Major General

Deshabandu Deshabandhu (; ) is the third highest Sri Lankan honours system, national honour awarded in Sri Lanka. It is awarded "for meritorious service". The title is held by no more than 150 living holders at any time. It is conferred with a citation and ...

Bertram Russell Heyn (October 1, 1912 – February 3, 1998) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. He was a former Commander of the Ceylon Army.

Early life and education

Born to Gerald Chetwynd Swartz Heyn and Hylda Heyn (''nee'' de Zilva), he had nine siblings and was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

Cricketing career

He played for the

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team at Royal College, debuting in 1930 and played in the

Royal-Thomian The Battle of the Blues (Also known as Royal–Thomian Cricket Encounter) is an annual Big Match in Sri Lanka played between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia since 1879. It is known as ''The Battle of the Blues'' due ...

. He played for the Ceylon cricket team and his most famous feat was getting

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

out on his last appearance in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, in a one-day match between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and All-Ceylon on 27 March 1948. Bradman was able to score only 20 runs before being caught out by R.L. de Kretser off Heyn's bowling. Heyn also played hockey and rugby.

Military career

Ceylon Defence Force

He joined the

Ceylon Defence Force The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was established in 1910 by the Ceylonese legislation ''Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance'', which reformed the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) that existed previously as the military reserve in the British Crown colony ...

and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

Ceylon Light Infantry Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by ...

in 1940 before its expansion due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. By the end of the war he was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and was demobilized in 1946.

Ceylon Army

When the

Ceylon Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; t ...

was formed in 1949, he was commissioned as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the regular force. From February 1955 to November 1959, he served as the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the 1 Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry having been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He graduated from the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

, and the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

Higher command

Promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

he was serving as Chief of Staff of the Army, when, in January 1962, a military coup was attempted by senior military and police officers. Unaware of the coup, Colonel Heyn was on the list of those to be detained by the troops involved in the coup. With Colonel

Maurice de Mel Colonel Maurice Ann Gerard de Mel is a Ceylonese army officer. He served as Chief of Staff of the Ceylon Army and Commandant of the Ceylon Volunteer Force. He was one of the principals accused of the 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt. Early ...

, the Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force and Colonel F. C. de Saram, Deputy Commandant; implicated and arrested, Heyn was appointed Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force and began restructuring regiments involved in the coup as majority were volunteer regiments. Colonel A.R. Udugama succeeded Heyn as Chief of Staff. In January 1964, when the Army Commander Major General H.W.G. Wijeyekoon was forced to retire, he was succeeded by Colonel Udugama who was below Heyn in the army seniority list. Given that the officers connected to the attempted coup were all Christian, Prime Minister

Sirima Bandaranaike Sirima Nicole Wiratunga (14 February 1964 – 7 December 1989), known simply by her first name Sirima, was a singer who sang in English and French. She was primarily known for her duet " Là-bas", recorded in 1987 with Jean-Jacques Goldman, which ...

had preferred appointing Udugama over the more senior Heyn, given that the former was a Buddhist and kinsmen from a

Kandyan Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, ...

Radala Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the ...

family.

Army commander

In July 1966, Major General Udugama was suspended and arrested under emergency regulations following allegations of attempting to stage a coup against the government of Prime Minister

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan wikt:statesman, statesman who thrice served as Prime Minister of C ...

. Colonel Heyn, who was acting army commander in Major General Udugama's absence abroad, continued until he was confirmed as army commander on 11 November 1966 with the promotion to the rank of

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. He was later promoted to the rank of major general and held the post until his retirement on 30 September 1967.

Decorations

His medals include the Defence Medal, the

War Medal 1939–1945 The War Medal 1939–1945 is a campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to citizens of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days ...

and the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

Later life

In his later years he managed the Sri Lanka cricket team and served as the head of the Cricket Board, as well as on the Sri Lanka Olympic Council. He was the President of the Burgher Recreation Club from 1965 to 1976. In 1990, the Government of Sri Lanka awarded Heyn the title of

, the third highest Sri Lankan national honour, for meritorious service.

Family

Heyn married Edna May Johnson, daughter of Harry Johnson and Edith Maria Wood of Staines in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

at the Dutch Reformed Church, Bambalapitiya on 25 October 1941. They had two sons Richard Russell and

Peter David Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Grea ...

. Richard represented Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) at Field Hockey and played Cricket at top-grade club level. David represented Sri Lanka at Cricket and played Field Hockey at top-grade club level.

References

External links

www.army.lk
* * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060707163944/http://www.army.lk/org2.php Parade Commander Major B.R. Heyn, CLIbr>Great win for Havielocks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyn, B.R. 1912 births 1998 deaths All-Ceylon cricketers Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies British Army personnel of World War II Sri Lanka Light Infantry officers Burgher military personnel Burgher people Ceylonese military personnel of World War II Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army Deshabandu Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Sri Lankan cricketers Sri Lankan major generals Place of birth missing