Echelon Barracks was a former military

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

situated in Colombo Fort,

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 ...

. It was occupied by the newly formed

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 ...

following independence.

History

Built during the late nineteenth century as headquarters of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

of Ceylon, the camp was made up of a two-storey barrack blocks, with wide verandahs, formed a square around a

parade ground A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

large enough for several football and hockey pitches. This parade ground gained the name Echelon Square and adjoined the then old Parliament (now the Presidential Secretariat). Until 1963 it was the regimental headquarters of the Ceylon Artillery and housed 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 ...

. In the early 1970s the barracks were demolished to make way for commercial development. Since 1997 the World Trade Centre, Colombo has stood in Echelon Square.

References

{{reflist

External links

1941-1945 Eastern Travels Part 4 by cjcallis, BBC
Barracks in Sri Lanka Installations of the British Army British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka Government buildings in Colombo Military of British Ceylon Residential buildings in Colombo Sri Lankan Army bases World War II sites in Sri Lanka