Lord Mountbatten and the victory at Dumbara

by S. B. Karalliyadda

The Second World War commenced with Hitler attacking Poland on September 01. By September 3, both Germany and France had declared war. Italy, which had remained neutral, later supported by Japan, joined the Germans in the war.

British and French forces together faced the German forces. Japan bombed several ships that were sailing along the Chinese coast and Indian ocean and bombed the Trincomalee and Colombo harbours. There are many people still alive in Sri Lanka who have seen these bombings.

The mistake of the Japanese was bombing America, which was a very powerful nation even at that time with its military power spreading across ground, sea and air. America provided all the logistical support to Britain and joined them to fight the war.

Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister of Britain at the time, united all political forces in the country and faced the war. He created an opinion in the United Kingdom that the war should be fought without any mediation in between and that Britain should win it.

This is a lesson to be learnt by our rulers in the context of the present on going war in Sri Lanka. Churchill upheld the view that the British should never be under German rule. By 1944, the Japanese troops stationed in Burma started capturing land areas in India and advancing towards Burma.

The British forces, together with the Indian forces were able to defeat such invaders. The strategical moves of Britain to relocate their South East Asian Command (SEAC) Headquarters in Ceylon, which later came to be known as SEAC, was a far-reaching and correct decision taken at the most crucial time.

War plans of Winston Churchil

The then British Premier Winston Churchill appointed Naval Officer Louis Mountbatten as the Commander of the SEAC Headquarters at the newly created headquarters on October 27, 1941. Mountbatten was born in Vienna Austria, which was then known as Battenberg. He was a grandson of Queen Victoria and a second cousin of King George V.

After wining the war, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Britain Clement Atlee appointed him as Viceroy of India in 1947. The birth of a new country, hence known as Pakistan, during August 14 and 15, 1947 was effected under his superintendence.

Mountbatten faced a tragic death while on retirement, when he was holidaying in Sligo Islands on August 27, 1979 from an IRA bomb blast. Mountbatten commanded the war to victory from the Dumbara soil of our country. If an atomic bomb was dropped like in Hiroshima or Nagasaki today this story would be different. The devastation caused in these places could be seen even today with the charred dead bodies now seen in their museums.

South East Asian Headquarters

The SEAC Headquarters located in India had to be removed due to operational constraints. The British government had to search for a suitable site to relocate the SEAC Headquarters. Roads Engineer Thomas Skinner, a Major in the Army who later became the first Road Commissioner in Ceylon, played a crucial role in the site selection.

Skinner, who was keen to learn Sinhala, had discussed this problem with E. J. Dyson who was then Government Agent for the Central Province, and a friend of his. Dyson had recommended the name of M. B. W. Mediwaka, who was a teacher at Vidyartha College, Kandy and the only holder of a first class Trained Teachers Certificate at the time.

Mediwaka later became a Member of Parliament, a Minister and a Senator who rendered Yeoman service to the Dumbara area. He was the founder of the Kandyan Scholarship Fund for the poor and depressed in the area.

The Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott informed Dyson about the desire of the British to remove the SEAC Headquarters from New Delhi. Dyson in turn informed the intention of the British to Major Skinner, the Road Engineer.

By now, Dyson, Skinner and Mediwaka had become friends. Skinner discussed the issue with Mediwaka and site inspections were carried out together by the trio. The British also needed a Sinhala leader conversant in the language who was able to maintain the highly confidential nature of the war strategies.

They saw in Mediwaka a person of their expectations and he was appointed Chief Civilian Liaison Officer. The land from Tennekumbura bridge up to Rajawella along the Teldeniya - Minipe highway was selected. All lands belonging to the European planters, Indian merchants and natives were acquired for the purpose. The SEAC Headquarters was located in the Palace Square of Sri Weeraparakrama Narendrasingha, the last Sinhala monarch.

The only civilians and Sri Lankans who were allowed to reside in the SEAC area was the Mediwaka family. On the left bank of the Mahaweli, where the Open University Campus of Polgolla is presently located was the Royal Air Force Headquarters, from which the airbases of Palali, Minneriya and Sigiriya were controlled. The Ceylon Light Infantry (CLI), which was incharge of all ordinary field operations, was located in Haragama, where the Haragama SPC and NLDB are situated today.

The Signals Unit in Kundasala received and transmitted an average of two thousand messages day and night. The present Agricultural Students' hostel building accommodated the printing machines where money and all maps were printed. The entire area was a sea of heads of soldiers from Britain, America, India, Africa and various other forces and numbered over ten thousand.

There are people living in this area who still remember soldiers with padlocked mouths parading the area.

In fact, the legacy left behind by the war could be witnessed by the offspring of African, British and Gurkha soldiers who have now been accepted into the native society.

The war

Lord Mountbatten while in Sri Lanka, stayed in many places; in Kundasale, Polgolla and Peradeniya and other secured places, overseeing operations. The Chief Commanding Officer was General William Slim who was also the Commanding Officer of the Fourth Regiment.

The Chief of Staff who assisted him was Major General Sriling. There were several other Field Commanders to assist them.

