Don Sepala Attygalle සේපාල ආටිගල | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1921-10-14)October 14, 1921 |
| Died | January 15, 2001(2001-01-15) (aged 79) Colombo |
| Allegiance |  Sri Lanka |
| Service | |
| Years of service | 1942–1946, 1949–1977 |
| Rank |  General |
| Service number | 0/50010 |
| Unit | |
| Commands |
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| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
| Other work | Permanent SecretaryMinistry of Defence, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
GeneralDeshamanyaDon Sepala Attygalle,LVO (14 October 1921 – 15 January 2001) was aSri Lankan army officer,civil servant anddiplomat. The longest servingCommander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977), he went on to serve as thePermanent secretary to theMinistry of Defence and Sri LankanHigh Commissioner to theUnited Kingdom.
He is most notable for successfully crushing the1971 Insurrection in a matter of months and becoming the first Sri Lankan army officer to be promoted to the rank offull general. He is known as the"Father of the Armoured Corps" and wasThe Equerry toQueen Elizabeth II during hercoronation in 1953.
Attygalle was educated at theRoyal College, Colombo, where he became thehead prefect, won colours in bothathletics andrugby; and was the Senior Sergeant of theCadet Contingent of Royal College. Upon completing his schooling, he entered theUniversity College, Colombo.[1]
With the outbreak ofWorld War II in 1940, Attygalle left his studies at the university college to join theCeylon Defense Force with its wartime expansion and wascommissioned as asecond lieutenant in theCeylon Light Infantry on 15 November 1940. He underwent basic officer training atDiyatalawa, where he took thesword of honour at the army passing out parade in 1941 and thereafter underwent advanced training in India. He was promoted to thetemporary rank ofCaptain in 1943. He was demobilized 9 March 1946, and had been the Defence Services 100-metre Champion until 1944.[2][3]
Following the end of the war, he joined the government service as theAssistant Controller of Textiles and thereafter served as the Assistant Controller of Exports and Imports.[2]
With the formation of the newCeylon Army on 10 October 1949 following the passing of theArmy Act; he was commissioned as alieutenant in the 1 Battalion,Ceylon Light Infantry as a regular officer on 22 October 1949, promoted to the rank ofcaptain on the same day, he was then assigned as theGeneral Staff Officer - Grade 3 (GSO3) at theArmy Headquarters, Ceylon. On 27 July 1950 he was appointed as anExtra Aide-de-camp (ADC) toLord Soulbury, theGovernor General of Ceylon, succeeding MajorBevis Bawa. He was promoted to rank ofmajor on 1 January 1952 and was appointed GSO2, Army Headquarters in February.[4]
From May to July 1952, he attended the Company Commanders' Course at theSchool of Infantry, Warminster and the Land/Air Warfare Course at theSchool of Land/Air Warfare from October to November 1952. Thereafter he was attached to the 1st Battalion,King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, in Germany; serving with theNATO Forces in Europe. On his return he resumed his post as GSO2, Army Headquarters.[4]
In January 1953, he relinquished his staff appointment at the army headquarters and left for theUnited Kingdom to attend theStaff College, Camberley. On 2 June 1953, he was appointedEquerry to HMQueen Elizabeth II at her coronation. On completing thestaff college course, he was seconded to the1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards. During this time he served as a military liaison officer (military attaché) to theHigh Commissioner for Ceylon in the United Kingdom. On his return to he took part in the formation of the "D" Company, 1st Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry of which was appointedofficer commanding.[4]
In 1955, Major D.S. Attygalle was tasked with raising areconnaissance unit and on 10 October 1955, he formed the 1st Reconnaissance (Recce) Squadron as theCavalry Arm in the Ceylon Army in the lines of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, with himself as officer commanding. On 17 December 1955 a Combined Services Buddhist Mission led by Major Attygalle left forBurma on boardHMCyS Vijaya, to represent theArmed Forces of Ceylon at theBuddha Jayanthi commemoration celebrations, and present a gift of aBodhi tree sapling. On 25 December 1955, he was appointed Officer Commanding Troops,Echelon Barracks, and served till 9 August 1956. On 1 October 1958, he was promoted to the ranklieutenant colonel and appointed the firstcommanding officer of the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment, with the expansion of therecce squadron to a fullregiment. The 1st Reconnaissance Regiment became the core of theCeylon Armoured Corps. He attended a training with theRoyal Armoured Corps from March to April 1959. Held the post of the commanding officer, 1st Reconnaissance Regiment until March 1964.[5][4]
