No.1 Squadron Ceylon Signals
The Ceylon Infantry Regiment (Later designated 1st Battalion Ceylon Light Infantry in 1950)
The Ceylon Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Ceylon Army Ordnance Corps
No. 1 Company Ceylon Army Service Corps
No. 1 Provost Company Ceylon Corps of Military Police
The Ceylon Army Medical Corps
Ceylon Army Recruit Training Depot
Out of officers, warrant officers, senior non-commissioned officers and privates of the volunteer units of the Ceylon Defence Force; who on demobilization at the termination of the World War II, opted to join the Regular Force, some were selected to comprise the nuclei of the regular units that were raised. The bulk of the privates for each of these new units were freshly recruited young men who were given basic training at the Army Training Depot in Diyatalawa.
The prevailing political scenario at the time made the formation of another infantry unit a necessity. This was the setting in which the 'Sinha Regiment' was formed. As result of a political decision made to do away with the volunteer units; Ruhunu Regiment and the Rajarata Rifles, and for a new regular infantry battalion to be raised, on 1st October 1956 the 1st Battalion of the Ceylon Sinha Regiment was raised with its headquarters at the Imperial Camp in Diyatalawa. Simultaneously the disbanded Rajarata Rifles was re-activated and re-designated as the 2nd (Volunteer) Battalion the Ceylon Sinha Regiment. It is believed that the name "Sinha" for these infantry units had been suggested by the Prime Minister at the time.
The Raising of the 1st and 2nd (Volunteer) Battalions Ceylon Sinha Regiment
Up to 1954 the infantry component of the Ceylon Army was two battalions of infantry; a regular and a volunteer battalion of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry. In 1954, two more volunteer infantry battalions were raised. The first being the 'B' Company of 2nd (Volunteer) Ceylon Light Infantry, located in Matara (with a Detachment in Galle) and designated the Ruhunu Rifles, and the other, the 'C' Company of 2nd (Volunteer) Ceylonr Light Infantry, located in Kandy and designated Rajarata Rifles.
A change of government took place in 1956. As a matter of policy, the new government had not favoured units with a regional character thus, these two units were disbanded. Major General AM Muttukumaru in his book Military History of Ceylon writes, "Whilst agreeing with him (The Prime Minister) on the regional issue, I pointed out that the disbandment he contemplated would result in the reduction of men available for duty in a crisis. To replace them with volunteers would take time, but to replace them with regular troops would be costly. He replied that, in the circumstances, he would agree to the formation of another (regular) infantry unit. This was the setting in which the Sinha Regiment was formed – A development which it found satisfying, because it gave me the second infantry battalion in the brigade organization, which I had envisaged in the army of independent Ceylon" On 1st October 1956, the 1st Battalion of the Ceylon Sinha Regiment was raised at the Imperial Camp in Diyatalawa. Simultaneously, the disbanded Rajarata Rifles was reactivated and re-designated the 2nd (Volunteer) Battalion Ceylon Sinha Regiment.
Political & Cultural changes after 1956
With the Dominion, status granted to Ceylon the first general election in the independent Ceylon was held in 1949. The United National Party led by Mr. DS Senanayake had a clear victory in this election and he became the first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon. His tenure as the Prime Minister did not last long as he unexpectedly died in March 1952 following a fall from his horse.
After the Prime Minister's death, his son Mr. Dudly Senanayake was appointed to this post. He too had a short tenure as he resigned from the premiership due to ill health. With his resignation, Sir. John Kotelawela became the Prime Minister and within a short period of his premiership, held a general election in 1956. However, at this election the United National Party led by Sir. John Kotelawela was defeated by the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna led by Mr. SWRD Bandaranaike who then became Prime Minister.
Mr. Bandaranaike's manifesto sought radical political and social changes in society bringing in nationalism and once appointed to office, carried out these changes.
JVP Insurrection of 1971
The revolutionaries who formed the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) had its clandestine beginnings in or about 1965. Its tentacles soon spread among various youth organizations and the universities making the movement well known among the people. In 1970 after the United Left Front led by Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected to govern the country, the JVP alleged the new government had gone back on their promises thought it necessary to resort to their brand of revolutionary action to bring into effect the social governance they preached.
On 5th April 1971 over 100 police stations were either attacked or threatened by armed JVP cadres forcing the Police abandoned them. The Armed Forces at the time were ill prepared as well as under resourced to meet challenges that the situation demanded.
An appeal to friendly countries for assistance drew prompt and rewarding responses. With the receipt of such assistance from overseas and there now being an effective command and control mechanisms as well as the existence of public antipathy towards the revolutionaries and their actions, resulted in the JVP being militarily suppressed.
Black July 1983
On 23rd July 1983, in Jaffna, a team from the 1st Battalion Sri Lanka Light Infantry set out in two vehicles to patrol an area where cadres of the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were suspected to be active. At around 2300 hours, the patrol was ambushed by the LTTE thus killing 13 army personnel. After the bodies were recovered and brought to the army camp at Palaly. This loss of life came as a shock to the rest of the country both because of the considerable number killed and the hitherto small number of casualties that anti-LTTE operations routinely suffered in operations. Delays in the disposal of the bodies caused considerable disquiet in the villages where the dead soldiers hailed from and also resulted in anti-Tamil tension spreading to towns and villages in the south of the country.
When a collective burial ceremony was held in Colombo, hundreds of sympathizers congregated on to the city to witness the event. However, with tensions running high, and believed to have been incited by certain extremist elements the restive crowds went berserk attacking people of the Tamil community, their houses and institutions causing loss of life and extensive damage to property.
