Present location of the 54 Infantry Division was established as a Military Camp in 1951 as “Senansha Headquarters” at the Thallady, with the intention of curbing illegal trafficking of human and goods from India to Sri lanka via Mannar Island. The first comd of Thallady camp was Lt Col M A Jayaweera. In 1965 the camp renamed as a coordinating HQ. With the expansion of the Army and to face the LTTE threat, the Army was further expanded and rename as 5th Brigade in 1990 and later it was renamed as 212 Brigade. Further, in the year 2000 this camp was re designated as Area Headquarters Mannar and, on 10 September 2010 Area HQ Mannar re-designated as 54 Infantry Division. On the other hand, in the year 1997, Task Force - 2 redesigned as 54 Division at Elephant pass and temporary suppresses on 24 April 2000, due to heavy losses suffered during elephant pass battle and subsequent withdrawal in year 2000, temporary suppressed 54 Infantry Division re-designated as 57 Infantry Division on 04 February 2007 when Army restructured its organization for the Humanitarian Operation. The suppressed 54 Infantry Division to form the 57 Infantry Division re-established on 10 September 2010, since the beginning of military garrison in Thalladi. This Headquarters has been functioning under 72 Commanders and this place was an Operational HQ for many Ops during the LTTE war. The under mention senior officers were command this headquarter up to the year 2010:
Senansha Headquarters
| Lt Col M A Jayaweera |
|
| Lt Col J F Halangoda |
|
| Lt Col L H D Silva |
|
| Lt Col M A Jayaweera |
1951 to 1956 |
| Lt Col J F Halangoda |
|
| Lt Col L H D Silva |
|
Operational Headquarters and Coordination Centre
| Lt Col C T Kaldera |
1965.07.01 |
1968.04.04 |
| Lt Col A E D Chapmen |
1968.04.05 |
1969.08.15 |
| Lt Col B K V J Rodrigo |
1969.10.01 |
1970.07.15 |
| Lt Col S D N Hapugala |
1970.07.16 |
1972.09.01 |
| Lt Col J P Balthasar |
1972.09.02 |
1973.02.01 |
| Lt Col P D Fernando |
1973.02.02 |
1976.02.28 |
| Lt Col L P P Fernando |
1976.03.01 |
1977.01.01 |
| Lt Col A J N Selwadorei |
1977.01.02 |
1977.10.30 |
| Lt Col P D Fernando |
1977.10.31 |
1977.12.31 |
| Lt Col S A B Dias |
1978.01.01 |
1978.10.17 |
| Lt Col W K Nanayakkara |
1978.10.18 |
1979.05.01 |
| Lt Col S A B Dias |
1979.05.02 |
1980.01.01 |
| Lt Col S P De Silva |
1980.01.02 |
1980.08.24 |
| Maj P M De Silva |
1980.08.25 |
1981.07.15 |
| Lt Col J A S Rathnasabapathi |
1981.07.16 |
1981.12.15 |
| Lt Col K M S Perera |
1981.12.16 |
1982.11.01 |
| Lt Col R De S Daluwaththa |
1982.11.02 |
1983.09.15 |
| Lt Col H A Rupasinghe |
1983.19.16 |
1984.01.15 |
| Maj B J Marks |
1984.04.18 |
1984.12.05 |
| Maj T G Thilakarathne |
1984.12.06 |
1985.04.04 |
| Lt Col F X Fernando |
1985.04.05 |
1985.06.13 |
| Lt Col D Wijesekera |
1985.06.14 |
1986.06.02 |
| Lt Col P A Karunathilaka |
1986.06.03 |
1987.01.15 |
| Lt Col H N W Dias |
1987.01.16 |
1987.03.16 |
| Lt Col C S Weerasooriya |
1987.03.17 |
1988.08.20 |
| Lt Col S Peris |
1988.08.21 |
1988.08.31 |
| Lt Col T P Thilakarathne |
1988.09.01 |
1989.05.11 |
| Lt Col G Angammana |
1989.05.12 |
1990.07.28 |
5 Brigade
| Brig A S Piris |
1990.07.29 |
1991.02.04 |
| Brig C S Weerasooriya |
1991.02.05 |
1991.10.26 |
| Brig W R Wijayarathne |
1991.10.27 |
1992.05.08 |
| Brig H S A Perera |
