SLASC Call Ups in the 1950s
- Aug 1953: Hartal
- Nov 1954: Queen’s Visit
- May 1958: Communal Riots
- June 1959: Port Strike
- Sept 1959: Bandaranaike Assassination
Video Service Corps at the First Independence Day Parade in 1949 – පළමු නිදහස් දින පෙළපාලියේ ශ්රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදා සේවා බලකායේ වීඩියෝව
Video Service Corps at the Second Independence Day Parade in 1950 – දෙවන නිදහස් දින පෙළපාලියේ ශ්රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදා සේවා බලකායේ වීඩියෝව
Video of Formation of Volunteer Force in 1949 දී ස්වේච්ඡා බලකාය පිහිටුවීම පිළිබඳ වීඩියෝව
1950: Lt. Col. Gordon Llewllyn Spencer Austin, First Sri Lankan Commanding Officer, CASC (V)
Lt. Col. Austin was the first Ceylonese officer and first Ceylonese Commanding officer of SLASC when he became CO in 1950. He was part of the 1939 intake of Ceylonese just before the start of WW2. Per his daughter Sandy, he was a billiards champion and also a crack shot with the rifle.
ලුතිනන් කර්නල් ඔස්ටින් ශ්රී ලංකා යුද හමුදා සේවා බලකායේ පළමු ශ්රී ලංකා නිලධාරියා සහ පළමු ශ්රී ලංකා අණදෙන නිලධාරියා විය.
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Camberly, UK
• Intake 9 March 1951: P.K.B. “Kenneth” Pereira
• Intake 12 September 1952: C.F.L. “Carlisle” Perera
• Intake 14 September 1953: S. Musafer
• Intake 28 January 1960: Sirisoma Wijegunawadene
Young Officer Courses at Mons Officer Cadet Training Unit , Aldershot, UK
• Direct Enlistment 1 February 1957: K. I. M. T. Deen
Army Training Center (Diyatalawa)
• Direct Enlistment 6 September 1958: Dudley Fernando
Advertisement for Recruits to the Ceylon Army Service Corps, January 7, 1950
Illustrative: Interview for Enlistment as a Non-Commissioned Officer to the Ceylon Army (Historical document)
1949: Ist Independence Day Celebrations
Feb 4, 1949. Governor General Sir Henry Monk Mason, and Prime Minister Hon. D S Senanayake to the right of the Governor review the combined services parade on the 1st Independence Day. Photos show the Ceylon Army Service Corps contingent lead by Lt. Col W. A. Radcliffe, the last British CO. Other army units on parade included the Ceylon Garrison Artillery, Ceylon Light Infantry, Ceylon Signals Corps, and Ceylon Engineers. The Ceylon Defence Force, which was an all volonteer force, ceased on April 11, 1949 with the formation of the Ceylon Army.
1950: 2nd Independence Day Celebrations
1950: Lt. Col G.L.S. Austin, first Ceylonese CO, leading CASC troops at 2nd Independence Day parade after the formation of the Ceylon Army. Note the change in uniform styles from previous year’s parade. 1950: පළමු ලංකා අණදෙන නිලධාරි ලුතිනන් කර්නල් ඔස්ටින්, දෙවන නිදහස් දින පෙළපාලියේදී ශ්රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදා සේවා බළකාය මෙහෙයවන ලදී.
1950 Lord Soulbury Inspecting CASC Troops at Second Independence Day
ආණ්ඩුකාර ජනරාල් සෝල්බරි සාමිවරයා දෙවන නිදහස් දින උත්සවයේදී ශ්රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදා සේවා බලකායේ සෙබළුන් සමාලෝචනය කරයි
1950: CASC Officers with the First Ceylon Army Commander at Bolgoda Lake
1949: Corps Dinner
1950s Major Wijekoon inspecting a CASC Supply Depot
1952: CASC at the Funeral of Hon. D.S. Senanayake, First Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Queen’s Coronation Parade 1953 (Multiple Army Units Represented)
1954: Lt. Col. G F G Perera, Second Sri Lankan Commanding Officer, CASC (V)
Left 1943 and right 1954
Queen’s Visit 1954
1954: Parade on the Occasion of the Queen’s Birthday (Click Link to See Video)
During her tour of then Ceylon in 1954, the Queen was driven in a 1954 Cadillac. The driver responsible for the Queen’s Car was Private Chandrasena of the Sri Lanka Army Service Corps. He was promoted one rank after the visit and later became Mallory Wijesinghe’s official driver (Elephant House Managing Director). A photo of the Queen’s car can be seen on the following website: https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/royalvisit.htm
Formation of Army Training Center 1958
2/Lt Wijesinghe SR
Captain Sandy Ingram Highland Light Infantry
Lt Col Bahar: Commandant Army Training Center (son was an officer in the SLN and died in action in Trinco on land operations. Very well spoken of as a super combat officer)
2/Lt: Dudley Fernando, CASC
S/Sgt: Unknown (CASC ?)
Standing:
Cpl CLI Drill Instructor Sherrifdeen later Warrant Officer GW Was in the Zahira College team that won the inter unit shooting championship. At least 5 of them joined the army with Lt Col Tony Rajudeen being the best known
Sr Cpl: Unknown
2/Lt: Anandasunderam GW- First CLI and then GW
2/Lt: Maximus Perera CEME- Retired as a Captain in 1972. Currently lives in Canada and has written a book on the war
Cpl: Unknown
Photo Credit: https://sirimunasiha.wordpress.com/
1959: Lt. Col. A. Nannayakkara, Third Sri Lankan Commanding Officer, CASC (V)
Captain Quartermaster K F Gregory (WW2 through late 60s)
Captain Quartermaster K F Gregory was an iconic figure who served from WW2 through the late 60s. In the left photo (believed to be taken in 48 or 49) he is with the last British CO Lt. Col. Radcliffe. On the right photo, Captain Gregory is shown next to the Army Commander DS Attygalle in Iyakachchi around 1967.
Col. Gordon Llewllyn Spencer Austin retired in 1960
Col Austin was the first Ceylonese officer and first Ceylonese Commanding officer of SLASC retired in 1960. Here he is shown in a 1969 photo next to his sister.
Sri Lanka Army Service Corps - CSC - ශ්රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදා සේවා බලකාය 