{"id":98120,"date":"2020-01-22T17:02:50","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T00:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98120"},"modified":"2020-01-22T17:02:50","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T00:02:50","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-13-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/22\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-13-c\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 13 C"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

There were many instances\nwhere small military units fought the LTTE courageously, despite all odds. Here\nis one example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This essay\npresents an edited version of A personal account by the CO 1 GW of events in\nBatticaloa during the siege in 1990\u201d by Brigadier Hiran\nN. Halangoda (Retd) of Gemunu Watch published in Sunday Island 27.12. 2015. ( http:\/\/www.island.lk\/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=137686)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  This is a personal account by the CO 1 GW of\nevents in Batticaloa during the siege in 1990 and the courageous performance of\nduties by troops under his command, amidst unprecedented odds faced by them is\nrecounted here for posterity,  said\nHalangoda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I dedicate this article to all those valiant\nofficers and men of the First Battalion the Gemunu Watch (1 GW) who served\nunder my command from December 1, 1988 to January 31, 1991. They served with me\nloyally, with dedication and commitment in Hambantota, Moneragala, Ampara and\nBatticaloa [BCO] districts against all odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the departure of the IPKF at the end of\nMarch 1990, the LTTE gradually took control of the North-East, which had been\nvacated under the terms of the Indo Sri Lanka  Agreement 1987 or occupied these lands\nillegally. They positioned their cadres in vital areas that enabled them to\nexert pressure on the Police who maintained law and order and on the Army who\nwere very thinly deployed in the Northeast to counter them. In the Eastern\nprovince just one Infantry Battalion each was deployed in each of the districts\nof Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Batticaloa district, five Army detachments\nwere established at Wellawadi, Kiran, Kalawanchikudy, Kalmunai and Kallady. Of\nthese detachments, Kalmunai [in the Ampara district] and Kalawanchikudy\ndetachments belonged to 6th Battalion Sri Lanka Light Infantry (6 SLLI), which\nwas raised in late May 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Infantry Battalions were handicapped as\nthey had to transfer one Rifle Company and composite platoons to the newly\nraised Infantry Battalions in late May 1990. The troops had to re-orientate\nthemselves from a limited engagement environment in the South to an all out\nCOIN [Counter Insurgency] Operations environment in the North and East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 GW was re-deployed in Batticaloa district on\nMay 18, 1990. By then the situation was very tense in the Batticaloa district.\nThe LTTE obstructed the movement of the security forces, provoked the Army and\ninterfered with the Police in maintaining law and order. There were around\n30-40 outposts with bunkers manned by 150-300 LTTE cadres in the BCO town and\nvicinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large bunker covered the approach into the\nBatticaloa town under the clock tower across the lagoon facing the Police\nstation. LTTE permission was required to visit most areas in town, where a\nconcentration of more than 30 LTTE outposts had come up. They reserved the use\nof certain garages and service stations exclusively for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation was brought to the notice of\nthe military higher command and the civilian bureaucracy negotiating peace with\nthe LTTE at that time. But the Security Forces were explicitly told to\nco-operate with the LTTE to bring about a peaceful settlement to the conflict\nas the country couldn\u2019t afford another battle with the LTTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President and the civilian bureaucracy did\nnot know the ground situation despite negotiating for peace with the LTTE,\nwhilst the military higher command did not put across the difficulties faced by\nthe security forces on the ground  as\nthey wished to continue in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 11, 1990, hostilities started in\nBatticaloa with the LTTE taking the Security Forces by complete surprise. They\ntook over Batticaloa Police Station with its armoury, communications, gold and\nmoney which had been kept for safe custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was the Commanding Officer of 1 GW and the\nCoordinating Officer of the Batticaloa district, located at the Kallady Camp\n(approximately 2 kms away from the Batticaloa Police Station). I had been in\nAmpara immediately before taking up duties in Batticaloa. The Police did not\ninform me about the developing situation. The owner of “L H Bakery”,\none of my school friends informed me by telephone at 0620 hrs, on June 11,\n1990, that all the Sinhalese in the town were ordered by the LTTE to vacate\nwithin five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At around 7.30 am, I was told a vehicle sent\nout from Kalawanchikudy Army camp (6 SLLI troops) had been ambushed at Kalmunai\nand all ten soldiers in the vehicle had been killed. Kalawanchikudy Army Camp,\n(to whom these soldiers belonged), had only 48 troops excluding the three\nofficers. There was no way of moving out to Kalmunai to recover the dead of the\npatrol as the main road was blocked by the LTTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LTTE had taken up a position by then\naround the Kalawanchikudy Camp and the Police Station opposite it. Having\nsurrounded the camp and the Police Station they demanded their surrender, and\nalso announced that they will not be harmed and will be handed over to the Sri\nLankan Government at the Batticaloa airfield. Ten Sinhalese policemen escaped the\ndeadly fate of the other policemen by jumping into to the adjoining Army Camp\nwith their weapons and ammunition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Sarath Embowa of the 6 SLLI was the\nOfficer Commanding the Kalawanchikudy Camp. He decided to fight the terrorists.