140 years of cadetting at Royal-By Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne Source:Island (Retired from Sri Lanka Navy) Former Chief of Defence Staff A long time ago, on 01 April 1881, Royal College (then known as the Colombo Academy) in Mutwal, Principal Mr John B Cull started a School Cadet Platoon. The idea was to train students on drill so that they would be more disciplined. Mr Cull believed such students would become responsible and disciplined men when they grew up. He received unstinted support from the then British Lieutenant Governor and Commanding Officer of Ceylon Light Infantry (CLI) (Volunteers), which started in the same year and consisted of British Officers and largely Burghers as soldiers. Lieutenant Colonel John Scot Armitage was the first commander of CLI (V). Cadetting was introduced to other schools also, which included S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, Trinity and Kingswood, Kandy. When World War 1 started in ...
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A Queen of Hearts-BY PRAMOD DE SILVA Source:Sundayobserver “Grief is the Price We Pay for Love.” – Queen Elizabeth II Millions of people around the world are grieving the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest serving monarch of any country in living memory. In fact, the UK celebrated the Platinum Jubilee (70th anniversary) of her ascension to the throne in June this year, beating the previous record held by Queen Victoria. However, she was actually coronated in 1953. This was one of the first events that was telecast live in colour. During her extraordinary reign, she has travelled more widely than any other monarch (or indeed any other world leader) – and one third of her total overseas visits have been to Commonwealth countries. She is believed to have visited over 117 countries. Ironically, it was only in 2011 that she visited neighbouring Ireland, which was also the first ...
