Denis Perera

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Denis Perera
10 October 1930 -
Place of birth Gampaha, Ceylon
Allegiance Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
Service/branch Ceylon Army,
Sri Lanka Army
Years of service 1949 - 1981
Rank General
Unit Sri Lanka Engineers
Commands held Commander of the Sri Lankan Army,
Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army
Battles/wars 1971 Insurrection,
Sri Lankan Civil War
Awards Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya,
Other work Chancellor of KDU,
High Commissioner to Australia

General Deshamanya Joseph Everard Denis Perera VSV, DLitt, FCMI, ndc, psc, SLE (10 October 1930 -) was a Sri Lankan Army officer who served as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1977 - 1981.

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[edit] Early life and family

Bron to Mudaliyar Maurice Perera and his wife Trisette, he was the youngest in the family with an elder sister and was educated at St Peter's College, Colombo. He is married to Ranjini Perera and has three sons Kavan, Dinesh and Druvi.

[edit] Military career

Joining the newly formed Ceylon army on his 19th birthday, he received his was trained at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Ceylon Army. There after he attended the Royal School of Military Engineering and served for some time with a unit of the British Army of the Rhine. On his return he was stationed at the Diyatalawa garrison, taking part in the formation of the the new engineering unit and later moved to the newly built Panagoda Cantonment in 1953, where the Ceylon Engineers was formed in 1957. During the next few years he graduated from the British Army’s Staff College, Camberley.

During his career he had been attached to several Sri Lankan High Commissions and had been the Military Attaché of the Sri Lankan High Commission London. He had served as the Chief of Staff prior to being appointed as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army in 1977, as the youngest officer to be promoted to the post at age of 46 and first engineering officer. He would hold this post till 1981 when he retired from the army with rank of Lieutenant General.

During is turner as the army commander, he play pivotal role in establishing the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (KDA) after receiving Kandawala from Sir John Kotelawala to establish a defence University. For establishing the KDA he was made a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute of the United Kingdom and the Institute of Management – Sri Lanka. KDA awarded him a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) and he was made its first and current Chancellor.

He was the first office to be awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV) for over 25 years of distinguished service the army, his other medals include the Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal and the President's Inauguration Medal.

[edit] Later years

Following his retirement from the army he lived a very active life, he was appointed Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia – which also includ New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. He was the Chairman (non-executive) of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Ceylon Tobacco Company, Blackwood Hodge Engineering and GTE Directories Lanka. He founded the Association Of Retired Flag Rank Officers in which he continues to be very active; he was the President of the National Rifle Association and the Sri Lanka Badminton Foundation; and a committee member of the Sports Shooting Association.

In 2000 he was awarded the title of Deshamanya by the Sri Lankan government and in 2007 promoted to the rank of General[1].

[edit] Honours

[edit] References

  1. ^ Former service chiefs promoted

[edit] External links

Military offices
Preceded by
D. S. Attygalle		 Commander of the Sri Lankan Army
1977 - 1981		 Succeeded by
T.I. Weerathunga