Perched On Their Pinnacles Of Triumph

By Charitha Ratwatte -January 29, 2013

Charitha Ratwatte

World War I was a global war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all of the great powers of the world, as at that time, which were grouped into two opposing alliances: The Allies, based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, France and Russia on the one hand and the Central Powers, originally the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy.

But, as Austria and Hungary had taken the offensive against the agreement, Italy did not enter into the war.

Alliances later reorganised, Italy supported the Allies and more countries entered the war. The United States of America entering the war on the Allies side in 1917 was a decisive factor. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel were mobilised in the First World War. More than nine million combatants were killed. It was the sixth deadliest conflict in world history.

The conflict opened with the Austro Hungarian invasion of Serbia on 28 July 1914, it ended with the cease fire on 28 November 1918, known as Armistice Day. Arrangements are being made in the countries which were affected by the conflict to commemorate the centenary of the beginning of the war, in 2014. Most of these, plan to recognise and celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of the nine million young soldiers who lost their lives in the war.

Sri Lanka’s role

Sri Lanka or Ceylon, as we were known then, played a role in the First Word War. Sergei De Silva Ranasinghe, a researcher in Sri Lanka’s military history, strategic and defence studies, wrote a series of articles for The Sunday Times in 2004 on this subject.

He writes that, unlike most other colonies of the Empire, close to 50% of Ceylon’s volunteers to the Great War were commissioned as officers. Most of them tended to have previous affiliation to the Ceylon Cadet Battalion, military experience in the British Army, or were associated with a Ceylon Defence Force Formation.

Ranasinghe provides a table in which he gives the breakdown of 330 of the volunteers by four English medium schools at which they studied – Royal College 88, S. Thomas’ College, 86, Kingswood College 84, and Trinity College 72.
The Times of Ceylon in 1917 estimated that of the 1,250 total number of Ceylon volunteers, the newspaper knew of at that time, there were 105 fatalities, 84 killed in action, 21 died of wounds. 114 were wounded, and 18 were categorised as either missing or Prisoners of War. Of the 330 from the English medium schools 30% were casualties.

Some detail is available on four of the students of Trinity College Kandy who volunteered. They were Richard Aluwihare, Albert Halangoda, Frank Drieberg, and Ajit (Jik) Rudra. On 20 June 1994, a Thanksgiving Service was held at the Chapel of Trinity College Kandy for the life and work of Major General Ajit .A. (Jik) Rudra, Indian Army (Retd.) who had passed away on 3 November 1993. At the service, tributes were paid to General Rudra by the Principal of Trinity College, Capt. L.M. de Alwis, His Excellency the High Commissioner for India Shri Nareshwar Dayal, and the then President of the Trinity College Old Boys Association Lakshman Kadirgamar. I give below some excerpts from their speeches.

Lakshman Kadirgamar’s speech