Cyril Ranatunga

Cyril Ranatunga
Allegiance	Sri Lanka
Service/branch	Sri Lanka Army
Years of service	1950-1983 1985-1988
Rank	General
Unit	Sri Lanka Armoured Corps
Commands held	Chief of the Defence Staff, Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army
Battles/wars	1971 Insurrection, Sri Lankan Civil War
Awards	Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya
Other work	High Commissioner to Australia, High Commissioner to United Kingdom

General S. Cyril Ranatunga, VSV, rcds, psc was a Sri Lankan general and diplomat. He was the former General Officer Commanding, Joint Operations Command and Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army during the 1980s. He also served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence as well as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and the United Kingdom.^[1]

Early life

Born and raised in Kegalle, Ranatunga attended St. Sylvester's College, Kandy where he excelled at many sports.

Military career

Joining the Ceylon Army in 1950 and received his officer training at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On his return he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Later he was transferred to the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment which grew into the Ceylon Armoured Corps. He underwent training at British Army Armoured Center, Bovington. He was a Lieutenant Colonel when the 1971 Insurrection started and he was appointed the Military Coordinating Officer of the Kegalle District, where he effectively subdued the insurgency. He attended the Staff College, Camberley and the Royal College of Defence Studies. In 1983, he retired from the army as a Brigadier after serving as Chief of Staff from the Sri Lanka Army. He became a director of the Airport and Aviation Services.

He was recalled from retirement in 1985 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, to serve as the General Officer Commanding, Joint Operations Command which had been formed early that year under the command of General Tissa Weeratunga. His tenure saw large scale offensives against the LTTE such as the Vadamarachchi Operation.

General Ranatunga is of the opinion that the Indo Lanka Peace Accord was forced down Sri Lanka’s throat at a time when the then President, J.R. Jayewardene wanted no such thing. While the ongoing military operation at the time had to be called off due to the Accord, Gen. Ranatunga is confident that, had the operation continued, LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran would have been captured and the LTTE defeated.^[1]

In 1988, he retired from active service once again, stepping down as GOC, Joint Operations Command and was promoted to the rank of General.

Later work

Following retirement, he was appointed as Chairmen of Airport and Aviation Services. President Ranasinghe Premadasa appointed him as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.^[1][2]

Later General Ranatunga was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and thereafter Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom finishing his tenure in 1995. He lives in his ancestral home in Mawanella.

Family

On his way to the British Army Armoured Center in Bovington on board P&O liner Orontes, he met Myrtle Sumanasekera, they were engaged on their arrival in London and married soon after.^[3]

References