The Boys From Ceylon 

- Ceylonese Volunteers in the RAF during the Second World War

BATCH 2

George Frederick Dugald Abayasekera

Don Reginald Perera-Abeywardena

Nawalage Sepala Cooray

Kingsley Wilfred Milroy Noel Perera

Ananda Kularatne

Obinamuni Pedrick Solomon Silva

Reginald Bernard Sielman

Clarence Harold Jacotine

Gilbert Wilson Sirimanne

Veluppillai Saravanapavan

Samson Godwin Ethelbert De Alwis Seneviratne

Sithamparapillai Thirunavukarasu

James Godwin Vaughan De Livera

Vincent Francis Fernando

Chelliah Kangasabapathy

Seva Suriyapillai Sinniah

Daniel Selvarajah Navaratnam

BATCH 3

  Cyril Herbert Sooriaarchchi Amarasekera

Roy James de Niese

Dixon Kotalawala

Samuel Dion Bennett

Punchi Banda Mawalagedera

George Edward Lionel Ferdinand

Royle Bernard Denis Jansen

Hector Leslie Aserappa

Randolph Kingsley Werkmeister

D Clement Andrews

Albert Thambyrajah Paramanathan

BATCH 4

Herbert Austin Sydney Gunawardene

Harold Bertram Peiris

Eric Leonard Bartels Vanden Driesen

Wijesooriya Mudiyanselage Hubert Daswatte

Robert George De Saram

Edward St George Bernard Vanderwall

William James Jenkins

Wilfred Sinnathurai Sabapathy

BATCH 5

Sabathy Arumuganathan

Tuan Kamour Hannan

Job Albert Thiagaraja Samuel

Ernest Ridley Henson Bartholomeusz

John Hope

BATCH 6

Edward Cedric Godlieb

Mootatamby Karthigaesu

Suppiah Kanagasabai

Dharmadasa Ranasinghe

Kandiah Sivasubradas

W T J M Wijerama

Algernon Anthony Wijeyewickrema

OTHER VOLUNTEERS FROM CEYLON THAT SERVED IN THE RAF IN WW2

AGAR, F/O George Brian Shelton

BALFOUR, Fred

BEVEN, Henry Edwin

BUSBY, Desmond Clive Camden, CGM

BUSBY, Kenneth

COLLINS, Peter

DE KRETSER, Dirk Bertram

DE SILVA, Joe Herbert Wejies

DIAS, Benedict Oliver, DFC

DIAS, Reginald Walter Michael

DITMAS, Patrick Harold Devereux

EBERT, Glaucus Edgar Allen

FISHER, Condrad Francis William

FRASER, Joseph Frederick, DFC

GADDUM, Reginald Percy

GIBSON, F/Lt. Ashley

GRENIER, Bertram

HOLLAND, Robert Hugh, DFC

HORSFALL

HUMPHREYS, Anthony Guy

JACOTINE, E C

JAYAMAHA, Joe

JINENDRADASA, Julius Llewellyn

JOLLIFFE, Peter Slade

JONKLAAS, Aimee

LLOYD, W D

LOBO, Joseph Oswald Maurice

LOVELL, Anthony Desmond Joseph, DSO* DFC*

LOVELL, Stuart James

LUDOVICI, Lorenz Victor

MAC MAHON, John

NADARAJA, Gnani

NAGALINGAM, Kadir Kamn

NICOL, Earle Donovan

PELLY-FRY, James Ernest, DSO

PHILPOTT, John

PLAYFAIR, Peter John

REEVES, F/Lt. Frederick Layard, MC

ROBERTSON, James Bryan

ROE, Valcourt Desmond Meredith

RUST, Richard (Dick)

SHATTOCK, Robert Mark

SIEWERT, F/Lt. Henry Morgan. 455

SUMANADASA, Lokusatu Heva. 456

TALALLA, Cyril “Jimmy” DFC*

TALALLA, Henry

TURNER, Harry St. George, DFC

WILLENBERG, Harold Richard

WRIGHT, Christopher L Y.

YOUNG, R G.

NOT SURE IF CEYLONESE

D N De Silva

Douglas Madison Spencer Van Cuylenburgh

Terence Henry Perera

CEYLONESE in the ATA during WW2

Aubrey Kingsley Bawa

Roderick Ayscough Fraser Farquharson

Joan Ursula Newnham 'Jill' Farquharson

Clarence Shelton Perera

Earle Donovan Nicol

Eirene Rosemary Banister

Ceylonese in the RFC, RNAS and RAF in WORLD WAR 1

F/O H E Bellamy

Hallam Tennyson Randle Ford

Percy Edward Lovell Gethin

Patrick Hadow

J H Herring

2/Lt. M Elton Lane

DRAFT FOR NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

By my friend G/Capt. Kumar Kirinde SLAF (Retd). Since publishing it, we have found more names (Batch 6).