By now, heavy fighting was going on in the South East regions and India, Japan, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Chittagon and in the islands now known as Indonesia; Japan was on a winning wicket.

Dutch captives

We had our troops of various regiments stationed in areas such as Galle, Katukurunda and Weerawila in the South, ready to face any situation. Colombo and Trincomalee were bombed in April.

The British won the war and General William Slim was promoted a Field Marshall and appointed the Governor of Australia. Kundasale was made a detention camp to hold the Dutch captives from Indonesia.

The British were able to maintain their status as the empire where the sun never sets' the victory they achieved in the victorious land of Dumbara contributing to this in a major way.War plans of Winston Churchil

The then British Premier Winston Churchill appointed Naval Officer Louis Mountbatten as the Commander of the SEAC Headquarters at the newly created headquarters on October 27, 1941. Mountbatten was born in Vienna Austria, which was then known as Battenberg. He was a grandson of Queen Victoria and a second cousin of King George V.

After wining the war, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Britain Clement Atlee appointed him as Viceroy of India in 1947. The birth of a new country, hence known as Pakistan, during August 14 and 15, 1947 was effected under his superintendence.

Mountbatten faced a tragic death while on retirement, when he was holidaying in Sligo Islands on August 27, 1979 from an IRA bomb blast. Mountbatten commanded the war to victory from the Dumbara soil of our country.

If an atomic bomb was dropped like in Hiroshima or Nagasaki today this story would be different. The devastation caused in these places could be seen even today with the charred dead bodies now seen in their museums.

South East Asian Headquarters

The SEAC Headquarters located in India had to be removed due to operational constraints. The British government had to search for a suitable site to relocate the SEAC Headquarters. Roads Engineer Thomas Skinner, a Major in the Army who later became the first Road Commissioner in Ceylon, played a crucial role in the site selection.

Skinner, who was keen to learn Sinhala, had discussed this problem with E. J. Dyson who was then Government Agent for the Central Province, and a friend of his. Dyson had recommended the name of M. B. W. Mediwaka, who was a teacher at Vidyartha College, Kandy and the only holder of a first class Trained Teachers Certificate at the time.

Mediwaka later became a Member of Parliament, a Minister and a Senator who rendered Yeoman service to the Dumbara area. He was the founder of the Kandyan Scholarship Fund for the poor and depressed in the area.

The Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott informed Dyson about the desire of the British to remove the SEAC Headquarters from New Delhi. Dyson in turn informed the intention of the British to Major Skinner, the Road Engineer. By now, Dyson, Skinner and Mediwaka had become friends. Skinner discussed the issue with Mediwaka and site inspections were carried out together by the trio.

The British also needed a Sinhala leader conversant in the language who was able to maintain the highly confidential nature of the war strategies. They saw in Mediwaka a person of their expectations and he was appointed Chief Civilian Liaison Officer.

The land from Tennekumbura bridge up to Rajawella along the Teldeniya - Minipe highway was selected. All lands belonging to the European planters, Indian merchants and natives were acquired for the purpose.

The SEAC Headquarters was located in the Palace Square of Sri Weeraparakrama Narendrasingha, the last Sinhala monarch. The only civilians and Sri Lankans who were allowed to reside in the SEAC area was the Mediwaka family.

On the left bank of the Mahaweli, where the Open University Campus of Polgolla is presently located was the Royal Air Force Headquarters, from which the airbases of Palali, Minneriya and Sigiriya were controlled. The Ceylon Light Infantry (CLI), which was incharge of all ordinary field operations, was located in Haragama, where the Haragama SPC and NLDB are situated today.

The Signals Unit in Kundasala received and transmitted an average of two thousand messages day and night. The present Agricultural Students' hostel building accommodated the printing machines where money and all maps were printed. The entire area was a sea of heads of soldiers from Britain, America, India, Africa and various other forces and numbered over ten thousand.

There are people living in this area who still remember soldiers with padlocked mouths parading the area. In fact, the legacy left behind by the war could be witnessed by the offspring of African, British and Gurkha soldiers who have now been accepted into the native society.

The war

Lord Mountbatten while in Sri Lanka, stayed in many places; in Kundasale, Polgolla and Peradeniya and other secured places, overseeing operations. The Chief Commanding Officer was General William Slim who was also the Commanding Officer of the Fourth Regiment. The Chief of Staff who assisted him was Major General Sriling. There were several other Field Commanders to assist them.

By now, heavy fighting was going on in the South East regions and India, Japan, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Chittagon and in the islands now known as Indonesia; Japan was on a winning wicket.

We had our troops of various regiments stationed in areas such as Galle, Katukurunda and Weerawila in the South, ready to face any situation. Colombo and Trincomalee were bombed in April.

The British won the war and General William Slim was promoted a Field Marshall and appointed the Governor of Australia. Kundasale was made a detention camp to hold the Dutch captives from Indonesia.

The British were able to maintain their status as the empire where the sun never sets' the victory they achieved in the victorious land of Dumbara contributing to this in a major way.