Navy Archives

TRIBUTE TO A BRAVE SKYDIVER Extracts from book “GRATITUDE” – By Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne (Retired from Sri Lanka Navy) Former Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Navy Chairman Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd. “Once you have tasted the taste of Sky, you will forever look up” Leonardo da Vinci “Daring Sky Divers from Lotus Tower in Colombo carried out parachute jumps with much amusement and happiness to all who watched them from land. This article is to pay my tribute to Brave Sky Diver who is no more with us” When I was Chief of Defence Staff (Tri Forces Commander) on 4th January 2018, one month before our Independence Day celebrations, my Chief of Staff, Major General Nirmal Dharmaratne approached me “Sir, we request your approval for BASE jumps on Independence Day parachute jumping display.”, “What is BASE jump?” I asked. Sir, we have three base jumpers in ...

The inseparables in white Source:-island.lk Navy and Custom officers wear white uniforms. The relationship between the two old services are also unique. When we seize contraband smuggled by sea routes, we hand it to the Customs for public auction. We get a part of the revenue to government earns, as ‘catch money’ in appreciation of our good work. Sometimes, in bigger raids conducted on intelligence/information received by the Customs, we help the Customs officers happily as we know our names are also included in ‘catch money list’. Most of the senior Customs officers have sweet memories of their first posting at Talaimannar. Even though defunct today, Talaimannar was a busy landing point when the India- Sri Lanka railway connection was there through the ferry named Ramnujam. Young Customs officers, especially new cadets had to serve in Talaimannar obviously because of rough living conditions there. However, I am yet to meet ...