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 ...

Candauda Arachchige Dharmapala,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, ED (; 4 August 1907 – 6 July 1989) 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, ...

n politician. He was a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industries, Housing and Social Services and Member of Parliament for Hakmana. He also served as the

permanent secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, and as Security Adviser to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

Early life

Born on 4 August 1907 in Matara to Candauda Arachchige Odiris de Silva and Nonahami Nanayakkara from Dangedara, Galle. His father was a wealthy

oil mill An oil mill is a grinding mill designed to crush or bruise oil-bearing seeds, such as linseed or peanuts, or other oil-rich vegetable material, such as olives or the fruit of the oil palm, which can then be pressed to extract vegetable oils, whi ...

owner and a prominent philanthropist having founded

Rahula College Rahula College () is a boys' school in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though it was originally a private Buddhist school, now it is run by the Government of Sri Lanka as a National School. Rahula College has two sections - the Primary s ...

and

Sujatha Vidyalaya Sujatha Vidyalaya is a girls' school in Matara, Sri Lanka, Matara, Sri Lanka. The Matara Buddhist Society founded the school as a private Buddhism, Buddhist institution in 1929. It was the first Buddhist girls' school in Matara. Today, the Gover ...

. He had four brothers and six sisters. His brothers were C. A. Edvin de Silva, C. A. Ariyathilaka, C. A. Dhanapala and C. A. Harischandra. Harischandra founded Harischandra Mills. Dharmapala was educated at

and

Nalanda College Colombo Nalanda College () is a Buddhist school in Sri Lanka that provides primary and secondary education for boys.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 ...

, a

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

regiment in the Ceylon Defence Force in 1931. In 1940, he was mobilised for

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 ...

, serving as Chief Security Officer of the

Ratmalana Airport Ratmalana International Airport (; ) (officially known as Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana and locally as Ratmalana Airport) , is the secondary international airport serving the city of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. It was the co ...

. In 1949, 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, Captain Dharmapala transferred to the Ceylon Volunteer Force into the 2 (Volunteer) Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry. In 1950, volunteer detachments were established in

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

and Matara, Captain Dharmapala was put in command of the detachments. In 1954, the Ruhunu Regiment was formed with Captain Dharmapala in command of the B Company based in Galle and Matara. When the Ruhunu Regiment was disbanded by Prime Minister

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

, troops of the B Company were transferred to the newly formed Ceylon Sinha Regiment forming the C Company, 2 (V) Battalion, Ceylon Sinha Regiment which later formed the short-lived Gemunu Regiment which was commanded by Major Dharmapala. The Gemunu Regiment was disbanded and in September 1965 the 3 (V) Battalion,

Gemunu Watch The Gemunu Watch (GW) ("King Dutugemunu's Own") is a infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army, formed with troops from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Ceylon Light Infantry and the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, Ceylon Sinha Regiment in 1962. It has be ...

was raised in the

Matara Fort The Matara Fort ( ''Mathara Balakotuwa''; ) was built in 1560 by the Portuguese and was substantially re-built by the Dutch in 1640, following the capture of Galle. The fort, which consists of a large stone rampart, occupies the promontory, which ...

with Lieutenant Colonel Dharmapala as its Commanding Officer and he served until August 1968, when he retired from the army with the honorary rank of Colonel. He was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) (Military Division) in the 1956 New Year Honours and for his long service as a volunteer officer he received the

Efficiency Decoration The Efficiency Decoration, post-nominal letters TD for recipients serving in the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army of the United Kingdom or ED for those serving in the British Colonial Auxiliary Forces, Auxiliary Military Forces, ...

Political career

As a founding member of the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

, Dharmapala contested the 1947 general election from the Hakmana electorate but lost to P. Kumarasiri of the

Communist Party of Ceylon The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (; ) is a communist party in Sri Lanka. In the 2004 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004 legislative election, the party was part of the United People's Freedom Alliance that won 45.6% of the popular vote and ...

. On his second attempt he was successful as Dharmapala entered parliament in 1952, having been elected from the Hakmana electorate in the 1952 general election and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industries, Housing and Social Services. He was re-elected in the 1956 general election, becoming only one of eight United National Party members to be elected to parliament after the landslide victory of

and his

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

. Dharmapala was re-elected in the March 1960 general election from the Devinuwara electorate, however, he lost to P. P. Wickremasuriya in the July 1960 general election. He contested the 1965 Ceylonese general election from the Akuressa electorate and lost to S. A. Wickramasinghe and the 1970 general election from the Kamburupitiya electorate, but lost to Aelian Mahanaga Nanayakkara. In the early 1970s, he backed

in his leadership bid for the United National Party against

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 ...

. He was appointed by Prime Minister Jayewardene as

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

of the

on 1 September 1977 and he served until 15 August 1983. Serving as the Security Adviser to

Jayewardene. His tenure saw the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War and the

Black July Black July (; ) was an anti- Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated, and was finally triggered by a deadly ambush on a Sri Lankan Army patrol by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 23 ...

riots. He was succeeded by

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 ...

D. S. Attygalle.

References

Former Defence Secretaries of Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmapala, C. A. 1907 births 1989 deaths Alumni of Rahula College Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan Buddhists United National Party politicians Gemunu Watch officers Ceylon Light Infantry officers Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire Sri Lankan colonels

Early life

Political career

See also

References