Major General Chulasoka Lakshman "Lucky" Algama, VSV, USP, ndc, psc (2 June 1940 – 18 December 1999) was a senior

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 army officer. He was a former

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 Sri Lanka Army and a United National Party activist after retirement.

Education

Educated at

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

, Colombo, Algama graduated from the

University of Ceylon, Peradeniya The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

Military career

He was commissioned in 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 ...

on 10 May 1963 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 1st Battalion, Gemunu Watch. He served with the 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, Gemunu Watch, Army Headquarters,

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, Mullaithivu and Trincomalee Districts; having been promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant in 1964, Captain in 1967, Major in 1974 and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1981. He was appointed 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 4th Battalion, Gemunu Watch on 27 December 1985 and served till 31 October 1986. In 1986, he was promoted to Colonel and served as Colonel General Staff at Army Headquarters. Promoted to Brigadier, he was appointed Brigade Commander, 13 Brigade, thereafter

Military Secretary Military Secretary is a post found in the military of several countries: * Military Secretary (India) *Military Secretary of Israel, called Military Secretary to the Prime Minister *Military Secretary (Pakistan) *Military Secretary (Sri Lanka) * Mil ...

. In 1989, he served as deputy to Major General

Cecil Waidyaratne General L. D. E. Cecil Waidyaratne, VSV, USP (16 May 1938 – 18 December 2001) was a Sri Lanka Army officer. He was 12th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and a former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand. Education Educated at St. Benedict's C ...

Operation Combine Operation Combine ( Ops Combine) was a special operation established by the Sri Lanka Army from 4 August 1989 to February 1990 as counterinsurgency operation with support of the Sri Lanka Police against the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) whic ...

which effectively subdued the Insurrection 1987-89. Attending National Defence College, India and was appointed the Regimental Commandant in 1990; Deputy General Officer Commanding, 2 Division in 1991. In 1992, he was promoted to Major General, he was appointed General Officer Commanding, 3 Division. In 1994, he was appointed

of Army and served till his resignation on 2 June 1995. Algama held several key posts in the army including Commander Security Forces Headquarters East (SF HQ (E)) and was responsible for enabling the government to hold elections in the eastern province in 1993.

Assassination

He was killed in a

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

that killed twelve peopleProject Ploughshares
Armed Conflicts Report - Sri Lanka
last update: January 2007 and injured another seven
at a political rally in

Ja-Ela Ja-Ela ( si, ජා-ඇල, ta, ஜா-எல) is a suburb of Colombo, located approximately north of the Colombo city centre. Ja-Ela lies on the A3 highway (Sri Lanka), A3 road which overlaps with the E03 expressway (Sri Lanka), Colombo – Ka ...

Colombo. The Sri Lankan government claimed that he was killed by an

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

suicide bomber.

References

External links

Full military honours for Lucky Algama

{{DEFAULTSORT:Algama, Lakshman 1940 births 1999 deaths Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians United National Party politicians Sri Lankan major generals Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan terrorism victims People murdered in Sri Lanka Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1999 Suicide bombings in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War Gemunu Watch officers

Education

Military career

Assassination

See also

References

External links