A true officer and gentleman he warmly welcomed young officers like me

I received the sad news of the death of Brigadier APR David in Canada last week from Capt Lloyd Wijesinghe, my long standing friend and batch mate in the University and the Army, now living in Canada. I consider myself lucky to have served under the late Brig David as a subaltern when he was a Company Commander and the Second in Command in the 1960’s in the Ceylon Light Infantry, the oldest Infantry Regiment in the Sri Lanka Army. He was an officer and a gentleman in the truest sense. He taught and guided us to be efficient officers of the highest integrity and honesty, helping me in my army career and life as well.

Born in 1930 in Jaffna, Ratnaraja David was educated in St Patrick’s College and in Jaffna College, Vaddukkodai. On completing his education he joined the newly formed Ceylon Army in 1949 as a member of the first Officer Cadets batch trained in the prestigious Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. On graduation he was commissioned and posted to the Ceylon Light Infantry Regiment as a Second Lieutenant. He was the last surviving officer from his batch till last month when he was called to rest. Of his batch, two became Army Commanders.

Many prematurely retired while some retired after maximum service. During the politically turbulent times in the nineteen sixties and seventies, with two coups, politics crept in to the army and officers who were sympathetic to the two major political parties and closely associating politicians were branded as actively involved in politics. Brigadier David too had his ups and downs in the Army career. If the 1962 coup planned by high ranking officers of the Army, Navy, Police and the Civil Service were successful, the history of Sri Lanka would have been different from what it actually was and I imagine we would have ended up like Pakistan and Myanmar. Brigadier David was suspected to be involved in the 1962 Coup and was sent on compulsory leave. On the next change of government, after squashing the Supreme Court sentence by the Privy council, all those who were sent on compulsory leave were recalled and reinstated with back pay and due promotions. Major David was among them.

Being a Sandhurst-trained senior officer, Major David’s treatment and attitude towards Direct Enlisted Young Officers like me was quite different from many other Sandhursttrained senior officers present in the unit during that era. Whilst many of them had a dim view of us and looked down upon and ridiculed us at times, branding us as ‘arrackdrinking, cravat-wearing comic opera types’ in the late Dingo Dharmapala’s parlance, Major David was an exception. He treated us well and warmly welcomed us to the officer fraternity of the unit and Army.

This was the period when I came directly under Major David as a subaltern in his company deployed on Taffi duties in Mannar. There was no terrorism in the North or South in the country. In the Base camp in Thalladi, we had a very interesting time. Coast Watching Posts and small detachments in the South at Silavaturai and Vankalai and Illuppakadai in the North were manned by soldiers and patrols were conducted along the coast to prevent any illegal immigrants from India landing in Sri Lanka. The Mannar Island was manned by the Gemunu Watch. We had Navy and Police officers living among us in the Thallady Officers’ mess. A devout Catholic and a strict disciplinarian, Major David was very popular among all officers in Mannar and Thalladi, as well as back in Colombo and Panagoda. He was witty and had a fine sense of humour which he did not lose until his death. During frequent gatherings in the officers’ messes he entertained us with his hilarious experiences in the Army as an Instructor in the ATC and his life. In Mannar he was well supported and his stories were well spiced by war veteran Capt Chinniah CEME and Capt Wignarajah SLOC.

After the change of Government in 1970 he was sent again on a second sojourn of compulsory leave and recalled and was reinstated with due promotions in 1977 when the UNP came back into power. During his service in the Army Brig David followed many professional courses. He was the first Sri Lankan Officer to follow the Staff College Course at Wellington in India in 1961. He remained in the Army holding many responsible appointments until he retired in 1982 when he was the Military Secretary and migrated to Canada with his wife. Very frequently he visited Sri Lanka and I had the good fortune of meeting him several times during his visits and reminiscing on the pleasant memories. Let me wish this Officer and Gentleman: Sir May Your Soul Rest in Peace.