Ekanayake Edward Amerasekera was born in Kegalle, Ceylon on May 21, 1916, and was one of the seven children of Edward Henry Ekanayake Amerasekera and Joselina Amerasekera (nee' de Silva Samarasinghe Siriwardena).

Orphaned at the age of four, he was brought up by his uncle and aunt, Victor and Eda de Silva Siriwardena and later lived with his eldest sister, Hyacinth and her husband, Ashley Peiris at 'Ash Court', Kegalle.

He received his education at Wesley College in Colombo (1925-29), Kingswood College in Kandy (1929-32), St. Mary's, Kegalle (1933-34) and at the Pembroke Academy (1935-39). He passed the London Matriculation exam in June 1938.

Early in his life an astrologer had predicted that one day he will be a great commander, but young Edward could not figure out how that would come about.

At the outbreak of WW2 Edward joined the Army, but his sister and other family members objected and somehow got him out before he was shipped overseas.