Escapades of budding heroes of KDA Intake 3

By Nilakshan Perera

On the 3rd of August 1982, 14 of us came from various parts of the Island to the Kotelawala Defence Academy (KDA) through Airport Road Ratmalana to start our careers as Service Cadet Officers. We had been informed by Telegram to report to the KDA by 1500 hrs and all were there well on time, accompanied by our parents and some well-wishers. We were filled with mixed emotions of keen excitement tempered with a twinge of anxiety as well, as to what we may have to face from now on. We had opted for a career in the Armed Forces and now we have got our opportunity to prove ourselves.

We were the lucky 14 out of 1067 applicants to join the KDA as Officer Cadets of the 3 rd Intake. We had to face four separate interviews: 1 st at Army HeadQuarters, then the Officer Quality Test (OQT) at the Armoured Corps Rock House Camp at Mutwal and a medical examination at the Military Hospital and the final interview at the Ministry of Defence with the Three Service Commanders and Secretary of Defence Gen Sepala Attigala as Chairman of the Board. All candidates need to gain the aggregate required to gain entry to University as well as excelled in extracurricular activities at the school level. The selected 14 applicants were Thiru Amaran from Trinity College Kandy, Saliya Weerakkody from St Joseph's College Bandarawela, Damian Fernando from St Sebastian's College Moratuwa, Upul Wijesinghe from Thurstan College Colombo, Shantha Liyanage from Prince of Wales College Moratuwa, Dimuthu Gunawardena from St.Thomas College Mount Lavinia, Palitha Sirimal from Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda, Ruwan Upul Perera from Maris Stella College Negombo, Lal Padmakumara from St Mary's College Kegalle and Dhammika Pananwela, Preethi Vidanapathirana, Manoj Jayasuriya, Shantha Edirisinghe and Nilakshan Perera were from Ananda College Colombo. Among them, there were four Head Prefects, two Cadet Corps Sergeant Majors, Three Cadet Sergeants, One Sri Lanka Schools Basket-Ball player, one Sri Lanka Schools Triple Jump record holder, and two National level swimmers.

We were all over the moon when we received confirmation of our selection by registered post, and as instructed we had packed our suitcases with our clothing and toiletries, etc. as per the list that was provided and reported to the KDA as instructed. As young 19-year-old schoolboys all dressed in their respective college blazers and college ties I am sure we would have made a fine picture on that memorable first day at the prestigious KDA. Soon we were asked to say our goodbyes to our parents and well wishes and no sooner they left all of us were taken to the Quarter Masters Stores and provided with various service issues such as boots, mess tins, water bottles, tennis shoes, white T'shirts, KDA Colors Track kits, Black Overalls, belts, berates, white towels, bed sheets, pillowcases, and other necessities. All these were packed into a big sack bag popularly known as “Ali Kakula” among service personnel as it resembled the leg on an Elephant. We were all delighted to receive this, without realizing what will be happening at the next moment.

There was one Warrant officer and two PT Instructors who asked us to carry this Ali Kauala and took us for a “Camp tour”. This was our first taste of what we were in for as Officer Cadets. This was no ordinary camp tour. There we were, all smartly dressed in our crisp shirts and trousers, well-polished shoes, and our school blazers and ties, now caring our newly acquired possessions inside Ali Kakula trotting on the double from one place to another starting from the Main Gate in front of Ratmalana Airport, and then to the side gate that leads to Kandawala Road, Sir John's Lake(Next to Bata), four corners of Kandawala Estate, Summer hut, Aquarium, farm, paddy fields and at last ending up adjoining Ratmalana Airport hangars. After dinner, all of us were waiting to see our seniors. There were 34 super seniors of Intake 1 consisting of Engineering Cadets from Moratuwa University and Physical Science undergraduates from the University of Colombo. Our immediate seniors of Intake 2 consisted of 27 cadets - Engineering, Pysical Science, and Arts undergraduates. Just as we were about to go to bed around 10.30 pm Intake 2 seniors came and greeted us very well in accordance with Military standards...

