Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Anthony St. Clare Rex de Costa, MBE, CAVF (15 June 1920 – 9 April 1971) was a renowned Sri Lankan

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and soldier. He was 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 Ruhunu Regiment, a doctor 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 ...

during

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 ...

and a vice president of the World Veterans Federation. He was assassinated by the JVP during the 1971 Insurrection.

Personal life

Born to Dr Marceline de Costa and Lilia De Costa ''nee'' Rajapaksha. He was educated at the

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 ...

and at the

Colombo Medical College Ceylon Medical College was a public medical school in Ceylon. The college was established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School. The college was based in Colombo. The college was merged with Ceylon University College in 1942 to form the University ...

. He was married to his cousin Doreen de Costa ''nee'' Gunathilake and four children Marcel, Cheryl, Rex and Eric. After his death the family was involved in community work in the town of Deniyaya and had close links to his old regiment, 2nd(V) Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps.

Army life

After graduating, de Costa joined the Ceylon Medical Corps of the

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

during World War II and served in active duty until the demobilization at the end of the war, yet stayed on as a reservist with the rank of

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 ...

. His brother Malcolm de Costa joined the Ceylon Navy Volunteer Reserve and served with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

during the war. Reaching the rank of captain, Malcolm served as commander, Volunteer Naval Force. 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 after Ceylon gained its independence, de Costa strayed with the newly created Ceylon Army Volunteer Force 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 ...

and played a significant part in its early stages. In 1954, with the formation of the Ruhunu Regiment a reserve force raised from personnel from the southern province he transferred to it. He became the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Ruhunu Regiment based 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 ...

with the rank of lieutenant colonel. During this time his

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

was Lt. Tissa Weerathunga, who would later become the head of the Sri Lankan Army. Following the general election of 1956, when

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 ...

became prime minister, he disbanded the Ruhunu Regiment as he considered it loyal to the previous UNP government. Lt. Col. de Costa requested a transfer to his old unit the Ceylon Army Medical Corps, which was turned down. Therefore, at the age of 36 he retired from the army as one of its youngest lieutenant colonels. For his wartime service he had earned the Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939–1945, and for service in the Ceylon Army, he received the

Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal The Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal was awarded to members of the Ceylon armed services who served within their specific service branch during periods in 1949-1951 when their service branch was established: *Ceylon Army (10 October 1949 ...

, 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 ...

. Thereafter he took up the cause of

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s around the world and joined the World Veterans Federation. He traveled to several countries for WVF work and became its vice president from 1961 to 1963. For his service he was appointed a

Member 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 ...

by HM

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and retired to a quiet life to his family home in

Deniyaya Deniyaya is a small town located towards the south of Sri Lanka. It is located in Matara District of the Southern Province. It is surrounded by the Sinharaja rainforest, and the climate is relatively cool. The main source of income is tea cultiv ...

in 1967. There he continued his medical practice for the benefit of the poor in the area.

Death

On 5 April 1971 the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...

launched an insurrection against the government. Since the insurrection had taken the Ceylon Government by surprise many of the small police stations in rural areas were unprepared and overrun in the initial days with many constables and officers killed. The small police station in the town of Deniyaya also came under insurgent attacks and Dr. Rex de Costa volunteered his help in the form of medical aid to wounded constables and in weapons training which the police lacked. When the situation became critical on April 8 the OIC of the Deniyaya Police Station decided to withdraw his personnel to the safety of larger Police Station in

Rakwana Rakwana is a town in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka, a notable centre of Ceylon tea plantations and industry. Additionally, Rakwana is said to have gem resources.Rakwana is locally administered by Godakawela Pradeshiya ...

. The Inspector asked Dr. Rex de Costa to come with them. Since his children were sick, Lt. Col. de Costa refused and stayed behind. After the police withdrew from Deniyaya town and its police station releasing the detainees held there. As the insurgent learnt of Dr. Rex de Costa's assistance to the police an insurgent unit went to his house around 9 am on April 9, Good Friday and demanded that he come out. As he came out from front door with hands raised, he was cut down by a hail of bullets. Dr. Rex de Costa died instantly in front of his wife.A Lost Revolution: The JVP Insurrection 1971
/ref> The assassination of Dr. Rex de Costa was one of the major incidents of the 1971 JVP Insurrection.

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

A. C. Alles a member of the Commission of Inquiry established under the Criminal Justice Commissions Act following the insurrection dedicated an entire chapter in his book about the insurrection to De Costa Murder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Costa, Rex 1920 births 1971 deaths Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force officers Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps officers Ceylon Medical Corps officers Sri Lankan military doctors Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Sri Lankan Christians Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire Assassinated Sri Lankan people Ceylonese military personnel of World War II Assassinated Sri Lankan military personnel Deaths by firearm in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan murder victims People murdered in Sri Lanka People murdered in 1971

Personal life

Army life

Death

See also

References