Sri Lankan 4th ARMOURED REGIMENT - Foreign Military Studies ...

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going to be in command of a regiment ofbattle tanks. The sensitive nature of atank regiment, both internally andexternally was obvious. They aremachines with enormous destructivepower. General Ranatunga, SecretaryDefense, gave explicit directions to theArmy Commander, GeneralWanasinghe, that tanks should not bedeployed or stationed south ofAnuradhapura. They were to be strictlyin operational areas only, and away fromthe seat of government and capital,Colombo. The ship transporting themwas to be diverted to Galle, Hambantota,or the Eastern Port of Trincomalee.Tanks were not to be seen or deployedanywhere close to the nation’s capital,Colombo.General Ranatunga being aretired armour officer and a former Chiefof Joint Operations Command,recognized the power and potential ofbattle tanks. He was one of thosestrongly opposed to introduction of tanksto <strong>Sri</strong> Lanka. A tank gun, could be usedon a potential enemy with devastatingconsequences but could also be turned tothreaten others. The Generals obviouslyunderstood the concerns of civilianauthority.Battle tanks are tools of politicaland military power. Their presence andemployment have domestic and externalimplications. Suspicions, concerns andapprehensions within the country andacross the Palk Strait (India) were to beexpected. History is replete withexamples of how tanks have influencednational and regional politics, andmilitary campaigns.Tanks were first used inSeptember 1915 in the Battle of Cambraiin France to break the deadlock of trenchwarfare. Tanks contributed to the rapidcollapse of Axis Powers in World War10
II. Field Marshall BernardMontgommery’s epic tank battles of ElAlamein in North Africa turned the warin favor of Allied Forces during WorldWar II. They defeated Field MarshallErwin Rommels’ “Afrika Korps” anddented Nazi Germany’s southern flank.American General George S. Patton’stank – led U.S. Third Army raced acrossFrance to reach the heart of NaziGermany despite a last ditch counterattack by SS Panzer Divisions in theArdennes famously known as the “Battleof the Bulge.” In August 1968 the worldwatched with shock and horror as Soviettanks rolled into the Czechoslovakcapital Prague, ending the country’sdesperate quest for reform andindependence from the Soviet Union.Tanks of Communist Chinas’ PeoplesLiberation Army rolled into Beijing’sTiananmen Square in 1989 to crush apro – democracy student uprising. In1990, the world saw Iraqi tanks of theelite Republican Guard rolling intoKuwait city to occupy a sovereign state.In March 2003, U.S. tanks rolledinto Baghdad during “Operation IraqiFreedom” to overthrow SaddamHussein’s Ba’athist regime. Morerecently, in September 2006, Thailand’sarmy took power with tanks rolling tooccupy key positions in the capital,Bangkok, and in August 2008, Russiantanks rolled through breakaway SouthOssetia in to Georgia. Each of theseevents has contributed to the mystic andmyth of tanks and how a small numberof them at the right place and time canhave strategic level implications farbeyond the expectations of inventors ofthe machine. Tanks are instruments ofpower, and coercion. They have aprofound influence on internal andexternal politics of a nation. Oncediplomacy fails and war is employed as11
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Page 3 and 4: tracked vehicles. A reluctance toin
Page 5 and 6: influence and became an independent
Page 7 and 8: Classic Sri Lankan hospitalityand b
Page 9: making the final decision. He arriv
Page 13 and 14: with buildings, jetties and sheds.
Page 15 and 16: “WE NEVER WAVERED BECAUSE, IN THE
Page 17 and 18: It was a challenge thrown at me and
Page 19 and 20: trailers to camp. They contained ta
Page 21 and 22: eportedly used in twenty-threecount
Page 23 and 24: The Commander of the Army Lieutenan
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Page 29 and 30: In late December 1991 after sixweek
Page 31 and 32: egiment they were adorned with aspe
Page 33: Brigadier C S N B Mudannayake RWP U

Sri Lankan 4th ARMOURED REGIMENT - Foreign Military Studies ...

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