Lt Comd Preethi Vidanapathirana

Next day we were addressed by Capt Raj Fernando, a tall Cadet Corp Officer who was one of the most respected English teachers and fatherly figure to all of us and he introduced himself as our Troop Commander, and Maj LCR Goonawardena of Artillery, a great officer by all means as Squadron Commander, (former Chief of Staff of the Army, retired as Maj General in 2002) and Sgt Fernando WEA from Artillery as our Intake Sgt, soldier to the inner bone and a Sgt with a high professional outlook, always wanted us to be the best

Our daily routine was to wake up at 4.30 a.m. and get ready for PT at 5.30 a.m. after preparing our Billet including toilets, corridors, windows ceiling fans, etc for inspection. After PT at 7.00 a.m. was breakfast and by 8.30 Squad drill training at the Airport hangar and then back at Sir John's bungalow for Military Studies. The Lunch break was from 12.45 to 1.30 and then again for Military Studies till 3.30 and after the tea break of 15 minutes proceeded for Recreational practices at Railway Grounds near Galle Road Ratmalana or Kandawela Vidyalaya which was next to KDA, few months we had Military lectures like Map reading, Service writing, Leadership studies, Current affairs, Fieldcraft and basic tactics.

Then in September University lectures began and all Colombo University Cadets got transport to Colombo University and back by Army TATA 1210 Truck. We alighted at Broody House Bullers Road, Army Commander's Official residence by 7.45 am for 8.00 am lectures, and were picked up by 6.15 pm at the same location. For lunch, we had to walk up to Volunteer Service Corps Camp which was at Old Race Course. All of us needed to participate in sports at Colombo University as our seniors were dominating most of the sports like Football, Rugger, Basketball, Cricket, Hockey Athletics, Badminton Rowing, and Swimming.

In Dec 1982, before our 1st vacation of 10 days for Christmas we had our PARENTS DAY where parents and family members were invited to witness their beloved son's abilities after molding them to Military culture.

We also had several mess Nights, and according to the seating plan we had to be seated with Senior Officers of all three forces and of course with our seniors of Intake 1 & 2 as well. Though there were all kinds of delicious food, we were not that fortunate to enjoy the food as much as we would have liked to, because of the array of cutlery that was laid out and these senior officers' eyes being well focused on us. We had to find other ways and means to satisfy our hunger. Fortunately, there were plenty of Coconut trees in Gen Sir John's Kandawala Estate. Most nights especially around midnight a few of us started a covert operation. During the day we did a recce to earmark trees which had a good crop of kurumba, especially the trees which were far away from Seniors Study Halls. We had a remarkable guy who could climb any height of a Coconut tree in thick darkness. Not only that, while two of us holding a Groundsheet and a white sheet rolled in the center in the form of a circle so that he would drop the Kurumba bang on target onto the Groundsheet even from a height of 40 to 60 feet. All this was done in complete darkness with no light what so ever. (We had no access to night vision equipment at that time.). All he could see was the faint outline of the white circle of the bed-sheet and fortunately for us, he never missed his target as otherwise two of us would have been the first-ever cadets to die under tragic circumstances at KDA. So we should go down as the very first guys to practice aerial bombing in the history of Sri Lanka warfare. Ultimately the person who climbed these tall coconut trees to send down kurumba to the pinpoint target joined SLAF and specializes in Aerial Bombing.

Later when the Seniors got to know this act of destroying the Coconut cultivation of KDA we were asked to surrender our machete. Sadly that put our covert op “Operation Midnight Express” on hold for a short while. (We later got to know that a series of discussions were held by Admin section the Sgt Major who was in charge of the Plantation, to figure out as to what had happened to the good crop of coconuts)

On 23rd of July 1983, when LTTE ambushed 14 Army personnel including Lt Waas Gunawardena, we were at Ratmalana Air Force hangar to receive and assist Security Forces personnel. We will never forget the tragic scene of the special Y-8 plane carrying 14 dead bodies wrapped in polythene covers landed at Ratmalana. The next day onwards we were deployed for Internal Security duties. That was a somber period that opened our eyes to the stark realities of military life. However, no sooner the situation in the country became somewhat normal we too reverted to our usual routine. Though we could move around with other students at University we were strictly instructed not to engage in any form of ragging as it will lead to the suspension of our studentships as well as being discharged from KDA. Among the next batch of students, few students happened to be the daughters of some senior officers. For Ragging, we asked them to bring us packets of home-cooked lunches wrapped in "Kehel kola" with Dhal, Pol Sambola & fried dried fish and asked one of them to get us a good machete so that our Midnight Operation could be continued. Normally we asked them to take us to Hotel Rahima (Biryani), Venice Ice cream parlor, or Shanthi Vihar for Dosa. They were all good sports and readily obliged.

