Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge ...

Candauda Arachchige Dharmapala,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, ED ( si, සී.ඒ. ධර්මපාල; 4 August 1907 – 6 July 1989) was

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician. He was a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industries, Housing and Social Services and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Hakmana. He also served as the

permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

, 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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

J. R. Jayewardene.

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 is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

owner and a prominent philanthropist having founded

Rahula College Rahula College ( Sinhala: රාහුල විද්‍යාලය ''Rāhulaa Vidyālaya'') ( Tamil: ராஹுல வித்தியாலம் ''Rāhula vittiyālam'') is a boys' school in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though ...

and

Sujatha Vidyalaya Sujatha Vidyalaya is a girls' school in Sri Lanka. Located in the Matara District - Sri Lanka's southernmost district. The school was established as a private Buddhist school by the Matara Buddhists' Society in 1929. Sujatha Vidyalaya is one ...

. 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 ''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā'' , motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom , established = , founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne , type = National , grades = ...

, after completing his schooling he joined the family business.

Military service

Dharmapala was commissioned as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the

Ceylon Light Infantry Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, a

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

regiment in 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 ...

in 1931. In 1940, he was mobilised for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, serving as Chief Security Officer of the

Ratmalana Airport Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana ( si, කොළඹ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, රත්මලාන, translit=Koḷam̆ba Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa, Ratmalāna; ta, கொழும்பு ...

. In 1949, when the

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

was formed, Captain Dharmapala transferred to the

Ceylon Volunteer Force The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Army. The SLAVF is separate from the Regular Force (known as the ''regular army'') which consists of personal who are professional soldiers an ...

into the 2 (Volunteer) Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry. In 1950, volunteer detachments were established in

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern ...

and Matara, Captain Dharmapala was put in command of the detachments. In 1954, the

Ruhunu Regiment The Ruhunu Regiment was a former Military reserve force of the Ceylon Army. The regiment was raised in 1954 in Galle with a detachment in Matara. It was disbanded in 1956 when S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike became prime minister as he considered the unit ...

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 ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

, troops of the B Company were transferred to the newly formed

Ceylon Sinha Regiment The Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිංහ රෙජිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṃkā Sinha Rejimēnthuva'') is an infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army; it is the second oldest infantry re ...

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 Ceylon Light Infantry and the Ceylon Sinha Regiment in 1962. It has been deployed in many major operations against the LTT ...

was raised in the

Matara Fort The Matara Fort ( si, මාතර බලකොටුව ''Mathara Balakotuwa''; ta, மாத்தறைக் கோட்டை, translit=Māttaṟaik Kōṭṭai) was built in 1560 by the Portuguese and was substantially re-built by the Dutc ...

with Lieutenant Colonel Dharmapala as its Commanding Officer and he served until August 1968, when he retired from the army with the

honorary rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) (Military Division) in the

1956 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1956 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth real ...

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 Territorial Army of the United Kingdom or ED for those serving in the Auxiliary Military Forces, was instituted in 1930 for award to part-time officers after twe ...

Political career

As a founding member of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

, 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 ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, trans ...

. 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. 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 Dr. Sugiswara Abeywardena Wickramasinghe (13 April 1900 – 25 August 1981) was the founder of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. He was the first Leftist to be elected to Ceylon State Council in 1931. He gave up all his wealth and comforts ...

and the 1970 general election from the Kamburupitiya electorate, but lost to

Aelian Mahanaga Nanayakkara Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, Greek military writer of the 2nd century, who lived in Rome * Casperius Aelianus, Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus, Roman writer, teacher and historian of the 3rd centu ...

. In the early 1970s, he backed J. R. Jayewardene in his leadership bid for the United National Party against

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime M ...

. He was appointed by Prime Minister Jayewardene as

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

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 ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti- Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirap ...

riots. He was succeeded by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

D. S. Attygalle General Deshamanya Don Sepala Attygalle, (14 October 1921 – 15 January 2001) was a Sri Lankan senior army officer, civil servant and diplomat. The longest serving Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977), he went on to serve as the Perm ...

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 Sinhalese politicians 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

Military service

Political career

See also

References