SRI LANKANS WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR SERVICE WITH THE ROYAL AIR FORCE DURING WORLD WAR 2

Within a year of the outbreak of World War II, the colonial government began looking for Sri Lankan volunteers to serve in various capacities with the British forces including the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Accordingly, 15,000 applied to join the RAF. Out of this lot, 15 were initially selected and sent for training at the RAF Cranwell Flying School in the United Kingdom in 1941. But a paper cutting dated the Sep 1941 gives only twelve (12) names even though it says in the beginning fifteen (15) Ceylonese for the RAF have arrived in Britain.

Among the 15 Sri Lankans to join the RAF during WWII were St Elmo Muller, CSA Perera, SD (Shelton) Flamer-Caldera, JJA (Justin) Perera, EE (Rohan) Amerasekera, P Balachandran, FN (Fred) Brohier and EDPM (Emile) Jayawardena

Out of the above listed, only four were selected for fighter pilot training. ‘Fighter jockeys’ as they were called by the British as they needed a special temperament which sets them apart from bomber pilots. The chosen ones were Emile Jayawardena, Noel Peiris, Rex de Silva and Shelton Flamer-Caldera who were sent to operational squadrons soon after completing their training.

Chelliah Kanagasabapathy a Sri Lankan, also a RAF Pilot in WW2 mention of another batch of Sri Lankans who joined the RAF. He says that 18 persons were selected from Sri Lanka to join the RAF in 1941 and were sent to London, England for training. “Out of the eighteen individuals from Ceylon who joined the RAF, eight were selected to be trained as pilots, out of which, two failed the exams. Two of them died during training. Three were shot down over Germany. One came back alive and that was me and I am grateful for that forever,” he said.

According to that Charles Ameresekere who has done extensive research on the subject, three more batches of Sri Lankans have served with the RAF in WW2.

“There were at least five batches of Ceylonese volunteers (approx. 15 in each batch) that served with the RAF in WW2. They were all very brave to volunteer for such dangerous duties, so far from home. Many were Killed in Action (KIA), “he says.

One of the names that has been uncovered as being another Sri Lankan who has enlisted in the RAF during the war is that of Michael Dias Bandaranaike who joined the RAF Coastal Command and served as a tail gunner flying in bombers.

He had reportedly joined individually after graduating from Cambridge. Reginald Walter Michael "Mickey" Dias Bandaranaike…while at Cambridge, Dias served in the Home Guard and after graduating he joined the Royal Air Force, where he was served in the Coastal Command as a tail gunner flying in bombers equipped with Leigh Lights and played tennis at Wimbledon for the RAF…

Charles Ameresekere’s research also shed more light on other Sri Lankans who joined the RAF early on. “Shelton Flamer-Caldera flew Spitfires with 504 Squadron (before moving to 135 Sqn) at the same time as Mervyn Rex De Silva, Emile Jayawardena and Clarence Harold Jacotine (from Bambalapitiya). Jacotine was killed while serving with that squadron on 27/8/1943……Another brave Ceylonese pilot who was KIA (over Malta) was Dugald Abayasekera…

Roshan Abayasekera, nephew of Dugald Abayasekera says... “He flew an American twin prop engine Douglas Boston aircraft and was shot down into the Mediterranean Sea during a bombing mission on Italy.”

Ameresekere says among those KIA while flying for the RAF in WW II action were C H Jacotine, Ananda Kularatne, Vincent Fernando, Kingsley Perera, S.S. Sinniah to name a few.

However it has been observed that only three of the RAF pilots from Sri Lanka, C H Jacotine, G F D Abayasekera and A.Kularatne who were KIA are mentioned in the Colombo War Memorial for the two world wars, the Cenotaph at Vihara Maha Devi Park.

In 1944, Shelton Flamer-Caldera of the initial lot who joined the RAF and who went on to become a fighter pilot died in an air crash while being deployed at a RAF station in Sri Lanka (RAF Minneriya).

Charles Ameresekere also says there was even a female pilot, Aimee Jonklaas, a Ceylonese by birth (born in Gampola) that served with the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) ferrying aircraft for the RAF.  The ATA was a civilian aircraft ferrying organisation tasked with delivering aircraft (once manufactured) from factories to the operational stations of RAF and RNAS.