After one of the Dinner night, on the next day, we were asked to rearrange the chairs and tables (we were the juniors throughout our 3 years and 3 months of a cadetship at KDA as we didn’t get juniors due to various protests of KDA entry by various Student movements), and it was going to be quite a task as the distance was so far to unload the chairs and tables, but fortunately, the Duty Officer of the day told us to use the Army 1210 TATA Truck, provided there was a volunteer driver to do the honors. Only two of us could drive vehicles in our Cadet days, but we grabbed the chance and did the unloading and rearranging the stuff and then drove via Airport road, Borupone Rd, Ratmalana Station Rd for about 2 hours and parked the Truck at the Vehicle yard perfectly with all 14 of us seated nicely.

Lt Dushantha Chelliah of Sri Lanka Navy (retired as Commander in 1995 and migrated to Canada) took over as our Troop Commander, straight from Naval Maritime Academy, where he was the Asst Division Commander ( the Course Officer of Admiral Ravi Wijegoonawardane, former Chief of Defence Staff). He was a great cricketer who played for Royal College, Sri Lanka Navy, and Defence Services as an opening batsman. He was a strict disciplinarian and didn’t tolerate any nonsense. We were fortunate to have played either Football, Cricket or Rugby matches with teams of several Foreign Naval ships visiting Sri Lanka either at Welisara Navy grounds of St Thomas's Grounds Mt Lavinia, thanks to Lt Chelliah.

In addition to sports, he also helped us with our studies, and with his contacts, we had our very first sea experience of a Voyage from Galle to Colombo onboard SLNS SAGARAWARDANA. (Sadly now it's under the bottom of the Sea). We were given onboard training of most of the Navel experiences, but we all loved the food that was served onboard Sagarawardane with all kinds of fresh seafood which were tabled.

Lt Chelliah had also introduced us to maintaining a Journal. We had to write details of events that took place daily and submit to the Troop Commander by Monday morning at 0700hrs before leaving for Campus. He returned the journals marked and corrected by the same evening when we returned. Before doing anything we read and redid the corrections knowing the consequences well. It's a great lesson we learned and we still maintain historic information and important dates. Few of the most disciplined Cadets had the opportunity to measure the depth of Sir John's lake near the summer hut for our punishments. The water was not that salty but the smell of muddy water and different varieties of plants and small fish could be found when we removed our overalls.

Those were part and parcel of our training and we still cherish them. The Series of changing parades we had are great blessings for nowadays to get ready in 30- 40 seconds. We had to report to Sir John's bungalow in a couple of minutes - a maximum of 2-3 minutes running back to billets which were 750 meters away then get back and stand at attention in a place where a spotlight was focused on us. ( As Cadets couldn't move beyond that point) Lt Chellaiah would come to the balcony and see/instruct us on the next kit change and timing. This will go on for about 20 - 30 minutes. Some tried different tactics by placing all kits, civil, White PT, Battle Order Uniform, Recreational kit under a coconut tree, and changing rather than running back to billets. Our profound gratitude to you Sir, for who we are today, as dedicated disciplined gentlemen officers. Though he was a strict disciplinarian he always respected us as Cadets, trained us to be the best. He punished us when we did wrong, in good intention, to make us better Officers so that we too will train our subordinates in the same way in the future.

