Cocos Islands Mutiny

The fall of Singapore blasted myths of British invincibility
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The Cocos Islands Mutiny was a failed mutiny by Sri Lankan servicemen
on the then-British Cocos (Keeling) Islands during the Second World War.
The mutineers were to seize control of the islands, disable the
British garrison and transfer the islands to the Empire of Japan.
However, the mutiny was defeated after the Sri Lankans failed to
seize control of the islands. Many mutineers were punished, and the
three ringleaders were executed; they were the only Commonwealth
servicemen to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
Units belonging to the Ceylon Defence Force (CDF), including the
Ceylon Garrison Artillery (CGA), the Ceylon Light Infantry (CLI) and the
Ceylon Volunteer Medical corps, were mobilised on September 2, the day
before Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. The CGA was equipped with
six-inch (152 mm) and nine-inch (227 mm) guns. Several of them were
posted to the Seychelles and the Cocos Islands, accompanied by
contingents of the CLI and the Medical Corps.
The fall of Singapore and the subsequent sinking of Prince of Wales
and Repulse, punctured forever the myth of British invincibility.
Whatever remained was ripped to tatters by the sinking of the aircraft
carrier Hermes and the cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire off Sri Lanka
in early April 1942; accompanied at the same time by the virtually
unopposed bombing of the island and bombardment of Madras.
The feelings of the Sri Lankan troops had been excited by the work
carried out by the pro-independent Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), both
before and during the war. They had volunteered to fight the racism of
the fascists and had found institutionalised racism in their own
regiments. Even the Burghers, who were of European ancestry, found
themselves discriminated against.
With the Japanese successes, public sentiment on Ceylon turned in
favour of the Japanese; being unaware of the fate that befell Japan's
East Asian conquest, many Sri Lankans thought that the Japanese would
serve as liberators. At this time J.R. Jayawardene, later to be
President of Sri Lanka, held discussions with the Japanese with this aim
in mind.
Mutiny

Sir Oliver Goonetillke |

Geoffrey Layton, of the ''black barstard'' comment
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Indian troops, who made up the majority of the garrison on Christmas
Island, rose up against the British troops and killed them in March
1942, before surrendering to the invading Japanese.[1] The Ceylon
Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands mutinied on
the night of 8/9 May, intending to hand the islands over to the
Japanese.
The plan was to arrest Captain Gardiner, the British Battery
Commanding Officer and his second-in-command, to disarm the troops loyal
to the British Empire, to turn the 6-inch guns on the CLI troops on
Direction Island, and to signal the Japanese on Christmas Island.
However, the soldiers all proved to be poor shots with small arms - one
soldier was killed and another wounded.
The rebels' one Bren gun jammed at a crucial moment, when Gratien
Fernando, the leader of the mutiny, had it trained on Gardiner. The
rebels then attempted to turn the 6-inch guns on Direction Island, but
were overpowered. [2]
Messages sent by Fernando were received in Sri Lanka, indicating that
there was co-operation between him and both CLI troops and the
Australian signallers on Direction Island. He declared he had
surrendered on condition that he would be tried in Colombo - it may be
that he intended to give a speech from the dock to inspire his
compatriots. However, the rebels were court martialled on the Cocos
Islands.
Fernando was defiant to the end, confidently believing that he would
be remembered as a patriot, and refused a commutation of punishment. He
was executed on August 5 1942 at Welikada Prison, and two other
mutineers shortly thereafter. Fernando's last words were "Loyalty to a
country under the heel of a white man is disloyalty".
Consequences

Cocos islands mutiny -- the authoritative book |
No Sri Lankan combat regiment was deployed by the British in a combat
situation after the Cocos Islands Mutiny. The defences of Sri Lanka were
beefed up to three British army divisions because the island was
strategically important, holding almost all the British Empire's
resources of rubber. Rationing was instituted so that Sri Lankans were
comparatively better fed than their Indian neighbours, in order to
prevent disaffection among the natives.
The LSSP's anti-colonial agitation now included references to the
Cocos Islands Mutiny. Public disgust at British colonial rule continued
to grow. Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke, the Civil Defence Commissioner
complained that the British commander of Ceylon, Admiral Sir Geoffrey
Layton called him a 'black bastard'.
Sri Lankans in Singapore and Malaysia formed the 'Lanka Regiment' of
the Indian National Army, directly under Subhas Chandra Bose. A plan was
made to transport them to Sri Lanka by submarine, to lead a liberation
struggle there, but this was aborted.
Mutineers
The men who were convicted by court martial of mutiny were:
" Bdr Gratien Fernando - Death (Executed on 5 August 1942)
" Gnr Carlo Augustus Gauder - Death (Executed on 7 August 1942)
" Gnr G Benny de Silva - Death (Executed on 8 August 1942)
" Gnr R S Hamilton - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for three
years)
" Gnr Gerry D Anandappa - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for
three years)
" L/Bdr Kingsley W J Diasz - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for
four years)
" Gnr A Joseph L Peries - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for four
years)
" Gnr A B Edema - Imprisonment for one year without hard labour
" Gnr M A Hopman - Penal servitude for three years
" Gnr F J Daniels - Penal servitude for seven years
" Gnr Kenneth R Porritt - Imprisonment for one year with hard labour
Leader
Gratien Fernando (1915 - 1942) was the leader of the Cocos Islands
Mutiny, an agitator for the freedom of Sri Lanka from the British and a
hero of the Sri Lanka Independence Struggle.
Wathumullage Gratien Hubert Fernando was born to Sinhalese Buddhist
parents. His father was a superintendent at the Ceylon Telegraph Office.
He went to school at St. Thomas', Mt Lavinia. He was later converted
to Roman Catholicism. He was impressed by the programme of the Lanka
Sama Samaja Party and by the anti-imperialist literature which it
circulated.
He was very much an anti-racist in his attitude and at the beginning
of the Second World War joined the Ceylon Garrison Artillery in order to
fight fascism. He was shipped off with his unit first, to the Seychelles
and later to Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands.
Here, he argued with his officers and agitated for action among his
colleagues: his agenda was the opening of the battle against British
colonialism. He finally persuaded a core group to rebel, seize the
island and signal the Japanese that they had done so.
On the night of 8/9 May, led by Fernando, men of the unit mutinied.
However, their plan failed and the rebellion was suppressed the next
day. The leaders of the mutiny were court-martialed and condemned within
a week.
Fernando's father petitioned the army authorities to commute the
death penalty and asked Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke, the Civil
Defence Commissioner, to intercede with Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, the
British Commander of Ceylon. However, when Layton interviewed Fernando,
he was adamant that he did not wish to be reprieved or pardoned. He told
his family 'I'll never ask a pardon from the British: that would
disgrace the cause. Many years hence the World may hear my story'.
He was executed on August 4 1942 at Welikada Prison, and two other
mutineers shortly thereafter. They were the only British Commonwealth
troops to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War. Fernando
showed defiance to the end, his last words being 'Loyalty to a country
under the heel of a white man is disloyalty'. He was buried at the
Kanatte cemetery, Borella, in an unmarked grave. |