day and in that ship. The result was a meeting between Fang Li （and the director of the documentary） and Amanda in London. According to Fang， most of the survivors and witnesses of the wartime tragedy are gone. For 94-year-old Lin Agen， now living with his children in Shenjiamen in Zhoushan， the day when he and his fellows risked their life to save the POWs from the sinking ship felt it was just yesterday.

Dennis Morley， a former member of the Royal Air Force， is one of the survivors. The 99-year-old， still hale and hearty and calling himself “an incurable optimist”， recalled the tragic day 76 years ago with his eyes closed：

“We were hit by more than one torpedo. Deafening sounds came from the hull bottom. Everyone panicked in the dark. The hatches were battened down above them and we were left on the listing ship. After 24 hours it became apparent that the ship was sinking and we were able to break through the hatch covers. Some were able to escape from the ship before it sank. The ladder from one of the holds to the deck failed， and the Royal Artillery POWs in the hold could not escape. Japanese guards first fired on the POWs who reached the deck； and other Japanese ships used machine guns to fire at those who were in the water…”

“I waited and waited， till the Japanese stopped firing at those who were in the water， and jumped into the water at the last moment. I floated a long way， waiting for the first rays of the sun to emerge from the horizon，” Dennis reminisced， lost in thoughts.

“Many Chinese fishing boats joined the rescue effort， but I was saved by the Japanese Navy， who I assume did this just because of the fear that their atrocity would be condemned by the world someday.”

One of the interviewees the documentary team tracked down on is Lieutenant Norman Cuthbertson， one of the survivors. “He pacified the panicking crowd and got the chaos under control. He is a real hero，” Dennis proudly announced， raising his voice.

The POWs in the No.3 cabin were last heard singing “Its a Long Way to Tipperary”. Later， however， after some Chinese fishermen started rescuing survivors， the Japanese ships also rescued survivors.

For Fang Li， the interviews and the shooting of the documentary were a stirring experience of heartbreaking stories about life and death. “Its a race against time. It is another rescue，” Fang Li said. With mounting media exposure about the making of the documentary in the UK， the documentary team has built connection with more than 100 bereaved families of former prisoners and escapees， one of which is William Beningfield， aged 98 and living in Vancouver. Fang plans to go see him as soon as possible.