\nThe LTTE who were in touch with the SLAF Batticaloa (Air Force) base informed\nthem that if the Police surrendered without resistance, they would hand them\nover to the Government. The Police, who were not prepared mentally and\nphysically, and had no confidence to fight a ruthless guerrilla organization\nwithout military (air and artillery) support, agreed to surrender to the LTTE.\nBy this time the LTTE had surrounded most of the 13 Police Stations in\nBatticaloa and Ampara Districts and had captured the Policemen who surrendered\nwith their weapons without a fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of them were taken to selected locations\nclose by, asked to dig their own graves and brutally murdered in cold blood.\nThe tragic fate of 677 Sinhalese and Muslim policemen who surrendered should be\na constant and unforgettable reminder to all concerned of the LTTE atrocities\ncommitted in this conflict. Local and international Human Rights activists did\nnot care to investigate this cold blooded tragedy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 3.30 pm on June 11, Army Commander Lt. Gen.\nH. Wanasinghe, the Inspector General of Police, a senior officer from the Air\nForce and Director Operations of the Army, Brig. Vijaya Wimalaratne  arrived at Batticaloa Air Force base by air.\nThe Senior Superintendent of Police, an ASP (living within Kallady camp) and I were\nheli-lifted from Kallady camp to join them for an urgent conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had our meeting and returned to Kallady\ncamp. The possibilities of reinforcing the Police stations were discussed. At\nthat moment there was no way of reinforcing the police stations as the Army too\nwere very thin on ground. The army camps too were in great danger due to them\nbeing under strength and, deployed far apart lacking mutual support. No\nartillery was available in Batticaloa district and the only available Bell 212 helicopter\nwas not fitted with guns. (To fit the guns it would have taken between one to\ntwo hours).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An extremely dangerous situation existed. Our\nlack of preparation and abject appeasement of the LTTE could have led to the\ntotal loss of the East. On returning to camp from the Sri Lanka Air Force\n(SLAF) base at Batticaloa around 6.00 pm on June 11, 1990, the LTTE contacted\nme at Kallady and told me to inform Kiran (Kumburumulla) camp to surrender in\nfive minutes and if it was disregarded, they were going to launch an all out\nattack on the camp. The LTTE had started their attack on Kiran and Wellawadi at\n4.30 pm. In order to buy more time and avoid being found fault with for\nstarting the war, I said that I would inform them of instructions after\ncontacting the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then contacted the 2 Division Commander\nMajor General J. R. S. De Silva at Anuradhapura. He insisted that the Army\nshould fight to the last man and the last round and that the entire country was\ndepending on our performance in Batticaloa. I requested him for immediate\nassistance to evacuate the camps at Wellawadi and Kalmunai since they had only\ndepleted platoons in each of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, all the four camps in the\nBatticaloa district and Kalmunai Camp in the Ampara district were under prolonged\nand severe attack. Wellawadi camp was established to provide protection to the\nSinhala fishing community (about 200 fishermen, women and children) who had\nbeen living there for generations. 2\/Lt RMCC Ranaweera   and 22 men fought for more than 36 hours\nsupported by two 81mm Mortars (from Kiran detachment) against more than 300-400\nLTTE cadres throughout the night with 90 rounds of ammunition (first line\nscale).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops were able to protect the fisher\nfamilies and evacuate them by sea with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Navy, in\na gunboat commanded by Cdr Thisara Samarasinghe [Admiral and ex Navy Commander]\non June 12, 1990. It must be mentioned that there was not a single civilian\nconflict related casualty in the entire evacuation at Wellawadi except for a\nmother and a child who drowned while boarding the naval craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops were provided ammunition from\nKallady, which was delivered by helicopter, before they withdrew in a Navy\ngunboat. This took them to Trincomalee and safety. They suffered only one minor\ninjury to a soldier due to LTTE fire, during the entire 36 hour crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation at Kalmunai too was similar; the\nplatoon under 2\/Lt KASH Karunatillake SLLI was under tremendous pressure as\nintense fire was brought down on them by the LTTE. However on June 13, 1990 the\nNavy under the command of Cdr. Daya Dharmapriya [retired Rear Admiral] in his\ngunboat and support vessels, evacuated them after an agonizing battle whilst\nbeing supported by artillery fire from the Malwatte Army camp. However, the\nSLLI suffered several casualties as the evacuation was done whilst in contact\nwith the LTTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LTTE unleashed salvos of mortar, small\narms and 84 mm rocket launcher fire at the Kiran Camp. LTTE  also  used chlorine gas against the troops in Kiran\non June 13, 1990.The Officer Commanding the camp, Captain Sumith Perera GW and\nhis second in command Lieutenant Chinthaka Munasinghe GW (both officers were\nkilled in action in subsequent operations conducted against the LTTE in Jaffna\nin 1995 and Mannar in 1991, respectively) with their men valiantly held the\ncamp against all odds. The only surviving officer was 2\/Lt Suminda Jayasundera\nGW who was a Young