On 1 December 1962, he was promoted to the rank ofcolonel; he took up appointment asCommander, Army Force Panagoda, whilst serving as commanding officer, Ceylon Armoured Corps. In June 1963, he went on an official visit to Yugoslavia, where he underwent a guerilla warfare training course. Having relinquished his post of Commander, Army Force Panagoda on 13 August 1963, he was appointedCommander, Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration on 14 August 1963, later he also served as the Inspector of Training, Army Headquarters. He was then appointedChief of Staff of the Army on 21 March 1964. He relinquished command of the Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration on 30 June 1965 and in 1966 he attended theImperial Defence College. On his return he resumed duties as Chief of Staff.[4]
He relinquished Chief of Staff duties and was promoted to the rank ofBrigadier on 22 September 1967 and appointed as Acting Commander of the Army after the retirement ofMajor GeneralB.R. Heyn. On 1 October 1967, Attygalle was promoted to the rank ofMajor General and confirmed asCommander of the Army. Under his leadership, the army crushed the1971 Insurrection within two months, and he was promoted to the rank oflieutenant general on 4 April 1974, thus being the first officer of theSri Lanka Army to hold this rank. On the day of his retirement, on 13 October 1977, after having served for ten years as commander, he was promoted to the rank ofGeneral, thus becoming the first Sri Lankan army officer to hold the rank of a full general and longest-serving Commander of the Army.[4]
On retirement from the army, he took up an appointment as Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence, and Chief Co-ordinating Authority in the Ministry of Defence in October 1977.
In the early 1980s, with the escalation of theTamil Militancy, he was appointed asPermanent Secretary,Ministry of Defence on 15 August 1983 succeeding ColonelC. A. Dharmapala, and serving as National Defence Advisor to thePresident of Sri Lanka. He played a major role during theVadamarachchi Operation which was stopped midway by Indian intervention. During this time he was the founding chairman, Air Ports and Aviation Services and Chairman ofAir Lanka. He step down as Secretary, Ministry of Defence on 16 February 1990 and was succeeded byGeneralCyril Ranatunga.[4]
Following his tenure as Secretary of Defence, he was appointed asHigh Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom in March 1990 and served till August 1993 when he was succeeded byGeneralCyril Ranatunga.[4]
He died on 15 January 2001 in Colombo following a brief illness and hismilitary funeral took place at the General Cemetery, Borella on 17 January.[4]
He was married to Brighty Attygalle who died in July 2010, they had one son Suraj and two grandsons Damin and Shaminda. His brother was Dr. Gamini M. Attygalle,FRCS a leadinganaesthesiologist, who was married to Kalyani Wijewardene, daughter ofDon Walter T Wijewardene and sister ofUpali Wijewardene.[6]
During his military career Attygalle had been award several decorations. He was made a Member of theRoyal Victorian Order (Military Division) (MVO) byQueen Elizabeth II during her Majesty's visit to Ceylon in 1954, which was later upgraded to Lieutenant (LVO) in 1984.[7] For wartime service in World War II with the Ceylon Defense Force, he received theDefence Medal (1946), theWar Medal 1939–1945(1946) and theEfficiency Medal (Ceylon) (1950); and for service in the Sri Lankan Army, he received theCeylon Armed Services Long Service Medal, theQueen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, theCeylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal and theRepublic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal. He received theVadamarachchi Operation Medal during his service as Secretary of Defence.
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| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander of the Sri Lankan Army 1967 - 1977 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by ? | Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom | Succeeded by ? |
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