“…that morning, I went to Rosmead Place. The Prime Minister was talking to another monk. I occupied a seat at the end of the veranda, and then he came up to me and inquired why I had come …I shot at the Prime Minister once. That shot struck him. He started running into the house. I followed behind him and fired three more bullets. Someone shot me as well and I lost consciousness. I do not remember what happened next.” – Ven. Thalduve Somarama—statement by 1st accused [from the dock.]    The boy born to an anglophile Christian aristocratic family on January 8, 1899, was given the name, ‘West Ridgway’ after the Governor of Ceylon and his God father, Sir Joseph West Ridgeway. He was affectionately called ‘Solla’, by family elders and ‘Banda’ or SWRD by political colleagues and the press.   West Ridgeway joined Christ Church College, Oxford in ...