Escapades of officer cadets of KDA Intake 3

by Nilakshan Perera

On August 3, 1982, fourteen of us came from various parts of the Island to the Kotelawala Defence Academy (KDA) along Airport Road, Ratmalana, to start our careers as Service Cadet Officers. We had been informed by Telegram to report to the KDA by 1500 hrs and all of us were there well on time, accompanied by our parents and some well-wishers. We were filled with mixed emotions of excitement tempered with a twinge of anxiety as well, to what was in store for us from then on. We had opted for a career in the Armed Forces and now we had got the opportunity to prove ourselves.

We were the lucky 14 out of 1,067 applicants to join the KDA as Officer Cadets of the Third Intake. We had to face four separate interviews: first at Army Headquarters, then the Officer Quality Test (OQT) at the Armoured Corps’ Rock House Camp at Mutwal and a medical examination at the Military Hospital. The final interview was at the Ministry of Defence with the three Service Commanders and Secretary of Defence, Gen Sepala Attygalle as Chairman of the Board. All candidates need to score the aggregate of marks required to gain entry to University as well as to have excelled in extracurricular activities at the school level.

The selected 14 were Thiru Amaran from Trinity, Saliya Weerakkody from St Joseph’s, Bandarawela, Damian Fernando from St Sebastian’s, Moratuwa, Upul Wijesinghe from Thurstan, Shantha Liyanage from Prince of Wales, Dimuthu Gunawardena from S.Thomas’, Palitha Sirimal from Dharmasoka, Ruwan Upul Perera from Maris Stella, Lal Padmakumara from St Mary’s, Kegalle and six Anandians, Dhammika Pananwela, Preethi Vidanapathirana, Manoj Jayasuriya, Shantha Edirisinghe and Nilakshan Perera. Among them, there were four head prefects, two Cadet Corps Sergeant Majors, three Cadet Sergeants, one Sri Lanka Schools basketball player, one Schools triple jump record holder, and two national swimmers.

Group photograph taken in front of Sir John’s bungalow, 1984

We were all over the moon when we received confirmation of our selection by registered post. As instructed we had packed our suitcases with our clothing and toiletries, etc. according to the list that was provided and reported to the KDA as instructed. As young 19-year-old schoolboys, all wearing their college blazers and college ties, I am sure we would have made a fine picture on that memorable first day at KDA.

Soon we were asked to say our goodbyes to our parents and well wishers and no sooner they left, all of us were taken to the Quarter Masters Stores and provided with various service issues such as boots, mess tins, water bottles, tennis shoes, white T’shirts, KDA Colors track kits, black overalls, belts, berets, white towels, bed sheets, pillowcases, and other necessities.

All these were packed into a big sack-like bag popularly known as “Ali Kakula” among service personnel as it resembled the leg on an elephant. We were all delighted to receive this, without realizing what will happen next. There was one Warrant officer and two PT Instructors who asked us to carry this Ali Kakula and took us for an extended “Camp tour” lugging all that weight. This was our first taste of what we were in for as officer cadets. This was no ordinary camp tour. There we were, all smartly dressed in our crisp shirts and trousers, well-polished shoes, and our school blazers and ties, now carrying our newly acquired possessions inside the Ali Kakula, trotting on the double from one place to another. Starting from the main gate in front of Ratmalana Airport, and then to the side gate that leads to Kandawala Road, Sir John’s Lake (Next to Bata), four corners of Kandawala Estate, Summer hut, aquarium, farm, paddy fields and at last ending up adjoining Ratmalana Airport hangars.

After dinner all of us were waiting to see our seniors. There were 34 super seniors of Intake 1 consisting of Engineering Cadets from Moratuwa University and Physical Science undergraduates from the University of Colombo. Our immediate seniors of Intake 2 consisted of 27 cadets – Engineering, Physical Science, and Arts undergraduates. Just as we were about to go to bed around 10.30 pm Intake 2 seniors came and greeted us very well in accordance with military standards.

Next day we were addressed by Capt Raj Fernando, a tall Cadet Corp Officer who was one of the most respected English teachers and fatherly figure to all of us. He introduced himself as our Troop Commander. Maj LCR Goonawardena of the Artillery, a great officer, was our Squadron Commander. He was a former Chief of Staff of the Army and retired as Maj General in 2002. Then there was Sgt Fernando WEA from Artillery as our Intake Sgt, a soldier to the bone and a sergeant with a high professional outlook who always wanted nothing less than the best from us.

Hon Minister of National security Mr Lalith Athulathmudali, the Chief Guest of the Passing Out Parade in Sept 1986

Our daily routine was to wake up at 4.30 a.m. and get ready for PT at 5.30 a.m. after tidying our billet including toilets, corridors, windows, ceiling fans, etc for inspection. After PT at 7.00 a.m. was breakfast and by 8.30 squad drill training at the Airport hangar and then back at Sir John’s bungalow for Military Studies. The lunch break was from 12.45 to 1.30 pm and then again military studies till 3.30. After the 15-minute tea break, we were off for recreational practices at Railway Grounds near Galle Road, Ratmalana or Kandawela Vidyalaya which was next to KDA. For a few months we had military lectures like map reading, service writing, leadership studies, current affairs, fieldcraft and basic tactics.

Then in September lectures began at the Colombo University. The cadets got transport to the Colombo campus and back by Army TATA 1210 truck. We alighted at Brodie House, Bullers Road, near the Army Commander’s official residence by 7.45 am ready for 8.00 am lectures, and were picked up by 6.15 pm at the same location. For lunch, we had to walk up to Volunteer Service Corps Camp which was at the old Race Course. All of us needed to participate in sports at the Colombo University as our seniors were dominating most of the sports like football, rugger, basketball, cricket, hockey athletics, badminton. rowing, and swimming.

In Dec 1982, before our first 10-day vacation for Christmas we had our Parent’s Day where parents and family members were invited to see their sons’ abilities after being moulded into the military culture. We also had several Mess Nights and, according to the seating plan, had to sit with senior officers of all three forces and, of course, our seniors of Intake 1 & 2. Though there was all kinds of delicious food, we couldn’t enjoy the repast as much as we would have liked to because of the array of unfamiliar cutlery laid out on the tables. The senior officers were keenly watching our table manners and we had to find other ways of satisfying our hunger.

Fortunately, there were plenty of coconut trees on Gen Sir John’s Kandawala Estate. Most nights, especially around midnight, a few of us started a covert operation. During the day we did a recce to earmark trees with a good crop of kurumba, especially those palms located far from the Seniors’ Study Halls. We had a remarkable guy who could climb a coconut tree of any height in absolute darkness. Two of us held a ground sheet with a rolled up white bedsheet made into a ring at its center. Our friend on the tree would drop each kurumba bang on target onto the groundsheet even from a height of 40 to 60 feet. All this was done in complete darkness with no light whatsoever. (We had no access to night vision equipment at that time.). All he could see was the faint outline of the white circle of the bed-sheet and fortunately for us, he never missed his target as otherwise two of us would have been the first-ever cadets to die under tragic circumstances at KDA. We should go down in history as thus having practiced aerial bombing in Sri Lanka warfare! Our tree-climber friend eventually became a specialist in the area of aerial bombing!

(to be continued next week)