Sri Lanka Artillery - History

History

The roots of the Sri Lanka Artillery goes back to 1888, when on 12 April 1888 the Ceylon Artillery Volunteers was formed as a gun battery under the command of Capt. C.E.H Seimans of the Royal Artillery. During World War I the Ceylon Artillery Volunteers were mobilised, along with the Town Guard Artillery of Colombo for the defence of Colombo. In 1918 the Ceylon Garrison Artillery was formed by amalgamating the Ceylon Artillery Volunteers and Town Guard Artillery, coming under the Ceylon Defence Force. During the colonial period the main responsibility of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery was the coastal defence of Ceylon, by manning Coastal artillery batteries.

During World War II the CGA was deployed outside Ceylon to support the Allied and Commonwealth forces in the Indian Ocean, as well as defending Ceylon. Equipped with 6 inch Guns the CGA was deployed in defence of the Seychelles and the Cocos Islands. Within Ceylon expanded in size, with the 1st Coast Regiment raising in strength of one field and four coast batteries, the formation the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, headquartered in Trincomalee and the 3rd Searchlight/Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment based in Colombo.

In 1949 the CGA became the Ceylon Artillery with the formation of the Ceylon Army under the Army Act of 1949. That year the 1st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (HAA) of the Ceylon Artillery was formed under the command of Lt. Col. (later Colonel) F. C. de Saram OBE. In 1953 it was renamed the 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (LAA). In the same year the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment was formed. The 2nd Volunteer Coastal Artillery / Anti-Aircraft Regiment was formed in 1949, under the command of Lt. Col. J.A.T. Perera ED. It was made up of officers and men of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery. In 1962, when many officers of the CA, including Colonel De Saram were frond associated with the attempted military coup the government began rapid reduction of the CA. As a result in 1962 2nd Volunteer Regiment was disbanded and coastal artillery batteries decommissioned. The following year in 1963 the 1st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was amalgamated with 3rd Field Artillery Regiment and the 4th Regiment, Ceylon Artillery was formed, thus reducing the Ceylon Artillery to a single regiment. Years after amalgamation of the LAA, the air defence role of the Sri Lankan military was taken over by the Sri Lanka Air Force Regiment which it carries out to this day. The CA was renamed in 1972 as the Sri Lanka Artillery when Ceylon became a republic. Only in 1980 was a new volunteer regiment, the 5th (V) Artillery Regiment was formed.

At present the Sri Lanka Artillery has 12 regular regiments, 2 volunteer regiments and a regimental band. These units form the Artillery Brigade. Since the start of the Sri Lankan civil war in the 1980s, the SLA has provided fire support for almost all military operations carried out by the Sri Lanka Army against terrorist forces. It also performs a target acquisition role to locate enemy guns. At times the SLA has deployed 4 regular (RFT)and 2 volunteer regiments in an infantry role to meet the shortage of infantry.