An appreciation written by Edmund Kerner, Vice Chairman, Australia-Sri Lanka Council, Melbourne mentions another Sri Lankan who joined the RAF during WW2. He says, “Sri Lanka recently lost one of its pioneers in aviation history — Roy de Neise… Roy kept us all thrilled with his stories in the flying exploits of the pilots and other airmen, during World War II. RAF Flying Officer de Neise is one of those few who survived innumerable dangerous night bomber missions, to targets in Germany, where his navigational skills as a Navigator/Bombardier played an important role in the success of a series of operational raids…”

Another four Sri Lankans who have joined the RAF in 1944 are TB Daswatte, L Vanden Driesden, HAS Gunawardane and BSTE Vanderwall. The others whose names have been uncovered are those of P B Mawalagedara who had joined  Air Ceylon after being released from RAF while the Memorial Board at Trinity College Kandy for Old Trintians who served in the Second World War mention the name, E S Godlieb under Royal Air Force.

Charles Ameresekere whose research yielded much of the information says he is at present engaged in writing the biography of the late AVM Rohan Amerasekera DFC* and also several books on “Orders, Decorations and Medals relating to Sri Lanka / Ceylon from 1795 to the present” and one titled “Boys from Ceylon” - Ceylonese in the RAF 1939-45.

“I have been researching these books since the 1990s and was fortunate to be in contact with some of these airmen and /or their relatives. Unfortunately, all of them have now passed away. Roy de Neise, Rex de Silva, Clement Andrews were among the last. I was also in contact with Elmo Muller’s 2 brothers, Doctors Hubert and Bede. I think they too have passed away. Roger Thiedeman (aviation enthusiast /journalist) had interviewed many of them and has shared his notes with me. They were George Ferdinands, P B Mawalagedera, C H S Ameresekere, and Rex de Silva etc.……I have spent years going through passenger lists and RAF records to figure out the 5 batches of Ceylonese that served in the RAF during WW2”.

The names of Sri Lankans who joined the RAF in 5 batches during WWII are as follows: -

1st Batch: St.Elmo Muller, E E (Rohan) Amerasekera, Clarence S A Perera, R O’Brien Van Cuylenburg, S A Noel Peiris, M Rex De Silva, L Osborne H Wanigasekera, K Graydon Joachim, L Shelton Flamer-Caldera, Mohamado M Omerdeen, Emile D P M Jayawardena, Frederick H Brohier, Patrick S A Pereira, Ponniah Balachandran, J Justin A Perera.

2nd batch: G F Dugald Abayasekera, D R P Abeywardena, N S Cooray, Kingsley W M N Perera, Ananda Kularatne, O P S Silva, R B Sielman, Clarence Harold Jacotine, Gilbert W Sirimanne, V Saravanapavan, S G E De A Seneviratne, S. Thirunavakarasu, J G Vaughan De Livera, Vincent F Fernando, C Kanagasabapathy, S S Sinniah, D S Navaratnam.

3rd Batch: C H S Amarasekera, Roy J de Neise, Dixon Kotelawela, S Dion Bennett, P B Mawalagedera, G E L Ferdinand, Royle B D Jansen, Hector L Aserappa, R Kingsley Werkmeister, Clement Andrews, A T Paramanathan.

4th Batch: H A S Gunawardena, H B Peiris, E L B Vanden Driesden, W M Hubert Daswatte. R G De Saram, E St G B Vanderwall, W J Jenkins, W S Sabapathy.

5th Batch: E C Godlieb, M Karthigesu, S Kanagasabai, D Ranasinghe, K Sivasubradas, W Terence J M Wijerama, A.A. Wijeyewickrema.

Ameresekere also says some of the others who joined the RAF, probably on their own were K K Nagalingam, R W M (Mickey) Dias Bandaranaike, Gnani Nadaraja, G E A Ebert.

Going by the extensive research on this matter by Ameresekere, it can be reasonably established that a total of fifty nine (59) Sri Lankans joined the RAF during WW2 in five (5) batches with another lot joining individually either going from Sri Lanka or while already being in the UK.

There is also the mention of two Sri Lankans from Malaysia were RAF pilots during WW2. In this regard Charles Amarasekere states,” ... The only Ceylonese to be awarded the DFC were Rohan Amerasekera, a Navigator in RAF Bomber Command (DFC awarded twice) and Cyril L.F. "Jimmy" Talalla, a Spitfire pilot (a Sinhalese from Malaya). Jimmy's brother Henry C.B. Talalla flew Typhoons in the RAF and was KIA over France in July 1944.

Note: Those researching the history of Sri Lankans who served in the RAF would be grateful if any readers having more information, documents or photographs on the subject share the same with K.W.Kirinde via email on kirinde@gmail.com.