War Days in Negombo

During the war, I was a student at Maris Stella College, Negombo. As the Japanese forces spread across Asia, gradually occupying Malaya, Singapore, and Burma, the expectation was that the next target would be Ceylon. At Maris Stella, the classrooms were located around a central quadrangle which had huge “mara” trees providing shade. As this threat of invasion heightened, the Royal Artillery commandeered a section of the buildings and quadrangle and installed four massive anti air-craft guns under the “mara” trees. Although this area was out of bounds for civilians and to school boys in particular, we could not resist the desire to have a closer look at the guns and also to enjoy the chewing gum and chocolates given by the English soldiers.

The Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott placed Ceylon on a war footing, organized civil defense,

imposed food rationing, and built camps to house soldiers brought down from other British colonies to defend the country, and evacuated school children to other schools away from Colombo. Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander, moved his Headquarters from New Delhi to Kandy. At daybreak on 5th April 1942, which was Easter Sunday, the Japanese launched their dreaded air raid on Trincomalee and Colombo. Many civilians were killed.
Immediately all boutiques and hotels were closed and their owners fled the city for safety to the outstations. People used every mode of transport available to leave their homes in Colombo: bullock carts, rickshaws, bicycles, wheelbarrows and push carts to take away whatever food and personal belongings they could lay their hands on, as long as they could leave before another air raid. Panic stricken mothers carrying children and men with heavy loads on their heads and backs fled the city. Vendors, who usually carried fish and vegetables in baskets slung at the ends of bamboos, carried little children instead. We had a large number of students from Colombo schools joining us at Maris Stella.

A recent photo of Maris Stella College

I had been at the college boarding house, but it was urgently needed to house the soldiers and had to close down as a result. I then moved into a house occupied by Mr. Andree, the Public Health Inspector, who was a midget of a man although his wife was a large woman, quite stout and at least 6 ft. tall. Her physique belied a friendly nature. They owned a Morris 8 Tourer X series car which was always leaning heavily to the left when Mrs. Andree got onboard. Three of us, Roy Lembrugan, Maurice Andree and myself, shared the only room upstairs. This room faced the side gate of Ave Maria Convent, the leading girls school in Negombo, and the three of us were frequently on the balcony waving to the girls who came to the gate after school to get into bullock carts or rickshaws to go home. They would always wave back at us. One day, Mrs. Andree, who had been in the garden below had seen the girls waving, came quietly up the stairs and surprised us. We all had a hearty laugh. The good lady advised us to concentrate more on our studies instead. Actually, the three of us were more interested in our hobby of collecting pictures of aircrafts and making models of them.

My father, who was the superintendent of Mawatte Estate, Dankotuwa, owned a house at Lewis Place, Negombo, named “Stanlodge” where we lived for some time. In those days drinking water was supplied to homes in 4 gallon tins at 3 cents per tin, brought to homes in bullock carts fitted with large wooden barrels. The carters would bring the required number of tins with water into the kitchen. Bread and buns were delivered by men carrying galvanized iron trunks on their heads. Then there were the Chinese riding sturdy bicycles who brought ready-made clothes made of China silk to the houses. The best salesmen were Indians who did their trade in carts drawn by a man. The cart would stop at the gate and the cloth brought to the house. One such person I could recollect was Mr. Coonghe, a portly gentleman in white cloth and coat, soft spoken and very gentle. Mother would serve him a cup of tea before he left after a sale. We also had a rickshaw in the garage in which we sometimes went to school. The rickshaw puller was an Indian called Pulle and lived in the garage. 

In 1944 my father had to be moved on doctor’s advice to a home close to the sea beach, and he lived in the home of Mr. Grenier at Lewis Place. I used to visit him once a week as he was convalescing. He moved about in the house on a wheel chair, the consequences resulting from a fall from a horse some years back.

I was in the Ceylon Cadet Battalion and attended camp at Diyatalawa in 1943, where we were given training in handling fire-arms. My registered number was 13331. Cadeting gives a very good training in discipline, obedience, punctuality, cleanliness and physical fitness in young men.

It was during this period that we first saw Royal Air Force fighter planes, the famous “Hurricane” and “Spitfire” which played a major role in the Battle of Britain. We were crazy about military aircraft and started a hobby of collecting pictures of planes involved in the war. I started neglecting my studies with the impression that I could be a pilot and fly a Spitfire to help defend the country. At a glance, I could give full specifications regarding type, engine, bomb capacity and armaments, number of crew and gunners etc., of any plane that flew at the time. I would advice my friends on how to make models of aircrafts in detail. I made models of the “Spitfire,” “Hurricane,” “Lightning Zero,” and “Dakota,” out of solid wood, and also a flying model out of balsa wood powered by a rubber band which could fly 10 to 15 yards.

My brothers, George and Benny, who had been admitted to St.Patrick’s College, Jaffna (I am not sure whose idea it was to send them so far) had sneaked out of the boarding and taken the night train home to Negombo. Ben had enlisted in the Ceylon Signals Unit and George was managing dad’s properties. My sisters, Lucy and Amy, were in the nursing profession attached to the Lady Havelock and the De Soysa Maternity Hospitals. The other sisters, Alice, Kate and Bridget, were at Holy Family Convent, Wennappuwa.

The British navy called for applicants to open a Fleet Air Arm Unit to work in co-ordination with the Royal Navy. I thought this was a good opportunity to achieve my ambition of flying and having obtained Daddy’s permission (although mother wouldn’t hear of it because Ben had already enlisted) went along with a few classmates for an interview at Maharagama. Only Basil Fonseka was selected as he was over 20 years in age. This was a disappointment to the rest of us as we hoped to work together. Although I loved flying and already had the basic knowledge of aircraft, my educational qualifications were too low yet for such a career. However the war ended and with it my hopes too came to an end. The camp buildings at Maharagama were subsequently used as the teachers training college.

Teddy, circa. 1948