Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Deshabandu Deshabandu ( si, දේශබන්දු, translit=dēśabandu; ta, தேசபந்து, translit=Tēcapantu, translation=Patriot) is the third highest national honour awarded in Sri Lanka. It is awarded "for meritorious service". The ti ...

Bertram Russell Heyn (October 1, 1912 – February 3, 1998) was a Sri Lankan

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and cricketer. He was a former Commander of the Ceylon Army.

Early life and education

Born to Gerald Chetwynd Swartz Heyn and Hylda Heyn ''nee'' de Zilva, he had nine siblings and was educated at Royal College, Colombo.

Cricketing career

He played for the

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

team at Royal College, debuting in 1930 and played in the Royal-Thomian. He played for the Ceylon cricket team and his most famous feat was getting

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Donald Bradman out on his last appearance in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, in a one-day match between Australia and All-Ceylon on 27 March 1948. Bradman was able to score only 20 runs before being caught out by R.L. de Kretser off Heyn's bowling. Heyn also played hockey and rugby.

Military career

Ceylon Defence Force

He joined the

Ceylon Defence Force The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was established in 1910 by the Ceylonese legislation ''Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance'', which reformed the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) that existed previously as the military reserve in the British Crown colony ...

and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry in 1940 before its expansion due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. By the end of the war he was a captain and was demobilized in 1946.

Ceylon Army

When the

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

was formed in 1949, he was commissioned as a major in the regular force. From February 1955 to November 1959, he served as the commanding officer of the 1 Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry having been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He graduated from the Staff College, Camberley, and the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

Higher command

Promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

he was serving as Chief of Staff of the Army, when, in January 1962, a military coup was attempted by senior military and police officers. Unaware of the coup, Colonel Heyn was on the list of those to be detained by the troops involved in the coup. With Colonel Maurice de Mel, the Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force and Colonel F. C. de Saram, Deputy Commandant; implicated and arrested, Heyn was appointed Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force and began restructuring regiments involved in the coup as majority were volunteer regiments. Colonel A.R. Udugama succeeded Heyn as Chief of Staff. In January 1964, when the Army Commander Major General

H.W.G. Wijeyekoon Major General Hemachandra Wickrama Gerard Wijeyekoon, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Efficiency Decoration, ED (25 June 1911 – April 1969) was a Sri Lankan Officer (armed forces), military leader and diplomat. He was the second Ceylones ...

was forced to retire, he was succeeded by Colonel Udugama who was below Heyn in the army seniority list. Given that the officers connected to the attempted coup were all Christian, Prime Minister

Sirima Bandaranaike Sirima Nicole Wiratunga (14 February 1964 – 7 December 1989), known simply by her first name Sirima, was a singer who sang in English and French. She was primarily known for her duet " Là-bas", recorded in 1987 with Jean-Jacques Goldman, which w ...

had preferred appointing Udugama over the more senior Heyn, given that the former was a Buddhist and kinsmen from a

Kandyan Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Radala Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the ...

family.

Army commander

In July 1966, Major General Udugama was suspended and arrested under emergency regulations following allegations of attempting stage a coup against the government of Prime Minister

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Min ...

. Colonel Heyn, who was acting army commander in Major General Udugama's absence abroad, continued until he was confirmed as army commander on 11 November 1966 with the promotion to the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

. He was later promoted to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

and held the post until his retirement on 30 September 1967.

Decorations

His medals include the Defence Medal, the

War Medal 1939–1945 The War Medal 1939–1945 is a campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to citizens of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days ...

and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

Later life

In his later years he managed the Sri Lanka cricket team and served as the head of the Cricket Board, as well as on the Sri Lanka Olympic Council. He was the President of the Burgher Recreation Club from 1965 to 1976. In 1990, the Government of Sri Lanka awarded Heyn the title of

, the third highest Sri Lankan national honour, for meritorious service.

Family

Heyn married Edna May Johnson, daughter of Harry Johnson and Edith Maria Wood of Staines in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

at the Dutch Reformed Church, Bambalapitiya on 25 October 1941. They had two sons Richard Russell and

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

. Richard represented Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) at Field Hockey and played Cricket at top-grade club level. David represented Sri Lanka at Cricket and played Field Hockey at top-grade club level.

References

External links

www.army.lk
* * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060707163944/http://www.army.lk/org2.php Parade Commander Major B.R. Heyn, CLIbr>Great win for Havielocks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyn, B.R. 1912 births 1998 deaths All-Ceylon cricketers Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies British Army personnel of World War II Sri Lanka Light Infantry officers Burgher military personnel Burgher sportspeople Ceylonese military personnel of World War II Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army Deshabandu Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan cricketers Sri Lankan major generals