F. C. de Saram

Infobox Military Person
name=Fredrick Cecil de Saram
lived=1912 - ?
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=


caption=
nickname=Derek
allegiance=flagicon|Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
branch=Ceylon Army,
Ceylon Defence Force
serviceyears=
rank=Colonel
commands=Officer Commanding, Ceylon Artillery
unit=Ceylon Artillery
battles=World War II
awards=Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division)
relations=
laterwork=
profession=Barrister
Colonel Fredrick Cecil "Derek" de Saram OBE, CA (1912 - ?) was an officer of the Ceylon Army, who lead the attempted military coup of 1962. He was also a Sri Lankan cricketer.

Family and education

Born to Frederick De Saram and Myra Loos, he was educated at Royal College, Colombo and at the University of Oxford after which he became a barrister and work in his family firm " DL & F de Saram". He excelled in sports both in school and at Oxford, where he earned Oxford Blue. He Captained the Ceylon Cricket team in 1950's.

De Saram married Nedra Obeysekera, the daughter of Stanley Obeysekera. They had two daughters, both of them excelling at national levels, Tara in swimming and Oosha in both swimming and tennis. Jullian Bolling a former Sri Lankan Swimming Captain & South Asian Gold Medalist was one of his grandsons.

Military career

Joining the Ceylon Garrison Artillery (CGA) a reservist, he became well respected figure amongst his men. Mobilized for active service during world war II and was approached by British Intelligence to serve with their underground should Ceylon fall to the Japanese in 1942 [ [http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2003/02/02/fea01.html Coup of 1962: an inside story, by former diplomat T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka, son of C.C. "Jungle" Dissanayake] ] . After the war, when Ceylon gained independence and a new Ceylon Army was formed in 1949, as many officers of the Ceylon Defence Force, he was absorbed in to it. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he became the first officer commanding, Ceylon Artillery (CA), the successor to the CGA. Under his command the CA was deployed on several occasions in the 1950s, most notably during the Hartal 1953 and riots of 1958. He left the army with the rank of Colonel.

Coup

As member of the Christian elite, who ever being deprived of the influence they once add due to the Sihinalaisation process started by his cousin S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and carried on by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, he began to plot a coup similar to that of General Ayub Khan with several disgruntled Christian officers of the army, navy and police.

The coup members had planned to carry out the coups d'état at midnight January 27, 1962 under the leadership of Colonel de Saram with troops from the Ceylon Artillery, Ceylon Armoured Corps and several other volunteer units. The plan was the detain the Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister and round up Government ministers, the Permanent Secretary for Defence and External affairs, the Inspector General of Police, DIG (CID), SP (CID) and the acting Navy Commander. The Army Commander were to be restrained too. Colombo placed under curfew and cut off from regular army units from the Panagoda Cantonment. After the coup members gain control, Major-General F. C. De Saram, General Officer Commanding Ceylon, was to command all Military establishments and would have the Governor general Sir Oliver Goonetilleke to dissolve parliament.

However one of the plotters, who was brought in on the plot that morning warned the government and all the plotters were arrested. Since no actual coup had happen the government determined punish the accused, had them confined to solitary confinement in hope of getting a confession. Finlay F. C. de Saram did make a confession that would become the prosecutions main article of evidence. On June 3, 1963, he was convicted with 11 others out of the 24 accused to 10 years in jail and confiscation of property after laws had been modified the government specially in order to convicted the plotters. The conviction was over ruled on appeal to the Privy Council, which ruled that the new Act had denied fair trial.

ee also

*Attempted military coup in Ceylon, 1962

External links

* [http://www.dailynews.lk/2006/06/01/fea05.asp Significance of the abortive 1962 military coup]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen3126.html De Saram - Family #3126 rootsweb.ancestry.com] * [http://www.lawnet.lk/docs/case_law/nlr/common/html/NLR67V193.htm THE QUEEN v.FREDERICK CECIL DE SARAM]
* [http://www.sundaytimes.lk/061224/Plus/006_pls.html He stood by the country when democracy was in peril, 18th death anniversary of the 7th post-independence IGP ~ Stanley Senanayake]
* [http://www.sundaytimes.lk/990516/sports3.html Coup d'etat of 1962 and Police rugby]
* [http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2003/02/02/fea01.html Coup of 1962: an inside story, by former diplomat T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka, son of C.C. "Jungle" Dissanayake]

References