Major General Hemachandra Wickrama Gerard Wijeyekoon,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, ED (25 June 1911 – April 1969) 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 ...

military leader Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He was the second Ceylonese Commander of the Ceylon Army from 1960 to 1963 and formerly Ceylon's High Commissioner to Pakistan and Ambassador to Italy.

Early life and education

He was the eldest son of Sir

Gerard Wijeyekoon Sir Gerard Wijeyekoon (5 May 1878 – 21 September 1952) was a Ceylonese lawyer and a politician. He was the first President of the Senate of Ceylon. Born Abraham Charles Gerard Wijeyekoon, he was educated at Wesley College, Colombo and Royal ...

, former president of the Senate of Ceylon and Lady Wijeyekoon. Educated at

St Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

and University of Oxford gaining a BA. Returning to Ceylon as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, he enrolled as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. Later he became a land settlement officer.

Military career

Ceylon Defence Force

He was commissioned as a

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

Ceylon Light Infantry 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 ...

in 1935 which was a volunteer force. With the outbreak of World War II and the mobilization of the Ceylon Defence Force he began active service, being promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1940. Wijeyekoon was thereafter posted to the 3rd Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry and underwent tactical training in India. In 1942 he was promoted to

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 1944 to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, taking command of a battalion of the Ceylon Light Infantry. He was appointed commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry in January 1948 and served till October 1949. Following Ceylon's independence in 1948 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 Min ...

selected Lt. Col. Wijeyekoon to serve as secretary to the

chief whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

in the House of Representatives.

Ceylon Army

With the formation of the Ceylon Army in 1949, Lt. Col. Wijeyekoon joined the regular army in June 1950. He became the first

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 1st Battalion, Ceylon Infantry Regiment which shortly became the 1st Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry, serving from June 1950 to December 1953. During this time he started the tradition of toasting the motherland or the queen with Arrack. In January 1954 he took up the post of

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 ...

of the Ceylon Army, concurrently commanding Operations MontyAn evolving army and its role through time
/ref> On 9 February 1955 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and was acting army commander till 1 January 1956. On 17 February 1956, he was appointed as the first commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force serving till 14 November 1959. During which time he served as acting army commander on four occasions. On 14 November 1959, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier and then major general on 1 January 1960 taking over as commander of the Ceylon Army. During his service, he introduced Sinhalese for parade ground commands and formed the Army Hewisi Band of oriental music. He retired from the army in 1963 following the 1962 attempt coup d'état of which he was not a part.

Diplomatic career

After his retirement, he was appointed as High Commissioner of Ceylon to Pakistan, with concurrent accreditation to Iran. Thereafter he was made Ceylon's ambassador to Italy with concurrent accreditation to Greece.

Death

During his tenure in Italy, he met with a fatal motor accident. His military funeral was held in Colombo.

Family

He was married to Olive Wickramasinghe, they had two sons and a daughter.

Honors

For his military service he was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) (Military Division) in the 1950 King's new years honours list and received the Efficiency Decoration and the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

in 1935 for volunteer service. For wartime service, he had earned the Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939–1945, and for service in the Ceylon Army, he received the Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal.