History of Sri Lanka Army - Post Independence
Until independence in 1948, the Ceylon Defence Force was vested with the responsibility of national security; and after February 4th 1948, the Sri Lankan Government became solely responsible for protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island. In order to meet this challenge raising and maintaining a standing army was a necessity. The British had left a volunteer force and the government supplemented it with a regular force in order to defend national interests of Sri Lanka.
When the War ended, the task of returning the enormously swollen wartime CDF to its normal proportions began. After the war 645 officers and 14,247 personnel from other ranks were de-mobilised from the CDF. By 1948 came independence and in 1949, the Army Act No. 17 of 1949 was passed by Parliament on April 11, 1949 and formalized by Gazette Extraordinary No. 10028 of October 10, 1949. Thus October 10th marked the creation of the Ceylon Army and the date is observed as Army day.
With a view to raising a Regular Force to the country, Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan C.E.B., the first Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs, the island of Ceylon was endowed with a Regular Force under the Command of Brigadier Roderick Sinclair, the Earl of Caithness D.S.O. on 10th October 1949 under the Army Act of 1949. The extraordinary gazette (No 10,028) in this connection, signed by Mr. Don Stephen Senanayake, then Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs, was published the same day, announcing the Commissioning and Promotion of a few Ceylonese Army Officers to function at the newly established Army Headquarters.
The Army was to be comprised of a Regular and a Volunteer force and the initial requirement was to raise the units in the Regular and Volunteer Forces. There were no formations and all units were directly functioning under Army Headquarters. This Army of Independent Ceylon contained the following Regular Regts & Vol Counter parts, separately.
- Ceylon Light Infantry 1st Bn (Regular) & 2nd Bn (Vol)
- Ceylon Artillery Regt & Vol w/ Heavy Arty, Light Arty & Coastal Arty.
- Ceylon Engrs (Regular) & (Vol) Regt.
- Ceylon Signals (Regular) & (Vol) Regt
- Ceylon Service Corp. (Regular) & (Vol) Regt
- Ceylon Ordinance Corp
- CEME - No Vol Units at commencement.
- Ceylon Corp of Military Police.
- Ceylon Army Medical Corp & Vol Units.
The new Ceylon Army was composed of Regular and Volunteer Forces. With the wheel now turning a full circle, the Volunteers took once again their title - that grand old name - Volunteers. The volunteer force known as the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) was recruited mainly from de-mobilised CDF personnel.
Temporary field headquarters were formed at the time of a requirement as it was done during the 1958 communal riots. The first field formation was raised in 1963, to prevent illicit immigration from South India. This headquarters was known as Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration (TAFII), which was disbanded in 1981. In May 1972, when Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka, all Army units were renamed accordingly
The Headquarters was formed initially with the basic minimum of Staff Officers required to set the machinery of the Army in motion. As time progressed and units began to form, the need for expanding the HQ set up was felt and various branches were added. The first batch of Officer Cadets from Ceylon was sent to the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in January 1950. A British Army Training Team was established in salubrious climes at Diyatalawa to give refresher training for Officers, Non Commissioned Officers and Recruits in the new Regular Force.
By 1951 the embryonic regular army numbered 154 officers and 1,955 from other ranks. Many officers in the regular army were also from the de-mobilised CDF and had served as officers in the volunteer units before. The regular army’s ancillary, the CVF had approximately 1,500-2000 reservists. Each unit of the regulars had a parallel unit in the volunteers. By the mid-fifties a brigade size regular army of around 3,000-4,000 troops was formed.
Many of the old units of the Volunteer Force still exist in the Army except a few which were disbanded from time to time. The Volunteer Force has since then grown and it is this Force that supplements the Regular Force when the requirement arises. Since the outbreak of hostilities in Northern Sri Lanka, the Volunteer Force worked shoulder to shoulder with the Regular Units engaged in counter insurgency operations.
