Saliya Upul Aladeniya

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Captain Saliya Upul Aladeniya
1964 - June 11, 1990
Heroic Defender of the Kokavil Army Camp
Place of death	Kokavil, Sri Lanka
Allegiance	Sri Lankan Army
Years of service	1989-1990
Rank	Captain
Commands	Officer-in-charge, Kokavil Army Camp
Battles/wars	Sri Lankan civil war
Awards	Parama Weera Vibhushanaya Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya

Captain Saliya Upul Aladeniya (කපිතාන් සාලිය උපුල් අලදෙනිය) (PWV, WWV) (1964 - June 11, 1990) was a Sri Lankan soldier who refused to abandon the injured of his platoon and, fought until the Kokavil army camp was overrun by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attackers. He was awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, the highest award for valour of the Sri Lankan Army.

Lieutenant (at that time) Aladeniya was in command of an army outpost with a handful of men at Kokavil that was established for guarding the television relay station. The camp was surrounded for several days by LTTE cadres who outnumbered them five to one. The food and water were running out in the camp and so was the ammunition. In spite of many requests, reinforcements sent from Lt. Aladeniya's headquarters in Nuwara Eliya never reached Kokavil, having been diverted elsewhere. Orders to withdraw from the camp came at the eleventh hour but then it was too late and Aladeniya had wounded men whom he did not want to leave behind. Pledging that he would rather die alongside them than leave them, Lt. Aladeniya fought on till an adjacent fuel dump exploded, killing the majority of the defenders in the camp.

Lt. Aladeniya lost his life and was posthumously promoted to rank of captain and honoured with a Parama Weera Vibhushanaya medal on June 21, 1994.