General Officer Commanding, Ceylon (also known as Commander of Troops or Officer Commanding His/Her Majesties Troops, Ceylon) was the designation of the General Officer appointed to command all British Army units stationed in the island of Ceylon during the British colonial administration of the island. [1]
The post entitled the holder a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon and the Legislative Council of Ceylon, advised the Governor of Ceylon on military matters.
Apart from British Army units that were deployed for garrison duty in the island, the officer held command over the Ceylon Defence Force if mobilized. However mobilization could be carried out only under orders from the Governor.
Following independence in 1948, the command was split. With the creation of the Ceylon Army, it head had was referred to as the Commander of the Ceylon Army and the British troops in Ceylon came under the command of the Commander, Ceylon Garrison and UK troops in Ceylon until the withdrawal of British troops from the island.
The GOC Ceylon was entitled to a Class A Quarters issued to government officers for the use of his official residence in Colombo and had the General's House, Nuwara Eliya as a country house.
Commander is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank, usually a senior military, police or government officer, or to a member of a royal family or a head of state.
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.
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 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 Gemunu Watch (GW) ("King Dutugemunu's Own") is a infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army, formed with troops from the Ceylon Light Infantry and the Ceylon Sinha Regiment in 1962. It has been deployed in many major operations against the LTTE. It is made up of 14 regular units and 9 volunteer units. Headquartered at Kuruwita Army Camp, Ratnapura. It is named after one of the most famous Lankan Kings, King Dutugemunu.
General Deshamanya Don Sepala Attygalle, was a Sri Lankan army general, civil servant and diplomat. The longest serving Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977), he went on to serve as the Permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Major General Anton Muttukumaru, OBE, ED, ADC was the first native Ceylonese to serve as the Commander of the Ceylon Army, a post he held from 1955 to 1959. He also served as Ceylon's High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ambassador to Egypt.
Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake, MVO was a Sri Lankan senior police officer. He was serving as Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I, when he was implicated as one of the leaders of the attempted military coup of 1962.
Lieutenant General Sir Mark Francis Noel Mans, is a senior British Army officer, who served as Adjutant-General to the Forces of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2012.
Land Command was a military command and formation and part of the structure of the British Army from 1995 to 2008. Its headquarters was at Erskine Barracks, at Fugglestone St Peter, some four kilometres northwest of Salisbury in Wiltshire.
Major General Deshamanya Alexander Richard Udugama, MBE was a Sri Lankan military leader, politician and diplomat. Former Army Commander (1964–1966), he was elected as Member of Parliament for Matale from 1970 to 1977 and served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Iraq from 1979 to 1982. He was accused of an alleged coup d'état in 1966.
The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison evolved from an independent company, to a company of Royal Garrison Battalion during the American War of Independence, and a steadily growing and diversifying force of artillery and infantry with various supporting corps from the French Revolution onwards. During the American War of Independence, the garrison in Bermuda fell under the military Commander-in-Chief of America. Subsequently, it was part of the Nova Scotia Command until 1868, and was an independent Bermuda Command from then until its closure in 1957.
Lieutenant-General Sir George Pemberton Ross Norton is a retired British Army officer. He was the UK Military Representative to NATO. He is now Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies.
Brigadier Archibald Bentley Beauman CBE DSO and Bar was a British Army officer, who at the start of the Second World War, raised and commanded an improvised force of second-line troops called the Beauman Division, in an attempt to stem the German Blitzkrieg during the Battle of France.
Colonel Henry Huntly Leith Malcolm was a Scottish officer in the British Army during the Anglo-Egyptian War and World War I.
Commodore Martin Henry St. Leger Nott, DSO, OBE was an Officer in the Royal Indian Navy. He was the first Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy after the Independence of India. He died in a plane crash with his family at Mont Cardo, near Corsica, France, at the age of 43.
Brigadier Herbert Clifford Serasinghe, OBE, ED was a Ceylonese physician. He was first commanding officer of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps.
Lieutenant General Daulet Singh, PVSM was a general officer in the Indian Army. He was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command when he was killed in the 1963 Poonch Indian Air Force helicopter crash.
| |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
British Ceylon 1815 – 1948 | |||||||||||
| Background | |||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Government |
| ||||||||||
| Politics | |||||||||||
| Economy | |||||||||||
| Society |
| ||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
