Be Proud Of Them

The memoirs of Corporal 'Blanco' White: a soldier on the thin-red-line

The memoirs of Corporal 'Blanco' White: A survivor of the Lisbon Maru Massacre and the Japanese Prisoner of War camps.

Experience the gripping memoir of Corporal 'Blanco' White, a soldier of the Middlesex Regiment, who faced the horrors of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941. White fought valiantly during seventeen days of intense combat, despite overwhelming enemy forces, until the garrison's surrender on December 25, 1941.

Captured and subjected to brutal captivity, White was one of the 1,816 British POWs aboard the Lisbon Maru, a Japanese transport ship bound for slave labour in Japan. Within a week, over half of them perished in a calculated massacre. Over the next two-and-a-half years, many more succumbed to torture, starvation, and forced labour.

Amidst the cruelty, White's story shines with old-fashioned decency, a sense of fair play, and even forgiveness. Despite enduring severe torture, he advocated for clemency for one of his former Japanese guards at a War Crimes trial, showcasing his remarkable humanity.

Told in White's own words, this memoir honours the memory of the comrades who perished during the Lisbon Maru's sinking and in Japanese POW camps.

Be inspired by the courage and resilience of one of the Greatest Generation.