Edward Ian Gray (21 December 1918 – 21 September 2004) 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 sportsman and a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

. Gray was a former

Inspector of Police Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

(IP) and the first Ceylonese head of the Police Mounted Section. He also served as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Ceylon.

Education

He 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 ...

, where he was a Senior Prefect and Captain of the Athletics team, Boxing team and Rugby team.

Police career

After completing his schooling he joined the

Ceylon Police Force Sri Lanka Police (; ) is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the p ...

and was appointed as a

Sub-Inspector of Police Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police or police sub-inspector (PSI), is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which are primarily based on the British model. It was form ...

at his first duty station in

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, 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 ...

. When

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 ...

broke out Gray was the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Koggala

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

, where the RAF Koggala was situated and served as a critical base for Allied operations in the Indian Ocean. He later served as OIC of the harbor police at the Colombo port. Joining the Police Stables he went on to become the first Ceylonese to head the unit as its OIC. On the morning of 22 March 1952 Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake was riding the police mare ‘Chitra’ on the

Galle Face Green Galle Face Green is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, alth ...

when he suffered a stroke and fell. He was accompanied by IGP

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 ...

Richard Aluwihare Sir Richard Aluwihare, (23 May 1895 – 22 December 1976) was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was the first Ceylonese Inspector General of Police and Ceylon's High Commissioner to India. Early life and education Richard Aluwihare was born on ...

, G.G. Ponnambalam and Inspector Eddie Gray at the time who took him to a nursing home, where he died several hours later. Prior to his early retirement he served as the OIC of

Colombo Fort Fort (Colombo) (Sinhala: ; Tamil: ) is the central business district of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the financial district of Colombo and the location of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the World Trade Centre of Colombo from which the CSE ...

police station. During his police service he received the Ceylon Police Medal for Meritorious Service, Defence Medal 1939-45, Ceylon Police Independence Medal and the

Service Medal of the Order of St John The Service Medal of the Order of St John is awarded to recognise both conspicuous and long service with the Venerable Order of St John, particularly in St John Ambulance, both in the United Kingdom and in a number of other Commonwealth of Nati ...

. After his retirement he was an executive at Mercantile Credit until 1974 when he left for Australia.

Sports

A boxer he won his weight class at the Stubs Shield Boxing Meet for schools and retained the title of Light Weight Champion of Ceylon for many years. Gray was a member of the Ceylon contingent to the 1948 Olympic Games in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he competed in lightweight boxing competition and was a team mate of

Duncan White Major Deshamanya Duncan M. White MBE, ED (1 March 1918 – 3 July 1998) was a Sri Lankan sportsman. He was the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, E ...

, who won silver in the Men's 400 metres hurdles event. Gray went on to represent Ceylon in the lightweight boxing competition at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. He served as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Ceylon and was also an excellent Horseman and Polo player.Meeting two interesting and important personalities of Lankan origin

1948 Olympic results

Below are the results of Edward Gray, a lightweight boxer from Ceylon, who competed at the 1948 London Olympics: * Round of 32: defeated Ezz El-Din Nasir (Egypt) by a first-round disqualification * Round of 16: lost to Eddie Haddad (Canada) by decision

References

External links

Eddie Gray - a man for all occasions!
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Eddie 1918 births 2004 deaths Sri Lankan police inspectors Lightweight boxers Sri Lankan male boxers Olympic boxers for Sri Lanka Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Sri Lanka Boxers at the 1950 British Empire Games Sri Lankan Christians Burgher people Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia Place of birth missing