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 ...

Samarakoon Wasala Mudiyanselage Saliya Upul Aladeniya, PWV, SLRS (in

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

: කපිතාන් සාලිය උපුල් අලදෙනිය; 1 March 1963 – 11 June 1990) 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 soldier and the second recipient of the

Parama Weera Vibhushanaya __NOTOC__ The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: පරම වීර වීභූෂණය ''parama vīra vibhūṣaṇaya''; Tamil language, Tamil: பரம வீர விபுஷனைய) is Sri Lanka's highest Mil ...

, Sri Lanka's highest wartime award for valor. He was commanding the small army detachment at

Kokavil Kokavil ( ta, கொக்காவில் si, කොකාවිල්) is a village in Mullaitivu District, Sri Lanka, also called ''Kokkavil''. It is situated along the A-9 road. History Massacre on Yal Devi Troops were located parall ...

; when it was surrounded he refused to abandon the injured and fought until they were overrun by

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

Early life

Born 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 ...

, his father was a planter in the State Plantations Corporation and a

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 the

Ceylon Volunteer Force The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Army. The SLAVF is separate from the Regular Force (known as the ''regular army'') which consists of personal who are professional soldiers an ...

. He had two siblings. Educated at

Trinity College Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

, he worked in a small estate owned by his family.Don't worry sir, I will fight till I die
/ref>

Military service

He joined the

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

in 1989 as a volunteer officer. Following a short commissioning course at the

Sri Lanka Military Academy The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the Sri Lanka Army's training centre where officer cadets are trained for getting commission. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatalawa ...

, he 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 2nd (V) Battalion,

Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment The Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිංහ රෙජිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṃkā Sinha Rejimēnthuva'') is an infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army; it is the second oldest infantry ...

. He served with the battalion in

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

during the later stages of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. He was later transferred to the 3rd (V) Battalion, Sinha Regiment and was attached to the A company.

Battle of Kokavil

On 18 May 1990, the A Company with three officers was deployed the Mankulam. Two officers and 58 men from A Company was dispatched to an isolated army outpost at Kokuvla (Kokavil) that was established for guarding the television relay station. Aladeniya as a Second Lieutenant was part of that detachment. On June 5, the LTTE Mankulam and was repulsed killing 43 militants. On the 11 June 1990, the Sri Lankan government ordered over 600 police officers to surrender to the LTTE after their police stations were surrounded, who were then massacred. The next day Mankulam and Kokavil were surrounded by the LTTE. On June 16, there was a ceasefire, the Captain in charge of the camp and fifteen others went on leave. Leaving Lieutenant Aladeniya in charge. On 27 June, the camp was surrounded for several days by LTTE cadres who outnumbered them five to one. The food and water were running out in the camp and so was the

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

. In spite of many requests,

reinforcements Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation ...

sent from Wanni headquarters never reached Kokavil, having been diverted elsewhere. On July 11, orders to withdraw from the camp came at the eleventh hour but then it was too late and Aladeniya had wounded men whom he did not want to leave behind. Pledging that he would rather die alongside them than leave them, Lt. Aladeniya ordered the only civilian in the camp (a cook) to leave and fought on till an adjacent

fuel dump Fuel dumping (or a fuel jettison) is a procedure used by aircraft in certain emergency situations before a return to the airport shortly after takeoff, or before landing short of the intended destination (emergency landing) to reduce the aircra ...

exploded, killing the majority of the defenders in the camp. Since his body was not recovered he was not listed as missing in action. Aladeniya was posthumously promoted to rank of

and awarded the

medal on June 21, 1994 by the president

DB Wijetunga Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga ( si, ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග, ta, டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க; 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was the fourth Presid ...

. In offensive operations in 2009, the Sri Lanka Army recaptured Kokavil. In 2011, the transmition tower was rebuilt and a monument to Aladeniya and his men was built.Saved through blood, sweat and tears:
/ref>

Family

At the time of his death Aladeniya was married.

References

SPUR
* ''"50 YEARS ON" – 1949–1999'' (1st edition, 1999).