Seven years ago when I first started collecting medals, my father, whose group of medals was the first in my collection, said "You should ask Aunty Aloma for Uncle Rohan's Medals. He won the DFC twice in the last war." Fancy that, if not for my hobby I would never have known that my father's relative was a war hero. After doing some research and with the help of Mrs. Aloma Amerasekera and the offices of the RAF, London and the SLAF, Colombo, and the No 158 and 640 Squadron Associations, I have pieced together his story.

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). 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 the war Edward joined the Army, but his sister and other family members objected and somehow got him out before he was shipped overseas. He, then, secretly applied to join the RAF on Sept 19, 1940, was selected and left for England with the first batch of RAF Recruits from Ceylon in June 1941 on the S.S. Exeter.

They reached England on Sept 28, 1941 and he enlisted at Euston on Sept 30, 1941 as an Aircraftman 2nd class RAFVR with the service number 1396932. He was reinstated as U/T Observer on Nov 3, 1941 and posted to 5 ITW on Dec 13, 1941. On Feb 20, 1942 he was promoted to Leading Aircraftman and was posted to 1 Empire Air Navigation School on May 2, 1942, followed by a posting to the 1 Advanced Flying Unit on Sept 26, 1942.

Amerasekera was back with the No 158 Squadron from May 6, 1945 to Aug 14, 1945. Here on July 29, 1945 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and was awarded the Bar to the DFC (L/G Nov 30, 1945), with the following citation- "This officer has completed his second tour of operational duty. In December 1944, whilst on route to Essen, his aircraft was engaged by searchlights and heavy anti-aircraft fire was encountered causing severe damage to the aircraft. Despite the fact that shell splinters penetrated his compartment, F/O. Amerasekera took evasive action and completed his allotted task. His other targets have included the Ruhr Valley, Chemnitz and Hanover. On all occasions, F/O. Amerasekera has set a fine example by his tenacity and devotion to duty."

The incident mentioned in the citation occurred on December 12/13. 1944 during the outward journey to attack Essen. Their aircraft was illuminated by a cone of searchlights and almost immediately received severe damage by anti-aircraft fire. While Jeeves took violent evasive action to escape the searchlights, Amerasekera calmly continued with his work.

Alex Syddall recalls another (or perhaps the same) incident and I quote "The only time I ever saw 'Amer' look disconcerted was when on our return from either Essen or Chemnitz, he picked up his parachute which he had stowed under his Navigator's seat, to find pieces of Flak embedded in it! But for that parachute he would have been somewhat uncomfortable or at worst the SLAF would not have had Amer as Chief of Staff!"

In addition to the DFC and Bar, he received the 1939-45 Star, the Air Crew Europe Star with the France and Germany bar, the Defence Medal and the War Medal. He was released from service on July 20, 1946 and his last day of service being November 3, 1946. He resigned his commission on November 4, 1946 with permission to retain the rank of Flight Lieutenant. All his surviving crew mates and Bomber Command colleagues remember him with great affection. Ian Roberts of the No 640 Squadron remembers him in his article "Leconfield's League of Nations" as "Handsome and dapper, with hair swept back and parted precisely down the middle, Amerasekera hailed from Ceylon. He completed 52 Operations, requesting permission from the C.O. to stay with Jeeves' crew in order to do so. He flew 22 operations with the New Zealander Jeeves and 8 with Fred Papple. I remember him most vividly with red nose and red cheeks as he was rolled in the snow during one of the inevitable snowball fights between the sergeants' and the officers' messes.
After the war he completed a pilots' course and eventually rose to be Chief of Air Staff of the Sri Lankan Air Force. He was an unforgettable man."

In a later interview, speaking of his RAF days, Amerasekera recalled "It was a wonderful experience; we simply lived in them forgetting everything else." Amerasekera returned to Ceylon in late 1945 and served at the RAF Station in Kandy as an Interpreter, with F/Lt. Peter Chadwick, who was in charge of the Civilian employees at RAF Kandy. Here he worked until August 1946.

On Nov 13, 1962 the astrologer's prediction came true when he became the first Ceylonese Commander of the R.Cy.A.F., succeeding A/V/M. John Lindsay Barker CB, CBE, DFC.

He retired from that post on Dec 31, 1970 after nineteen years and seven months service in the Royal Ceylon Air Force, handing over command to A/Cdr Padman "Paddy" Hariprasadha Mendis.

Whilst in the service of the RCyAF, Amerasekera received the Coronation Medal of Queen Elizabeth II, The Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal (Cey/Gaz Nov 4, 1955) and the Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal.

Rohan Amerasekera died on March 20, 1974 at the age of 57, and is survived by his widow Aloma (nee' Dender) whom he had married on Nov 12, 1958, his son and daughter. He was accorded a funeral with full military honours by the Government of Ceylon and in deference to his wishes, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic religious services were held at his graveside. His ceremonial sword and the miniature medals are on display at the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum.