From Hong Kong to D-Day: Chinese sailors in the UK's WWII Navy

A different perspective on D-Day operations during World War II has come to light and has been on show in London.

Curated by two Hong Kong-based historians, an exhibition called The Unsung Chinese Heroes at D-Day is based on a wartime diary and personal artefacts found in a derelict apartment block.

Two years of research followed a 2015 newspaper article stumbled upon by journalist turned historian Angus Hui Chong-yin. With his colleague John Mak Hiu-fai, they followed up on the story and talked to relatives of some of the 24 naval officers who were sent from China to Britain in 1943. 

Before organizing an exhibition of their findings at King's College, London, they photographed and archived as many details as they could.

"I think this exhibition is a fantastic sort of insight into the way in which people from a different culture, militarily, came to Britain to learn about how to set up a navy for China," says Dr Geoff Browell, King's College Heritage Manager, Libraries & Collections. 

Browell says the main source, the 1944 diary of naval officer Lam Ping-yu, is particularly interesting – as is the story of how it was discovered.

"It was urban explorers, who break into or go into redundant buildings that could be warehouses or offices or homes and take photographs and videos and record the place before it's demolished," he says. 

"In this case, it was an apartment block in Hong Kong, and they got more than they bargained for because they discovered a diary – and that diary was of one of the Chinese officers who was at D-Day. 

"And from that, there was a whole load of other material that was discovered. Then research took place, and this exhibition is the sum total of that from those diaries."

Lam and his colleagues were sent for naval training during World War II. They trained and were billeted at the imposing Royal Naval College in Greenwich, near London's dockyards – so near that sometimes German bombs intended for the docks instead landed at Greenwich.

As part of their mission in Europe, many of the 24 officers took part in the Normandy Landings and later Operation Dragoon in 1944.

The officers trained for six months before being posted as trainees to Allied fleets. During the war, the grand Painted Hall, now open to the public, was actually their dining hall.

Some took part in the D-Day landings, and Lam Ping-yu's diary is believed to be the sole known primary source documenting Chinese involvement in D-Day. 

"We know Lam was aboard the HMS Ramillies, a battleship which would have been bombarding the German gun batteries on the shore on D-Day," says Thomas Pressland, a guide at the Naval College. 

"I believe he was involved with some gunnery training while he was here. But the officers, there'd be navigation, communications signalling would also be a big part of this – meteorology too, at that time…"

Lam's writings and letters are filled with vivid accounts of his excitement, frustration and possibly romance through the twists and turns of life.

"One of the things which is in the exhibition is actually a series of letters, potential love letters," says Dr Geoff Browell. 

"It just shows that during wartime, people of all different backgrounds got together. They didn't know what was going to happen the next day, or whether they were going to be around, and they had to capture the moment."

Lam Ping-yu led a full and exciting life postwar as well. He spent time living in Italy, Brazil and the United States.

His diary offers insights into his connection to Hong Kong, including his participation in Operation Armour, a British-led mission aimed at alleviating Hong Kong's desperate situation after the Japanese occupation ended in 1945.

Lam's words give a rare glimpse into the city's immediate post-war recovery – and a panoramic view of a fascinating life at a crucial time in history.