Normally on Poya Days, we had Bana for about 1 hour, delivered by one of the Buddhist monks from Bellanwila Raja Maha Viharaya. Having this in mind, on the day before the Poya day we took our civil clothes and left them at a friend's place on the other side of Runway of the Ratmalana Airport. This particular Poya day in Dec 1983 also happened to be a Saturday which suited us fine for our escapade. While the rest of the cadets were plucking Araliya flowers for Bana, 5 of the most advanced culprits smartly went off crossing the Runaway to our friend's place for a quick change into civilian clothes we had kept there then proceeded to SRI PADA catching 9.40 am Udarata Menike express train. We didn't have any plans for meals but for our good luck, while climbing we got an opportunity to get to know a very nice family with four pretty daughters. They looked after us very well with food and soft drinks and we just accompanied them to the top and we in turn obliged by carrying all their belongings as we didn't have anything to carry and it was an easy task as we have carried our backpacks and weapons for punishments and training those weights were nothing. Out of four daughters, two became popular Pediatrician and well-known Bankers too. We were so fortunate to have met them and still are in touch with them. We managed to return secretly by 4.55 am on Monday to be mustered for PT at 5.30 am. All went well but the Air Traffic Controller at the Airport had spotted 5 Cadets wearing PT kits crossed the Tarmac but had not reported to KDA as he was a good friend of one of our Cadets. Thanks to him for not reporting to Officers and the rest of our batch-mates, who nicely put the Mosquito nets and pretended that we were sleeping, during night visits, when the Duty Sgt comes and checks from down stares that all nets were down and 14 Cadets were sleeping.

We were the very 1st Intake to decline the leave given for Sinhala Aurudu. We were given 4 days but it was hardly enough time for Saliya Weerakkody whose home was at Diyatalawa, as traveling alone would take two days. As such we requested more days on behalf of Saliya, but when officials rejected it and said we were not going on vacation and will be in KDA. So because of us a whole lot of innocent personnel from the training staff, naval catering, medical, and transport also had to sacrifice their leave. We were very well served with pack-drills, in the morning afternoon, and evening continuously on all 5 days and as a result of this, we became fitter and tougher and also well united and bonded.

Mess Assistants from the Navy and two waiters were dead scared of us as we used to complain about the quantity and quality of meals and so on to Duty Officers and then he had to either instruct Catering staff to cook separate dishes for us or improved it to the proper standard.

Because we had only 14 of us our unity and comradeship were very high. Only two of us had girlfriends at the time of joining KDA and whenever a love letter was delivered by post the recipient had to read it loudly so that everyone could hear. Others hardly received any letters even from parents but on our own we posted letters to ourselves, just to pretend that we too are getting letters. Few of our names were so famous among the Ratmalana Post Office as letters addressed to (Name) only and Ratmalana, it reaches us. As there were no WhatsApp, Viber, FB, Twitter, Instagram then......

Whenever we were relaxing we had many sing-songs with Preethi singing MINDADA HEESARA( Master Amaradewa)very well, Upul Wijesinghe ASIR MAL WARUSAWE, Damian’s JUST WALKING IN THE RAIN ( Jim Reeves), Thiru’s MAHA RE YAME ( Amara & Dayaratne Ranatunge), Ruwan Upul’s JEEWITHAYE NA SAPA DUKA MISA LOKE and of course a few of MS Fernando’s Bilas. Shantha Liyanage used to do bat drills as he played cricket for University and Lal Padmakumara being a jack of all trades advising even carpenters and masonry personnel at construction sites at KDA. Manoj was glued to James Hadley Chase's books, one after the other but Dimuthu had other plans. He used to take us fishing at Bolgoda lake and Panadura bunt. Whether we like it or not we too went with him. He knows all the culverts in the Borupone area, where Guppy breeds. Later only we found that he had fished the best Mermaid of the Kanangara family consisting of three daughters who lived down Borupone Road, that's Nalika. (Dr. Nalika Gunawardena, former Senior Lecturer at Medical Faculty Colombo and presently at WHO as National Professional Officer) 

Catholics among us were allowed to attend Sunday Masses at nearby St Mary’s Church in Ratmalana and Buddhists went to Bellanwila Temple. While returning to KDA we used to check if Dimuthu’s Dad’s EN 2876  Black Minor is parked under the portico of the Principal’s bungalow,( highly respected Mr. Cyril Gunawardane was the Principal of the Def & Blind school) and if the car was there we were sure of tasty dinner and a free drop to KDA with Dimuthu. We never forget Uncle Cyril and Aunt Dolly’s wonderful hospitality and unconditional affection towards all of us. 

