T.I. Weerathunga

Infobox Military Person
name= Tissa Indraka Weerathunga
lived= August 29 1930— November 2003
placeofbirth= Matara, Ceylon
placeofdeath= Colombo, Sri Lanka


caption=
nickname= Bull
allegiance= flagicon|Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
serviceyears= 1951-1985
rank=General
branch=Sri Lanka Army
commands=Chief of the Defence Staff,
Commander of the Sri Lankan Army ,
Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army
unit=Ceylon Light Infantry
battles= 1971 Insurrection,
Sri Lankan Civil War
awards=Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya
laterwork= High Commissioner to Canada
General Tissa Indraka " Bull" Weerathunga, VSV, ndc, SLLI ( August 29 1930— November 2003) was a former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1981 - 1985) and first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) (at present referred Chief of the Defence Staff), he was later Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Canada.

Early life & education

Bron to D. Weeratunga a Lawyer from Matara and Girlie (Eugenie) Jayewardene sister of J. R. Jayewardene, he was educated at the prestigious Royal College, Colombo.

Military career

Weerathunga joined the newly formed Ceylon Army in October 11 1949 in its first cadet officer intake and received his basic officer training at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry in 1950.

Much of his career he was stationed in the norther part of the country fist as part of the Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration (TAFII) then he saw combat during the 1971 Insurrection and on December 1, 1977 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and appointed Inspector of Training of the Army. In March 1979 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army on and same time he functioned as Commander Security Forces, Jaffna from July 13, 1979 to December 31, 1979. He was made Commander of the Sri Lankan Army in October 14, 1981 and held the post till November 2, 1985, he was appointed as the first General Officer Commanding of the Joint Operation Command on February 11, 1985. He was promoted to the rank of General on August 29, 1989. Apron retiring from the army he was made Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada in 1986.

Family

General Weerathunga was married to Sonia Paul Weerathunga and has three children Rohan, Annouchka and Ajit. He died at the age 73 in November 2003 and was cremated with full Military Honours at General Cemetery Kanatte on November 9, 2003 [ [http://lakdiva.org/suntimes/031109/front/ex.htm Ex -Army chief’s funeral today] ] .

References

See also

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Non_Career_Diplomats Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats]

External links

* [http://www.army.lk/co.php www.army.lk]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen3002.htm JAYEWARDENE, Don Adrian Wijesinghe (Tombi Mudaliyar) - Family #3002, rootsweb.ancestry.com]
* [http://lakdiva.org/suntimes/031109/columns/sitrep.html#1 Weeratunga: the man and his mission]

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-s-ttl|title=Commander of the Sri Lankan Army
years=1981–1985