Edward Ian Grey (21 December 1918 – 21 September 2004) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n sportsman and a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. Gray was a former

Inspector of Police Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

(IP) and the first Ceylonese head of the Police Mounted Section. He also served as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Ceylon.

Education

He was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

, where he was a Senior Prefect and Captain of the Athletics team, Boxing team and Rugby team.

Police career

After completing his schooling he joined the

Ceylon Police Force (The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself) , mission = , formedyear = , preceding1 = Ceylon Police Force (1866–1972) , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = ...

and was appointed as a Sub-Inspector of Police at his first duty station in

Kandy 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 ...

. When

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 opposin ...

broke out Gray was the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Koggala

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

, where the RAF Koggala was situated and served as a critical base for Allied operations in the Indian Ocean. He later served as OIC of the harbor police at the Colombo port. Joining the Police Stables he went on to become the first Ceylonese to head the unit as its OIC. On the morning of 22 March 1952 Prime Minister

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Mi ...

was riding the police mare ‘Chitra’ on the

Galle Face Green Galle Face is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although t ...

when he suffered a stroke and fell. He was accompanied by IGP

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 p ...

Richard Aluwihare Sir Richard Aluwihare, (23 May 1895 – 22 December 1976) was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was the first Ceylonese Inspector General of Police and Ceylon's High Commissioner to India. Early life and education Richard Aluwihare was born on 2 ...

G.G. Ponnambalam Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, கணபதி காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்; 8 November 1901 – 9 February 1977) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and cabinet minister. He was the founder and l ...

and Inspector Eddie Gray at the time who took him to a nursing home, where he died several hours later. Prior to his early retirement he served as the OIC of

Colombo Fort Fort (Colombo) (; ) is the central business district of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the financial district of Colombo and the location of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the World Trade Centre of Colombo from which the CSE operates. It is ...

police station. During his police service he received the

Ceylon Police Medal for Meritorious Service The Ceylon Police Medal was awarded to police officers of the Ceylon Police Force, with two versions: for gallantry and for meritorious service. The number of medals for meritorious service was limited to a maximum of ten a year. The medals were ...

, Defence Medal 1939-45,

Ceylon Police Independence Medal {{main, Awards and decorations of the Sri Lanka Police The Ceylon Police Independence Medal was a decoration presented to all members of the Ceylon Police (The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself) , mission ...

and the

Service Medal of the Order of St John The Service Medal of the Order of St John is awarded to recognise both conspicuous and long service with the Venerable Order of St John, particularly in St John Ambulance, both in the United Kingdom and in a number of other Commonwealth countr ...

. After his retirement he was an executive at Mercantile Credit until 1974 when he left for Australia.

Sports

A boxer he won his weight class at the Stubs Shield Boxing Meet for schools and retained the title of Light Weight Champion of Ceylon for many years. Gray was a member of the Ceylon contingent to the 1948 Olympic Games in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he competed in lightweight boxing competition and was a team mate of

Duncan White Major Deshamanya Duncan M. White MBE, ED (1 March 1918 – 3 July 1998) was a Sri Lankan sportsman. He was the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Engl ...

, who won silver in the Men's 400 metres hurdles event. Gray went on to represent Ceylon in the lightweight boxing competition at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. He served as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Ceylon and was also an excellent Horseman and Polo player.Meeting two interesting and important personalities of Lankan origin

1948 Olympic results

Below are the results of Edward Gray, a lightweight boxer from Ceylon, who competed at the 1948 London Olympics: * Round of 32: defeated Ezz El-Din Nasir (Egypt) by a first-round disqualification * Round of 16: lost to Eddie Haddad (Canada) by decision

References

External links

Eddie Gray - a man for all occasions!
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Eddie 1918 births 2004 deaths Sri Lankan police officers Lightweight boxers Sri Lankan male boxers Olympic boxers of Sri Lanka Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Sri Lanka Boxers at the 1950 British Empire Games Sri Lankan Christians Burgher people Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia