General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Deshamanya Joseph Everard Denis Perera, VSV,

FCMI The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...

(10 October 1930 – 11 August 2013) was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer who served as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1977 to 1981. He was also the

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia is the Sri Lankan envoy to Australia. Countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations typically exchange High Commissioners, rather than Ambassadors. Though there are a few technical differences ( ...

, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the

Ceylon Tobacco Company Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) is a Sri Lankan tobacco company engaged in the manufacture, marketing and export of cigarettes. It is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. CTC holds the monopoly of cigarette and tobacco sales in Sri Lanka. Br ...

and

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. He envisioned for a women's corps in the army which resulted in the creation of the

Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps The Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (SLAWC) is a List of Sri Lanka Army regiments and corps, Sri Lanka Army corps. The headquarters of this corps is in Borella, Colombo and the corps has six battalions. The first battalion was raised in 1 September 19 ...

in 1979.

Early life and family

Born to Mudaliyar Maurice Perera and his wife Trisette Perera, he was the youngest in the family with an elder sister and was educated at St Peter's College, Colombo.

Military career

Early career

Perera was selected as one of first ten candidates to join the Ceylon Army on its formation as Cadet Officers. Joining the newly formed Ceylon army on his nineteenth birthday, he received his basic officer training at Mons Officer Cadet School and thereafter at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the First Field Engineers on 2 August 1951. Thereafter served for some time with a unit of the British Army of the Rhine. On his return he was stationed at the

Diyatalawa Diyatalawa (දියතලාව, meaning “the watered plain”) is a former garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is situated at an altitude of and has become a popular destination ...

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

, taking part in the formation of the new engineering squadron and later moved to the newly built Panagoda Cantonment in 1953, where the Ceylon Engineers was formed in 1957. During this time he had been promoted to Lieutenant on 2 February 1953 and Captain on 2 February 1956; having served as an engineering troop and squadron commander. He thereafter served as Staff Captain (Administration) at Army Headquarters. In 1957 he attended the Royal School of Military Engineering and on his return he was on his return he was appointed Officer Commanding, Ceylon School of Military Engineering. On 1 October 1960, he was promoted to the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and in 1961 he attended the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

Higher command

During his career he had been attached to several Sri Lankan High Commissions and had been the

Military Attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London for three years and thereafter served as second in command of the 1st Field Engineer Regiment, Ceylon Engineers. He initiated the indigenous officer training program at the Army Training Centre in 1968. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 1 October 1969, he was the Commandant of the Army Training Centre from 1969 to 1972 during the 1971 Insurrection and served as Commander, Southern Command. Thereafter having attended the National Defence College, New Delhi, he served as Commander, Northern Command; Director Plans and Director Operations and Training at Army Headquarters before being appointed

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

, having been promoted Colonel on 31 January 1973. In 1976 he served as the chief coordinator for all foreign delegations during the Non Aligned Nations Summit and was promoted Brigadier on 5 August 1977.

Army commander

Promoted to

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 a ...

on 14 October 1977, he was appointed Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, as the youngest officer to be promoted to the post at age of 46 and first engineering officer. He would hold this post till 31 October 1981 when he retired from the army having been promoted to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

on his last day of service. In 2007 he was awarded with the rank of full general. During his tenure as the army commander, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (KDA) after receiving

Kandawala Kandawala was the home of General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala CH KBE LLD (4 April 1897 - 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan politician, most notable for serving as Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956. The house is located in a estate tha ...

from Sir

John Kotelawala General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) fro ...

to establish a defence University. For establishing the KDA, he was made a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Chartered Management Institute The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...

of the United Kingdom and the Institute of Management of Sri Lanka. KDA awarded him a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) and he was made its second

on 9 November 1995 and served till 30 December 2010. He created the path for Sri Lankan women to join the army as ordinary soldiers by conceiving the idea of the

Later years and death

Following his retirement from the army he lived a very active life, he was appointed Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia – which also include accreditation to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. 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; 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. He died on 11 August 2013.

Family

He was married to Ranjini Perera and had three sons: Kavan, Dinesh and Druvi. His eldest son, Kavan Perera, is married to Dushyanthi ''nee'' Seneviratne the daughter of General

Nalin Seneviratne General Ganegoda Appuhamelage Don Granville Nalin Seneviratne, VSV (August 25, 1931 – August 12, 2009) was a Sri Lankan Army officer. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1985 to 1988 and first Governor of the North East Provi ...

and they have two daughters, Kamani and Dayani. His second son is married to Shakila Chandratilleke, and they have three sons, like Denis himself, Shanil, Chalana and Meshan. His youngest son, Druvi, is married to Tanojie Samarasinghe and they have two sons Avindra and Shivendra.

Honors and decorations

Medals

General Perera was the first officer to be awarded the

Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV, Distinguished Service Decoration) ( Sinhala: විශිෂ්ට සේවා විභූෂණය ''viṣiṣta sēvā vibhūṣaṇaya'') is awarded to senior officers of the Military of Sri Lanka in reco ...

(VSV) for over 25 years of distinguished service in the army in 1980 after military honours were reconstituted in Sri Lanka,Lt. Gen. Denis Perera (Chairman)
his other medals include the

Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal The Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal was awarded to members of the Ceylon armed services who served within their specific service branch during periods in 1949-1951 when their service branch was established: *Ceylon Army (10 October 1949 ...

, the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...

Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal The Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') was a service medal of Ceylon from 1968 to 1972. It was g ...

, Sri Lanka Army 25th Anniversary Medal,

Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal The Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal was awarded to members of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka who were in service on 22 May 1972, subject to recommendation by the commanders of the respective service com ...

, the President's Inauguration Medal and the

Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force Centenary Medal __NOTOC__ The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force Centenary Medal was a commemorative medal awarded to all ranks of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri ...

Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services ribbon bar

Sri Lanka Army 25th Anniversary Medal ribbon bar

Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal ribbon bar

Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal ribbon bar

Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force Centenary Medal ribbon bar

Honors

*In 2007 the Government of Sri Lanka promoted him to the honorary rank of

. *

of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. *He was awarded the title Deshamanya from the Government of Sri Lanka in 2000. *

Order of National Security Merit The Order of National Security Merit (Hangul: 보국훈장) is one of South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land b ...

from the Government of South Korea *

– 1981 *