In memory of Frank Limacher
Frank Limacher was one of five brothers who served in the armed forces in the Second World War, writes Adrian Hughes. Their parents August and Margaret lived at Graig Cottage in Cwlach Road, on the eastern slopes of the Great Orme.
Frank, of Water Street, Llandudno, joined the local battery of the Royal Artillery before the war and later transferred into the 8th Coast Regiment and was sent to Hong Kong. When the Japanese captured the British colony on Christmas Day 1941, he was captured and taken a prisoner of war.
In September 1942, Gunner Limacher was among 1,800 Allied prisoners assembled at Shamshuipo Camp, Hong Kong, and addressed by Lieutenant Hideo Wada of the Imperial Japanese Army. He told the prisoners: “You are going to be taken away from Hong Kong to a beautiful country where you will be well looked after and well treated. I shall be in charge of the party. Take care of your health. Remember my face.”
The captives were herded onto the Japanese merchant ship Lisbon Maru and forced into the hold of the vessel. Conditions were appalling and the men were tightly packed in, lying shoulder to shoulder on the hard floor. Many of the soldiers were suffering from dysentery. Enjoying far better conditions were the 700 Japanese troops on the upper decks who were heading back to their homeland.
On 1 October 1942, the Japanese freighter was intercepted by the American submarine USS Grouper. As the Lisbon Maru was not flying flags indicating it was carrying prisoners of war, the captain of the submarine thought it a legitimate target and torpedoed the Japanese ship. The Lisbon Maru was disabled but did not immediately sink, nor were any prisoners killed or injured.
A second Japanese ship came alongside and took off the 700 Japanese soldiers, leaving the Allied prisoners in the hold before the Lisbon Maru was taken under tow for the Chinese port of Shanghai. However, it began to take on water and started to sink while the prisoners desperately battled to escape the hold; those who emerged were shot by the guards on deck.
Over 800 men died, including Frank Limacher. He was 25 years old. He is named on Hong Kong’s Sai Wan Memorial, which commemorates more than 2,000 servicemen who had no known grave following their deaths in the Battle of Hong Kong or in subsequent captivity.
Frank’s older brother Cyril, also a Royal Artillery Gunner, was attached to the RAF. He collapsed and died while on a month’s leave in 1945, two months after the end of the war in Europe.
Return to Llandudno war memorial page
Return to Welsh Prisoners of War history page
