Do you think the story of the Normandy landings (D-Day) has already been fully told? When a yellowed diary slipped out from the cracks of a wall in a soon-to-be-demolished tong lau (tenement house) in Hong Kong, one of the least-known chapters of World War II was unveiled.
In 2015, during the demolition of a dilapidated building in Sai Wan, urban explorers found a forgotten war diary in a dusty attic. On its yellowed pages, Lam Ping-yiu, a Chinese naval officer born in Java and trained in Britain, recounted his remarkable journey. He was the only known Chinese soldier to have participated in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944.
But the war's end was not the end of his story. In 1945, Lam returned to a devastated Hong Kong with the British Army, transforming from a battlefield hero to a civilian protector—distributing rations and aiding the starving. This unsung hero, who traversed Southeast Asia, British naval schools, Normandy's beaches, and Hong Kong's streets, embodied the city's unique role as a crossroads of world history.
Now, these war-stained pages have come to light. As we touch the ink-streaked paper, we connect not just with the smoke and fire of 80 years ago but with the untold courage that flows through the veins of this city. Following Lam's pen, let's step into his battlefield—and into the forgotten chapters of our past.
(Editor & Host: Liu Yu | Videography & Production: Ian Lau)
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