Officer (YO) with less than one year\u2019s service with the\nBattalion at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must also be mentioned that Pte Dharmasiri\nK.A., the radio operator of \u2018A\u2019 Company 1 GW maintained communication with\nBattalion Headquarters (HQ) at Kallady and rear HQ at Diyatalawa throughout the\nentire period during day and night. When the antenna was damaged due to intense\nmortar fire, he fixed it at night by climbing a Palmyra tree. On the night of\nJune 11, the Air Force helicopter fitted with machine guns became airborne to\nprovide close air support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It\nshould be noted here that the services provided by Flying Officer Thilana\nKaluarachchi. (This officer was later killed when a missile hit the MI 24 he\nwas flying in over Kokilai Lagoon in 1997).He relentlessly and gallantly flew\nthe entire night and continued every night until the detachment was relieved.\nHe gave much needed air support, which kept the LTTE at bay and was a\ntremendous morale booster to the besieged troops. The ground to air\ncommunications was closely coordinated through Cpl. Gamini GW of 1 GW stationed\nat the SLAF base at BCO, during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 16, 1990, during the battle, a\ncease-fire was requested by the LTTE through the Bishop of Batticaloa for both\nsides could attend to their respective casualties. However, the LTTE leaders\nrefused to disarm and stay put in the SLAF base in Batticaloa, but wanted to\naccompany the Bishop to Kiran with me or my representative. I refused to their\nterms which were clearly to take us hostage and over-power the detachment by\nholding us at gunpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LTTE stooped to such cunning low levels\nand proved their perfidy, deceit and treachery throughout the conflict. They\ncontinued to bombard the troops psychologically by making announcements through\na loud hailer asking the troops repeatedly to give up and surrender without\nfighting a losing battle. Troops returned fire and fought steadfastly and\nresolutely, to deny the LTTE any opportunity to break into the camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Troops in all camps lived on liquids, raw\npapaws, Palmyra fruits and the odd animal that strayed during the siege. They\nwere collected during the night or when there was a lull in the fighting. Since\nthe well, which supplied fresh water to the Kiran camp was exposed to LTTE\nfire, troops tunneled into it at night to get drinking water for their\nsurvival. Troops in Kiran survived for seven nights in trenches, clad only in\none uniform throughout the regular attacks by the LTTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one soldier was killed in action\nthroughout the eight days of fighting. However, one officer and 60 soldiers of\nthe 3×79 personnel in the camp suffered injuries and evacuated when reinforcements\narrived. The alertness of the sentry at night enabled him to wipe out an entire\ngroup of nine LTTE guerrillas crawling into the camp by cutting the perimeter\nwire fence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rescue operation was finally launched under\nthe command of GOC 1 Division Major General Denzil L. Kobbekaduwa. Before the\nrescue, he spoke to me over the radio on June 15, 1990. The voice of the GOC\nwas a great morale-booster to me as we were all desperate about our survival. Until then the response from the military\nhigher command was negative at best and very little encouragement was given to\ncontinue fighting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reinforcement operations were launched\nfrom the North of Batticaloa to relieve the Kiran Camp. 3 Brigade Group was\ncommanded by Brigadier A. M. U. Seneviratne [retired Major General and Chief of\nStaff]. Fourth Battalion the Gemunu Watch and the Fifth Battalion the\nVijayabahu Infantry Regiment had to fight their way and reached Batticaloa by\nJune 19. Similarly, 1 Brigade Group commanded by Brigadier A. K. Jayawardhana\n<\/p>\n\n\n

[retired Major General and a one time Secretary of Defence]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with First Sinha\nRegiment and First Special Forces Regiment fought their way from Ampara across\ncountry through Wellaveli to relieve Kalwanchikudy detachment in the South of\nBatticaloa. Both Brigade groups reached their objectives on June 18 despite\nheavy resistance from the LTTE.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of the 1 GW troops in the defence\nof their camps in the Batticaloa district was due to their courage, regimental\nespirit de corps, comradeship, belief in their leadership and their steely\ndetermination to survive amidst the death and wounding of their colleagues,\nalong with the ensuing confusion and chaos of battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effort taken to send the remains (cremated\nat night with the help of Palmyra branches amidst LTTE small arms fire) of the\ndead soldier [Sergeant Karunadasa E.A.D.] at Kiran to his next-of-kin was\nappreciated by his parents and was a great morale booster to the rest of the\ntroops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let the courageous stand taken by all those\nvaliant and gallant men of Gemunu in BCO in June 1990 in general, and\nespecially Kiran in particular, be a defining and bold moment and tradition for\nall those who have served, continue to serve and are to serve in the Gemunu\nWatch to follow. This tradition must be upheld with pride.[1]<\/a> (\ncontinued)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.island.lk\/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=137686)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS There were many instances where small military units fought the LTTE courageously, despite all odds. Here is one example. This essay presents an edited version of A personal account by the CO 1 GW of events in Batticaloa during the siege in 1990\u201d by Brigadier Hiran N. Halangoda (Retd) of Gemunu Watch published […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}