When the then Commander of the Army, Brigadier AM Muttukumaru made representations on the consequences of a depletion of the deployable strength of the Army, the then Prime Minister, Mr. SWRD Bandaranaike approved the raising of a new battalion of regulars. The Army hierarchy favoured naming this Battalion, the '3rd Battalion' of the existing Ceylon Light Infantry. Mr. Bandaranaike had other views and suggested the name 'Sinha Regiment'. Thus, on 1stOctober 1956, the 1st Battalion, Ceylon Sinha Regiment came into existence as a regular force, a landmark event in the history of the Sri Lanka Army.
The so formed Ceylon Sinha Regiment, the only rifle regiment in the Sri Lanka Army followed the footsteps of the Rifle Regiments (Green Jackets) of the United Kingdom. It followed their customs & traditions and adopted their dress and drills. Thus, the Sinha Regiment does not carry colours, wore uniforms of olive green in colour and used black buttons and badges of ranks. The officers wore black Sam Browne belts and black shoes.
Lieutenant Colonel RD Jayatilleke was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Battalion with effect from 1st October 1956. The first batch of officers posted to the Regiment on 6th October 1956 were Major VG George, Captain MO Goonaratne, Captain TSB Sally, Captain DB Perera, Lieutenant EG Thevanayagam, Lieutenant TA Dole and 2nd Lieutenant DA Wickramasinghe, all from the 1st Battalion Ceylon Light Infantry.
In 1957, Major VG George was posted back to the 1st Battalion Ceylon Light Infantry and he later retired from the Army. This officer together with Captain Goonaratne did yeoman service in the field of administration, training and sports during in the infancy of the Battalion. Captain MO Goonaratne having been promoted to the rank of Major and also appointed as the Second in Command of the Battalion, retired from the Army in 1965. Captain Sally was the first Adjutant of the Battalion and worked tirelessly to inculcate into the system military discipline and the knowledge of military law. Lieutenant EG Thevanayagam and Lieutenant TA Dole were the Platoon Commanders of the first batch of recruits enlisted. During this period, Captain NDHAB Silva joined the Battalion.
Officers of the first Battalion the Ceylon Sinha Regiment in 1957
The first batch of other ranks arrived at the newly formed Battalion in October 1956 only to be whisked off to the Army Recruit Training Depot (ARTD) for two weeks of strenuous training. They subsequently formed the nucleus for the junior instructors who later handled the training of the recruits. Among them were Corporal Halangoda and Corporal Weerasekera who were later commissioned as officers. There were also Corporal(s) Fernando, Jayatilleke and Mudiyanse who later retired as Warrant Officer(s) II, Corporal Pakianadan B and Lance Corporal(s) Pulasinghe, Sumanweera contributed a great deal to the Regiment before retiring as sergeants.
On 8th October 1956, the Battalion received its initial Warrant Officer II element; namely, Warrant Officer I BH Cassim, the Quarter Master (QM) designate of the Battalion who retired as Major (QM) and Warrant Officer II Maduranayagam the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) designate who was responsible for training of the initial intake of recruits and was the first Regimental Sergeant Major of the Battalion. He retired from service as a Captain (QM).
The first Passing Out Parade of the 1st Battalion of the Ceylon Sinha Regiment
Subsequently, the following instructors were also transferred to the Battalion. Warrant Officer II Senavirathne EE, Staff Sergeant Morseth TFB, Staff SergeantSuppiah MPD, Staff SergeantSilva DOL, Sergeant Payne SA, Corporal Hameed ARS, Corporal Fernando KE, Corporal Perera EAL, Lance Corporal Cooray PPCC and Lance Corporal Nandiyasena KD. Of these Non Commissioned Officers (NCO) Corporal Hameed ARS performed duties as the first Orderly Room Sergeant of the Battalion Headquarters whilst Staff Sergeant Morseth did so as the Drill Instructor.
Most of the officers and other ranks listed above formed the base of "A" Company which was commanded by Major VG George who also handled the basic training of recruits.
In February 1957 the second batch of the following officers reported to the Battalion. They were Major LHD Silva, Captain CAB Ratnayake and three young officers who had followed training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK; namely, 2nd Lieutenant SN Doranegama, 2nd Lieutenant LA Balthazar and 2nd Lieutenant LA Vitharana.
In October 1956, 146 men were recruited into the Ceylon Sinha Regiment and were given training at Battalionlevel. Major VG George, Major LHD de Silva, Captain CAB Ratnayake and the young officers of the Battalion with the senior NCOs performed duties as instructors for this batch of recruits. Staff Sergeant Morseth TFB was the drill instructor. The Passing Out Parade of this first batch of recruits was held the same year at which Major Generaleral AM Muttukumaru the commander of the Army was the Chief Guest. Rifleman Subramaniam S was adjudged the Best All Round Recruit of the pioneering intake. Subsequently Rifleman Subramaniam was to be commissioned as an officer and retired from the Army as a Major.