By the mid-1950s it was roughly estimated that the officer corps in the army consisted of less than 40% Buddhists and more than 50% Christians (Catholic and Protestant). The Hindu and Islamic component was negligible. Sizable numbers of the Christian officers were Tamils and Burghers. Tamils and Burghers were overrepresented in the officer class. As far as the rank and file was concerned roughly 70% were Sinhala of whom about 15% were Christian. Burghers were about 7 % and Muslims and Malays 11%.Tamils comprised the rest.
After Brigadier Reid, Commander Ceylon Army, retired in February 1955, Colonel Anton Muttukumaru, Chief of Staff Ceylon Army and the senior most Ceylonese Army Officer, was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and appointed the Commander Ceylon Army while he was following a course in London. He was the first Sri Lankan to become the Army Commander. Administration of the Ceylon Army Volunteer Force was afterwards separated from the Army Headquarters and its command was instead entrusted to Colonel H.W.G. Wijekoon, who was the acting Commander during the absence of Brigadier A. Muttukumaru.
The Ceylon Army, commanded by many able and eminent personnel has then onwards performed its duties not only in ceremonial form but also in other areas of state requirement. This situation compelled the expansion of the Army command strata island-wide which in turn resulted in emergence of Area Headquarters under command to respective Area Commanders. Palaly, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Boossa, Diyatalawa and Panagoda enveloped the security of the whole of the island operating from those Military Command bases.
The new government, headed by Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1971 ushered a new era in the Ceylon Army when the 25-year old existing Soulbury Constitution was replaced by the Republican Constitution declaring the country an Independent Republic on 22 May 1972. Ceylon Army was renamed as Sri Lanka Army and Regiments and Units followed the same. All officers and soldiers of the Army took their oaths of allegiance to the new republic of Sri Lanka. This was invariably done at parades held in respective units. Later a medal was issued to all those in service on the newly declared Republic Day.
Introduction of the new regimental insignia with the declaration of the Republic of Sri Lanka, all units of the Army had perforce to sever their connections with the previous era. Since it was in the various regimental badges and crests that these connections were most manifest. Army Headquarters in due course issued a circular inviting units to submit designs of new cap badges and other insignia for approval.
| Operation Name | Operation Date |
|---|---|
| EELAM WAR I | 1983-07-23 |
| EELAM WAR II | 1990-03-24 |
| EELAM WAR III | 1995-04-19 |
| OP JAYASIKURU | 1997-05-13 |
| OPERATION RANAGOSA | 1999-03-06 |
| OPERATION RIVIBALA | 1998-12-01 |
| OPERATION RIVIKIRANA I | 2000-09-03 |
| OPERATION KINIHIRA I | 2000-09-17 |
| OPERATION KINIHIRA II | 2000-09-26 |
| OPERATION KINIHIRA IV STAGE I | 2000-11-19 |
| OPERATION KINIHIRA V | 2000-12-16 |
| OPERATION KINIHIRA VIII | 2000-12-30 |
| OPERATION KINIHIRA IX | 2001-01-06 |
| OPERATION TO MUTTUR | 2006-08-04 |
| EELAM WAR IV | 2006-07-26 |
However, events in the country took a dramatic turn in 1971 when the JVP insurrection broke out. For the first time in post-independence history, the Army was involved in active combat. The prompt assistance granted by foreign countries from various parts of the world helped the Army to restore order in the country within a period of two months. The period from 1971 to 1981 was relatively peaceful except for the communal riots in August 1977. The era between 1977 and 1981 was the breeding period of northern terrorism.
The Sri Lanka Army at its inception was employed in internal security Army Troops deployed in Internal Security duties, maintaining law and order and ceremonial duties. During this period, the 1954 Harthal and communal violence in 1958, were among some of the main internal security operations the Army had to undertake. Further, some units of the Army were deployed in the northern part of the country for the purpose of preventing the entry of illegal immigrants from South India.
However, events in the country took a dramatic turn in 1971 when the JVP insurrection broke out. For the first time in post-independence history, the Army was involved in active combat. The prompt assistance granted by foreign countries from various parts of the world helped the Army to restore order in the country within a period of two months. The period from 1971 to 1981 was relatively peaceful except for the communal riots in August 1977. The era between 1977 and 1981 was the breeding period of northern terrorism.
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