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

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good fortune of coming to a wellestablished camp. What welcomed themwas a cattle occupied, mosquito andrattle snake infested, abandoned aircrafthangar complex left over from WorldWar II. The officers occupied agenerator house, and senior noncommissioned officers and soldiers usedtwo hangers for living accommodation.None of the buildings had windows ordoors as they had been removed byIndian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) 7troops earlier. Cooking and dining weredone under trees. The Air Force guardroom was converted to a temporaryheadquarters with borrowed furniturefrom nearby camps with 4th ArmouredRegiment’s beginning at Clappenburg,Trincomalee, reminiscent of earlyEnglish settlers moving to NorthAmerica in the sixteenth century.A survey carried out a few weeksbefore moving to Clappenburg revealedthe shocking state of the regiment’sfuture home. It was used as a Tamilrefugee camp with heaps of rubbish andan unbearable smell of human excreta.There was no water or electricity and themen were to share a few toilets – a ratioof 1:30. The regiment arrived in hiredpublic buses with one jeep, a truck and asingle high frequency base station forcommunications. A few cooking utensilswith other basic necessities were theonly items available. I vividly recollectthe expression on my men’s faces asthey arrived in CPB. It was a mixture ofdoubt, despair and disappointment. Themen looked at the young officers andthey in turn looked at me, but I had noone standing behind me to look up toexcept the vast expanse of the IndianOcean.7 The Indian Peace Keeping Force had come toSri Lanka in 1987 and peaked at strength near80,000. Over 1200 were killed in action and theforce withdrew in 1990.16
It was a challenge thrown at me and Ihad to face it. At that moment I realizedwhy there weren’t much choices ortakers to become the commandingofficer of the most prestigious regimentdrives me to stand up to the challenge. Ihave a moral obligation to them. Anxietyand fear is now gone and I must “Serveto Lead.”End of Part Ito be of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps.On that 10 th day of October 1991,standing in front of 14 officers and 200men, I felt lonely, and realized what itmeant to be the father of the first evertank regiment. A sense of fear grippedme, but I concealed it from the menstanding in front of me.Later that night, alone in my room, Iwrote these words in my diary “Theconcerned but hopeful expression seenon the faces of my officers and menThe story of the newly formed 4 th Armour Regiment continues with the arrival ofthe tanks and equipment. The men and officers take on the challenge of new equipmenttraining and developing the tactics and procedures for employment in combat.Part II Arrival of the Tanks and the Beginning of Training17
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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 and 10: making the final decision. He arriv
Page 11 and 12: II. Field Marshall BernardMontgomme
Page 13 and 14: with buildings, jetties and sheds.
Page 15: “WE NEVER WAVERED BECAUSE, IN THE
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
Page 25 and 26: conditioning was an area that drewr
Page 27 and 28: een done at the time. I was directe
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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