Blog Archives

81st anniversary of Trincomalee battle falls on April 9 The largest aircraft carrier of the British Navy was sunk in Ceylon during World War 2. Source:Dailynews Many Sri Lankans from the ‘Ceylon’ vintage will remember the famous Easter Sunday Raid when Japanese fighters dive bombed selected targets in Colombo and other locations. Ceylon’s air defences were reinforced in early 1942. Records indicate 60 Hurricane aircraft arrived on March 7; they were ferried by HMS Indomitable. The British airbases at Ratmalana and China Bay were expanded. Colombo and Trincomalee each received a radar station. April 5, 1942 was a beautiful Easter Sunday morning in Colombo. Many Christians had gone to church. The Japanese pilots motivated by their recent victory at Pearl Harbour took off from the aircraft carriers, ‘Akagi’, ‘Hiryu’ and ‘Soryu’, moving about 200 miles south of Ceylon (With a displacement of 36,500 tons the Japanese carrier Akagi was a ...