April 27, 2025 · 7:24 pm

The Ceylonese Who Fought … & Died …. at Gallipoli in 1915

A NOTE from Retd Gp Capt. Kumar Kirinde, 25 April 2025

During the Gallipoli campaign, the Ceylon Planters’ Rifle Corps (CPRC) played a role, with a unit of around 80-130 troops serving as escorts and bodyguards for the General Commanding the 1st ANZAC Corps, Lieutenant General William Birdwood. In total, about 2,000 volunteers from the Ceylon Defence Force are estimated to have served with the Imperial and Allied forces, including the CPRC. The CPRC unit initially sailed for Egypt in October 1914 and was later dispatched to Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, where they performed operational duties.

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April 27, 2025 · 2:23 pm

Facing Total Commitment to Political Resistance

Michael Roberts

Within a context when the Western world surveyed the scenarios of violent conflict that involved warfire tactics, protests and rebellions that involved suicide attacks the usual concept depyed was that of “suicide killers” ….. Facingwith its attendant disgust.  However, I chose to deploy the term “sacrificial devotion” and even embrace the acts of suicide protest (e.g. Norman Morrison in New York). some South Vietnamese monks, Jan Palach in Prague) as an overarching conceptual frame.

Herewith are some pertinent essays on the topic. Also note the literature featured in what is now a non-operational website that is still accessible:  sacrificialdevotionnetwork.wordpress.com

16-four fighting Leaders

Pictorial – Cover

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Tamil Tigers recruits in camp–Pix by Shyam Tekwani circa 1989(?)
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April 27, 2025 · 1:48 pm

A Cardinal Rebuff from A Cardinal

An Item Conveyed by Vijitha Yapa of Sri Lanka, … with another title: “Drinking Habits Of British MPs”

A past report (perhaps from the 1960s) on the drinking habits of British MPs concludes with this amusing anecdote:
George Brown, the Foreign Secretary under Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was well known for his love for drinking. Perhaps the most well-known session occurred at an official reception on a state-visit to Brazil. Spying an attractive person in a red dress, he asked for a dance. “There are three reasons, Mr Brown, why I will not dance with you,” the object of his affection reputedly replied. “The first, I fear, is that you’ve had too much to drink. The second is that this is not, as you suppose, a waltz that the orchestra is playing but the Brazilian national anthem, for which you should be standing to attention. And the third reason why we may not dance, Mr. Brown, is that I am the Cardinal of Sao Paulo.”
🤣🤣🥂🤣🤣💃

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April 27, 2025 · 1:22 pm

A Brain Drain from USA In Progress

Tom Whipple, in The Times, 25 April 2025

Some of America’s brightest are increasingly uncomfortable in a country where ideology threatens to constrain science …

It is, said the president of the Australian Academy of Science, an “urgent and unparalleled opportunity” to grab the best US minds for Australia. The president of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore agrees, but thinks the chaos in US academia is, instead, a “golden opportunity” for Asian universities.

Au contraire, says President Macron of France. As his country’s universities launch programmes of “scientific asylum” for researchers fleeing the US, the time is right, he says, to “Choose France for Science”.

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April 26, 2025 · 7:42 pm

Yasoja Gunasekera: Lankan Ambassador in Canberra

Item in the DAILY ISLAND, 26 April 2025 … with highlights imposed by the Editor, Thuppahi

Yasoja Gunasekera assuming duties last Tuesday

High Commissioner-designate of Sri Lanka to Canberra, Australia, Yasoja Gunasekera, assumed duties last Tuesday (22). Addressing the staff following the assumption of duties, High Commissioner-designate Gunasekera outlined the priorities of the Government of Sri Lanka and noted the long-standing and friendly relations between Sri Lanka and Australia, as well as the way forward to strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations.

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April 25, 2025 · 6:00 pm

The Casualties at Gallipoli in 1915

Gallipoli casualties (not including illness)………….. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign
Dead Wounded Missing & Prisoners Total
Ottoman Empire[5] 56,643 107,007 11,178 174,828
United Kingdom[228] 34,072 78,520 7,654 120,246
France[229] 9,798 17,371 – 27,169
Australia[230] 8,709 19,441 – 28,150
New Zealand[230] 2,721 4,752 – 7,473
British India[230] 1,358 3,421 – 4,779
Newfoundland[230] 49 93 – 142
Total Allies[228][230][229] 56,707 123,598 7,654 187,959

 

A NOTE, 25 April 2025

Take stock of the proportion of Injured/Wounded to Dead.

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April 25, 2025 · 3:02 pm

A Jewish American’s ‘Reading’ of Modern World History

Richard Koenigsberg

“History” records the acts of political leaders who have killed a great number of people. Historical significance is measured by counting skulls and dead bodies.  Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin and Mao  are among those who chose this path to enduring fame (see photos below).

Historians collaborate with men like these to record their deeds. It would be naive to imagine that mass-murderers and those who write about these men are independent variables. Mass-murderers are acutely aware that their deeds will be chronicled.  Mass-murderers and authors collaborate to produce  the stuff of “history books.”

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April 25, 2025 · 1:35 pm

Dr. Anslem De Silva …… Herpetologist Renowned

A Facebook Note from Avishka Mario Seneviratne, April 2025

Buddhika Dassanayake and I were lucky to meet Sri Lanka’s foremost herpetologist (expert on amphibians and reptiles), the legendary Dr. Anslem de Silva, at his charming abode in Gampola. A skilled magician from Matara, de Silva has penned over 500 works since the ’60s.

Here he cradles “Floral Unicorn,” a Laki Senanayake piece, gifted to him by the late artist. For months, he’s generously guided me on my upcoming exploration of the mystical snake stones—said to draw venom from serpent bites.

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April 24, 2025 · 8:00 pm

The Fort of Galle via WIKIPEDIA: An Incisive History

A NOTE by Michael Roberts, April 2025

I came into this our world in 1938 within the Galle Fort and lived fruitfully therein till circa 1959. It is an intimate and deeply entrenched part of my memories. Despite such a background, the Wikipedia description of the FORT introduced many, many details that I was totally unaware of .

Let this picture of my shortcomings as I returned from a swim at the Girl’s Bathing Place near our rented house … a snap taken by a naughty elder sister … emphasise the worth of the Wikipedia details.

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April 22, 2025 · 4:01 pm

Crossfertilisation in the Terminology of Transport in the Indian Ocean in Colonial Times

Vinod Moonesinghe in Factum, 3 March 2025 where the title reads “Factum Perspective: Tindals, Dhonis, and Sampans – The interconnectedness of historical Indian Ocean commerce”

In the days of the British Raj, bullock carts were used to transport goods inland and to bring coffee beans (and later tea) from the montane plantations down to Colombo, for shipment overseas.

The distance from the coffee plantations to the main seaport of Galle caused the colonial government to override the wishes of the British Admiralty and of the steamship lines (who all wished to operate from Galle, which was closer to the main sea route to the Orient) and to develop Colombo harbour at a considerable cost.

Although railways took away much of their business, carters still toiled up the mountain roads into Uva well into the 20th century, as the Ceylon Government Railway did not complete the Main Line to Badulla until 1924.

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