The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was established in 1910 by the Ceylonese legislation Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance, which reformed the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) that existed previously as the military reserve in the British Crown colony of Ceylon. At the time of forming it was only a reserve force but soon developed into a regular force responsible for the defence of Ceylon. The CDF was under the command of the General Officer Commanding, Ceylon of the British Army in Ceylon if mobilised. However mobilisation could be carried out only under orders from the Governor.
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. In 2010, the Army had approximately 200,000 regular personnel, between 20,000 and 40,000 volunteer personnel and 18,000 National Guardsmen and comprises 13 divisions, one air-mobile brigade, one commando brigade, one special forces brigade, one independent armored brigade, three mechanized infantry brigades and over 40 infantry brigades.
Colonel Frederick Cecil "Derek" de Saram, OBE, ED was a Sri Lankan lawyer, a Ceylon cricket captain, and an officer of the Ceylon Army. He led the attempted military coup of 1962.
The Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) is the artillery arm of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of ten regular regiments and two volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda.
The Corp of Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) is a combat support arm of the Sri Lanka Army which provides military engineering. It is made up of ten regular regiments and one volunteer regiment. Headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, it is headed by the Centre Commandant.
The Sri Lanka Signals Corps (SLSC) is a combat support corps of the Sri Lanka Army, responsible for providing military communications, information technology and electronic warfare support. The corps is made up of a signals brigade, ten regular regiments and one volunteer regiment. It is responsible for installing, maintaining and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems. It is headquartered at the Panagoda Cantonment.
The Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) is the oldest regiment in the Sri Lanka Army and the oldest infantry regiment in the army. It is made up of sixteen regular battalions and nine volunteer battalions, and is headquartered at the Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda.
The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Army. The SLAVF is separate from the Regular Force which consists of personal who are professional soldiers and its Regular Reserve, which comprises personal who have a mobilization obligation following their service in the regular army. The SLAVF consists of the volunteer force and the volunteer reserve; administration and recruitment of reserve personal is carried out by the Volunteer Force Headquarters in Shalawa, Kosgama which is headed by the Commandant of the Volunteer Force. It has a current strength of about 55,000 personnel. The SLAVF was known as the Ceylon Volunteer Force from 1949 to 1972 and the Sri Lanka Volunteer Force from 1972 to 1985.
The Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා විදුලි හා යාන්ත්රික ඉංජිනේරු රෙජිමේන්තුව Shri Lanka Viduli Ha Yanthrika Injineru Rejimentuwa) is a Combat Support corps of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of six regular regiments and one volunteer (reserve) regiment. Regiment Center located at Kew Road, Slave Island, Colombo. The present strength of the corps is 200 officers and 5763 other ranks.
The Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLAMC) (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා යුද හමුදා වෛද්ය බලකාය Shri Lanka Yuddha Hamuda Vayidya Balakaya) is a specialist corps in the Sri Lanka Army which specializes in military medicine and provides medical services to all army personnel and their families in war and in peace. It is made up of 4 regular units and one volunteer unit. Headquartered in Colombo, formally at army headquarters. The corps Cap badge depicting the Rod of Asclepius. General officers and senior officers of the SLMC wear gorget patches of maroon rather than of scarlet worn by other officers of similar rank.
Panagoda Cantonment is a cantonment located in the western Western Province of Sri Lanka. It serves as the regimental headquarters of many regiments of the Sri Lanka Army and is an arsenal. It also houses one of the main Military Hospitals operated by the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps. It is one of the largest military bases in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps (SLAOC) is a combat support corps of the Sri Lanka Army. The role of the corps is the procurement, receipt, storage, accounting, maintenance, control, issue and disposal of ordnance stores. It is made up of seven regular ordnance battalions, three Base Depots, one volunteer (reserve) ordnance battalion, and many independent ordnance depots. It is headquartered at the Regimental Centre, Dombagoda.
The Sri Lanka Army Service Corps (SLASC) is a Combat Support corps of the Sri Lanka Army. The role of the corps is to carry supplies to the soldier where he is, and run an efficient organization for the provision of transport, fuel, oil and lubricants which are the 'life blood of an army’. It is made up of 7 regular units and one volunteer (reserve) units and is headquartered at its Regiment Center at the Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda. The corps has a trade school in Anuradhapura which trains drivers, cooks and clerks for the Army.
The Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps (SLAGSC) a corps of the Sri Lanka Army. The corps carries out much of the administrative work of the army. The role of the Corps is to provide logistic backing to Regular and Volunteer units by performing Financial/ Accounting Services, pay duties, legal services, running of agriculture projects and farms etc. Therefore, it is made up of Accountants, Legal Officers, Agriculture Offices, data processing officers and other ranks specialized in those fields. It is made up of a 3 regular units and 3 volunteer (reserve) units and is headquartered at its Regiment Center at the Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda.
The Sri Lanka Army Pioneer Corps (SLAPC) is a (reserve) regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. Established as manpower reserve to be utilized in times of strikes and union action to maintain the functionality of essential services and other state functions, other such units that existed then and has since been disband include the Post and Telegraph Signals (PTS) and the Ceylon Railway Engineer Corps (CREC). With the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War the regiment has taken up combat duties.
General Deshamanya Joseph Everard Denis Perera, VSV, FCMI was a senior Sri Lanka Army general who served as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1977 to 1981. He was also the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ceylon Tobacco Company and Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. He envisioned for a women's corps in the army which resulted in the creation of the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps in 1979.
The 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt was a failed military coup d'état planned in Ceylon. A group of Christian officers in the military and police planned to topple the government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during the night of 27 January 1962. Organised by Colonel F. C. de Saram, Colonel Maurice De Mel,, Rear Admiral Royce de Mel, C.C. Dissanayake, Sydney de Zoysa and Douglas Liyanage, it was to take place in the night of 27 January 1962, but was called off as the government gained information in the afternoon and initiated arrests of the suspected coup leaders before the coup was carried out.
General Ganegoda Appuhamelage Don Granville Nalin Seneviratne, VSV was a Sri Lankan Army general. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1985 to 1988 and first Governor of the North East Province.
Brigadier Percy Douglas Ramayanayake was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer who was the founder of the Sri Lanka Engineers. He had served as the Commander, Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration.
Major general Prasanna Chandrasekera, is a retired Sri Lankan Army general. He was the former Master-General of the Ordnance of the Sri Lankan Army, During the Sri Lankan civil war he was the Brigade Commander, 65 Division of the Kilinochchi District.
Sri Lanka 
Sri Lanka Army 