Whenever we were invited for a Birthday Party (especially girls' 21st birthday parties) or any other gathering we got permission but had to return before the 10.00 pm Roll call so that the Duty Cadet could report that all 14 are there and no one is sick. In case the Duty Cadet wanted to check he would call them personally by 2200 hrs but not later. Whoever had gone out had to walk along the Kandawala Road and look at our top floor Bathroom window and if Green Towel is hanging he could get back to the party and come for the next day PT by 5.30 am or if it is a Red towel was hanging he would have to come back immediately, as you are wanted. When coming back we had to navigate a 12 ft. barbed wire fence.

We were fortunate to have our first ever CADET BALL in December 1984. We were asked to bring our Dancing partners and most of the pretty girls of Moratuwa and Colombo Universities were there on the floor. It was all organized by Cadets of Intakes 1, 2, and 3 and we were well trained in all aspects of having these functions very well detailed by our Officer Instructors.

We had the privilege of associating with Military Academy Intake 16, 17, 18 & 19 Cadets on their Unit visits, and having a Football match played at Railway grounds and also several Cadet Intakes of Naval Maritime Academy Intakes 11 & 12 and China Bay Air Force Academy. Among these cadets, there were two future Army Commanders, Three Navy Commanders, and two Air Force Commanders were there as well.

We also were fortunate enough to have the remarkable company of a few great Air Force Flyers like Jayanthalal Thibbotumunuwe, TTK Seneviratne, and Ruwan Punchihetti as they were attached to KDA while doing their Flying Training at Ratmalana. Sadly all three of them died in action later, (Wing Cmdr. Thibbotumunuwe in Nov 1996, at KKS and Pilot Officer TTK Seneviratne & Officer Cdt Ruwan Punchihetti in May 1995 during a Sia Marchetti training flight at Beruwala)

In our last year, 5 of our Batchmates captained University Teams. Dhammika - Rugby, Saliya- Football, Damian- Basketball, Dimuthu-Rowing and Ruwan Upul-Athletics

After completing the University final exams in Nov 1985, 4 joined the Navy, another 3 joined Air Force and 7 others joined Army for their Advance and further training saying GOODBYE to KDA, where we had spent almost 3 years and 3 months. Our Passing out parade held in Aug 1986, with Hon Lalith Athulathmudali Minister of Defence as the Chief Guest.

Thanks to General John Kotelawela five of our batch-mates found their lifetime partners from Colombo University itself as two got married to Two Doctors from the Medical Faculty and another two found two Lawyers from the Faculty of Law and one from the Faculty of Science.

After joining the respective services our Cadets excelled in their duties to Mother Lanka at the highest level. Especially at sea, our Manoaj Jayasooriya, Preethi Vidnapathirana, and Dimuthu Goonawardena played an excellent role in defeating Sea tiger crafts and engaging with Sea Tiger Carder's face to face many times. For bravery and selfless acts, Manoj was promoted to the rank of Commander while at sea (Field/Sea promotion) by the Commander of the Navy in Feb 1999.

19th of Nov 1997 was perhaps the saddest day for the officers of Intake 3 when news reached that Lt Preethi Vidanapathirana one of the most disciplined and adorable batch mates and a dear friend has made the supreme sacrifice to Mother Lanka., during one of the fierce sea battles in Mullaitivu.

