Lam Pingyu - D Day (6Jun44) HMS Ramillies

Date picture taken
1940s

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The night before June 6, 1944, fleets of warships moved in darkness towards the beaches of Normandy, France, for a massive strike, with Chinese naval officer Lam Ping-yu on board HMS Ramillies.

Hong Kong diary shows China's little-known naval D-Day role.

The ships were numerous and scattered all across the sea, Lam wrote in his diary, approx. 5 am HMS Warspite was the first to open fire.

Lam's 80-page journal is the centrepiece of a Hong Kong exhibition launched in 2025, which for the first time chronicles the stories of 24 Chinese officers who helped Allied forces in their landmark D-Day operation.