Poon Lim was of Chinese descent and had served in World War II as a second steward aboard the SS Ben Lomond British merchant ship. The particular ship overall was slow and sluggish, barely armed, and at the time was sailing by itself away from any other friendly ship.
A German U-Boat managed to come across the Ben Lomond and sunk the ship with a torpedo. Being caught off guard, most of the ship’s crew on board sunk with the vessel. Of the total 55 crew members on board, 11 were eventually saved by other ships. Though Poon Lim did not have such luck, and fate had something terribly different in mind for him.
As the ship was sinking, Poon Lim managed to secure a life jacket and jumped into the sea. He swam for around 2 hours until he spotted an 8 by 8-foot wooden raft which he made his way to and boarded. In the end, this was really his only instance of great fortune for the remaining 133 days. Because from then on, there was really nothing but trouble to torment him.
Picture: Google
With Poon Lim, he only had:
- A four-liter jug of water
- A small box of biscuits
- A big tarp
- A small bag of sugar
- Some flares
- Rope
- Two smoke pots
- A flashlight
As his provisions ran low he found ways to supplement them. He collected rainwater in his life jacket and a canvas canopy. He unraveled rope for a fishing line and fashioned fishing hooks from a nail in the planks of his raft and from a spring in a flashlight that was no longer working.
He used crushed biscuits rolled into a paste for bait and once he caught a small fish he used it for bait for bigger fish, eating his catch raw. Once he caught a shark, but it attacked him as he pulled it aboard and he had to bash it to death using a water container. He cut it up using a knife he made from the lid of a tin of meat. He also caught seagulls, salting the meat with seawater and drying it on deck to make jerky.
During his time adrift there were moments when other ships came near but perhaps decided that since he was Asian he may have been an enemy trap. American airmen also seemed to spot him but a storm shortly after may have moved him far away from his reported position. Ominously, a German sub also spotted him but went on its way.
He was finally rescued in 1943 as he came closer to land. Days earlier he had mentioned he knew the land was near as the color of the water had changed dramatically. Eventually, three fishermen found his raft and rescued him. Over the course of his journey, he had lost nearly 20 pounds of weight. However, and as a testament to this man’s strength and fortitude, upon reaching land, he got off his raft and walked ashore unaided. He then spent the next month in a Brazilian hospital.
Picture: Google
Poon Lim had set a survival record that stood for decades. His experience was used to rewrite naval survival manuals. He was awarded the British Empire Medal by King George VI and was the centerpiece of a British Ministry of Information film about how Chinese people were helping the war effort.
Sources: History Of Yesterday, Today, I Found Out