1992.05.09 |
1993.01.02 |
| Brig P A Karunathilake |
1993.01.03 |
1993.08.03 |
| Brig W M P Fernando |
1993.08.04 |
1993.12.25 |
| Col G W B Jayasundara RSP |
1993.12.26 |
1994.04.01 |
| Brig S H S Kottegoda RSP |
1994.04.02 |
1994.12.29 |
| Brig S D Thennakoon RSP |
1994.12.30 |
1996.10.27 |
| Col W G K Ariyarathne RSP |
1996.10.28 |
1997.06.05 |
212 Brigade
| Brig W G K Ariyarathne RSP |
1997.06.06 |
1997.12.01 |
| Brig G W B Jayasundara RSP |
1997.12.02 |
1998.07.18 |
| Brig T T R De Silva RWP RSP USP psc |
1998.07.19 |
1999.07.28 |
| Col R M Jayasinghe USP psc |
1999.07.29 |
2000.01.13 |
| Brig R W W M H N Halangoda RWP RSP USP USACGSC |
2000.01.14 |
2000.04.29 |
Area Headquarter Mannar
| Brig R W W M H N Halangoda RWP RSP USP USACGSC |
2000.04.30 |
2000.07.10 |
| Brig K C J Jayarathne RSP |
2000.07.11 |
2002.07.07 |
| Brig G A Chandrasiri RWP USP psc |
2002.07.08 |
2002.11.03 |
| Brig K S Fernando RWP RSP USP LDMC |
2002.11.02 |
2005.05.05 |
| Brig S M De A Rajapaksha RWP RSP LDMC |
2005.05.06 |
2005.12.10 |
| Maj Gen D U Munasinghe RWP RSP USP ndc |
2005.12.10 |
2007.05.29 |
| Brig H C P Gunathilaka RSP USP psc |
2007.05.29 |
2008.12.19 |
| Col G V Ravipriya IG |
2008.12.19 |
2009.02.07 |
| Col T J Nanayakkara RWP |
2009.02.14 |
2009.07.28 |
| Col T J Nanayakkara RWP |
2009.07.29 |
2010.02.28 |
| Brig MAM Dias RWP RSP USP psc |
2010.03.01 |
2010.09.09 |
54 Infantry Division was raised on 10 September 2010 and Major General Maithree Dias RWP RSP USP psc was the first General Officer Commanding of the newly raised Division. Following senior officers have commanded the Division as at today.
| Maj Gen MAM Dias RWP RSP USP psc |
10 Sep 2010 |
01 Jan 2014 |
| Maj Gen KMU Wijerathne USP ndu |
02 Jan 2014 |
13 Jan 2016 |
| Maj Gen WBDP Fernando RWP RSP USP psc |
21 Jan 2016 |
19 Sep 2016 |
| Brig TJ Nanayakkara RWP USP ndu |
19 Sep 2016 |
30 Dec 2016 |
| Brig HJ Seneviratne RWP RSP ndu |
02 Jan 2017 |
10 Aug 2017 |
| Maj Gen GJAW Galagamage |
10 Aug 2017 |
12 June 2018 |
| Maj Gen WGHAS Bandara RWP RSPndu |
06 July 2018 |
01 July 2019 |
| Brig AAIJ Bandara RWP RSP USP ndu |
01 July 2019 |
20 Dec 2019 |
| Maj Gen DSD Welikala WWV RWP RSP USP |
20 Dec 2019 |
01 May 2020 |
| Maj Gen A A I J Bandara RWP RSP USP ndu |
01 May 2020 |
25 July 2021 |
| Maj Gen U D Wijesekara RWP RSP USP rcds psc |
25 July 2021 |
13 Dec 2022 |
| Maj Gen W W H R R V M N D K B Niyangoda RWP RSP VSV USP ndu psc |
30 Dec 2022 |
26 June 2023 |
| Maj Gen G W A Senevirathne USP psc |
27 Jun 2023 |
15 Nov 2023 |
| Maj Gen K M P S B Kulathunga RSP ndc psc |
16 Oct 2023 |
22 May 2024 |
| Maj Gen M T I Mahalekam WWV RWP RSP USP ndu psc |
25 May 2024 |
15 July 2024 |
| Maj Gen R P A R P Rajapaksa RSP |
16 July 2024 |
up to date |
54 Infantry Division consist with 3 Inf Bdes and Each Bde has 2 Bns and out of them 4 Bns are Regular and 2 Bns are Volunteer.
541 Inf Bde
- Location – Kalliadi
- Under Command Battalions
- 10 (V) GW - Sirinathakulam
- 5 (V) MIR - Mulankavil
542 Inf Bde
- Location – Manthottam
- Under Command Battalions
- 4 GR - Madhu
- 8 VIR - Jeewanagar
543 Inf Bde
- Location – Pesalei
- Under Command Battalions
- 11 SLA - Selwari
- 4 VIR - Southbar
Maj Gen R P A R P RAJAPAKSA RSP
GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING
54 INFANTRY DIVISION