The evening before the fateful day, three batch mates Manoaj Dimuthu and Preethi sailed from Trincomalee harbor as directed by the Commander Eastern Naval Area along with a flotilla of ships and crafts on an offensive patrol to disrupt an enemy movement that was due to take place between Thiriyaya and Mullaitivu. Manoj who commanded the prestigious Fast Attack Craft Fortilla (FAF4) twice in his career after perfecting the art of naval battle joined this important operation displaying his unwavering tactical leadership so that he could take quick and vital decisions in battle. His presence in the theatre was undoubtedly a morale booster to all. Preethi was in Command of another FAC, P452 and Dimuthu were in Command of a Chinese Gunboat SLNS Ranawickrama to neutralize enemy launching pads with SLNS Ranarisi. The two gunboats, along with 8 of Dovras, kept on engaging targets both at sea and on land to prevent this logistic move from happening. The battle which is considered as one of the bloodiest battles at sea lasted from approximately 2100 hrs on 18th to 0330 hrs on 19th October 1997. In the ensuing battle, Preethi having successfully attacked one of the enemy clusters during an attack was then hit by a high caliber gun (probably an RCL mounted on the bows of an enemy boat) which immediately immobilized him, paving the opportunity for two enemy suicide boats to speed towards his boat and ram it sinking the craft within seconds approximately 3.5 nautical miles off Kokilai. By this time, the enemy was forced to abandon its logistic move and return and only what remained at sea were two offensive clusters of the enemy. Preethi was one of the best swimmers and displayed his energetic personality both in Ananda College, KDA and at the University of Colombo. As the incident occurred quite close to the seashore Manoaj and Dimuthu continuously searched the area voluntarily for the next 24 hrs hoping to find and recover Preethi and his crew members but there was no sign of Preeth.

Preethi was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lt Commander after he was considered to have been killed in action. We never forget to inculde Preethi's beloved wife Dr. Dayani Panagoda (Senior Technical Specialist Global Communities at USAID/SCORE) for our gatherings, she too is a part of our Intake family.

Manoj retired from the Navy as Commander in 2002. For his gallant and meritorious conduct in battle, he had been decorated fourteen (14) times by the President of Sri Lanka and Manoj remains as the most decorated person in the Navy,  this record has not been broken to date. He is a proud recipient of 7 times Rana Wickrama Paddakkama (RWP) and 7 times Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP). He is presently the Executive Director of a well Known Motor Company and Director General Manager of a famous Engineering Company.

Dimuthu retired as Rear Admiral in April 2018, and presently functions as Director Communications and Publications at Institute National Security Studies, having served as Additional Director Civil Defence Force. Also Commander North Central Naval Area, Commandant Naval & Maritime Academy, before his retirement. In addition to medals of gallantry awarded for acts of bravery, his distinguished naval career has been recognized with awards on several occasions having sunk two big LTTE floating armories in deep seas. As appreciated by HE as Commander in Chief for participating as CO of SLNS SAMUDURA for the unprecedented victory of sinking three (3) LTTE ships in 24hrs.He is also a proud recipient of 3 times Rana Wickrama Padakkama and few times Rana Sura Padakkam and also VSV, for his unblemished record of moral and military conduct and NSWC, psc for his academics.

Shantha Liyanage retired as Major General in Feb 2018 and held the prestigious appointments as Colonel Commandant Army Service Corps and former Commandant Army School of Logistics, recipient of PSC, and LSC for his sound academics.

Lal Padmakumara retired as Major General in Sept 2017 and was the former Director Budget & Finance Management of the Army, also the recipient of PSC and HDMC

Damian Fernando retired as Rear Admiral and was the former Director-General Budget and Finance of the Sri Lanka Navy, proud recipient of USP, VSV, Purna Bhumi Medal too

Major General Dhammika Pananwela retired in Nov 2018, functioned as

Commander Security Forces East, also a proud recipient of several times RSP for bravery, NDU for academics and trained to bring death to the enemy from the sky, a qualified combat parachutist.

Palitha Sirimal retired as Lt Col in 2002, at present he is a Director of a semi-governmental organization.

Ruwan Upul Perera retired as Wing Commander in Aug 2005 and is looking after his Coconut Plantations and other properties in Marawila.

Upul Wijesinghe is the Deputy Chief Executive of one of the largest Life Insurance Companies in Sri Lanka also former President of the Sri Lanka Insurance Association. Others are well settled in countries like Thiru Amaran (Sydney) Shantha Edirisinghe ( London) Saliya Weerakkody (Melbourn), and yours truly in Singapore.

We also salute all our senior Officers of Intake 1 and Intake 2 for their insightful guidance and patience for tolerating all our acts of misbehavior.

I take this opportunity to thank my fellow batchmates of Intake 3 for the wonderful memories and camaraderie from the bottom of my heart and humbly salute my brother officers who made the supreme sacrifice for Mother Lanka. During these past 38 years, we have united not just in friendships but in brotherhood and comradeship.

You guys truly are The Best