Remembering the ‘Battle of Ceylon’…
Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa
The Japanese air raid of Ceylon happened on the Easter Sunday, April
5, 1942. The event’s 70th anniversary falls this week. The attack on
Colombo harbour took place exactly 119 days after the Pearl Harbour
attack in Hawaii. In that time, the Japanese had advanced westwards in
the Indian Ocean with astonishing speed and success.
The Consolidated PBY Catalina |
After the fall of Singapore in mid February 1942, it was widely
believed that the next Japanese was aim to capture Ceylon. Once their
battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines were based in Ceylon,
their domination of the Indian Ocean would be consolidated.
On the side of the Allied Forces were soldiers and officers drawn
from across the British Empire and the Commonwealth, nearly a thousand
of whom lost their lives that month in successfully defending Ceylon.
Today’s Wiz Quiz salutes those who were engaged in the Battle of Ceylon.
1.The overall Commander-in-Chief in Ceylon at the time of the
Japanese air raid was an experienced admiral of Britain’s Royal Navy. He
arrived in Ceylon in March 1942, after Singapore had already fallen to
the Japanese and the Allied Forces were under much pressure on the
Eastern war front. As C-in-C, this officer – who had been given
wide-ranging powers that subordinated even the British governor of
Ceylon - immediately started making improvements to harbour
arrangements, radar, civil defence and Colombo’s air raid warning
system. These arrangements were not fully finalised when the Japanese
bombed on April 5. Who was then Ceylon’s Commander-in-Chief?
2.The attacking Japanese fleet comprised five aircraft carriers plus
supporting ships under the command of an Admiral who, as commander of
the First Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, had earlier overseen
the devastating attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. That attack
provoked the Unites States to get directly involved in the Second World
War. Who was this Japanese admiral, who later committed suicide during
the Battle of Saipan in July 1944?
Mukesh Ambani |
3. A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, which
allowed it to land on water instead of expensively built (and limited)
runways. The Consolidated PBY Catalina was a ‘flying boat’ of the 1930s
and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft in the United States. It was
one of the most widely used multi-purpose aircraft of World War II. The
Allied Forces based in Ceylon at the time used Catalina aircraft to
engage in maritime patrols of the surrounding Indian Ocean. From which
coastal lake in the island were these patrols operating? During the War,
a watery ‘runway’ was demarcated there and a flying boat base was
established -- the largest such base in the East. Where was this?
4. A pivotal moment in the entire Eastern theatre of World War II was
when, on the evening of on April 4, 1942, a young Canadian Squadron
Leader Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), on aerial patrol on a Catalina
over the Indian Ocean, spotted a Japanese fleet on its way to attack the
British base at Ceylon. The officer quickly radioed Colombo a warning to
Colombo before their plane was shot down and six crew members were
captured by the Japanese: they endured three and a half years of
captivity in Japanese prison camps. British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill called this officer ‘The Saviour of Ceylon.’ Who was he? He
was later decorated and retired as an Air Commodore.
5. In the weeks leading up to the Japanese air raids and during the
aftermath, the most powerful Ceylonese on the island was former public
servant and one-time Auditor General, who was made head of a new Civil
Defence Department as Civil Defence Commissioner in the War Cabinet of
Ceylon. With the British military and civilian officers, it was this
individual who mobilized the country and placed it on a state of
readiness to deal with an impending attack. Among other things, he
converted the Colombo Race Course into a make-shift air field. Who was
this man, who later became the first Ceylonese Governor General of
independent Ceylon?
Petrus Antonius Laurentius
(Father Abraham) |
6. H M S Hermes (95) was the world’s first purpose built aircraft
carrier (ship). Launched in 1919 and commissioned in 1924, she was part
of the British Royal Navy fleet for nearly 30 years. When the Japanese
air raid on Colombo took place on April 5 , 1942, this ship was part of
the Eastern Fleet and was sent to Trincomalee. On April 9 , 1942, in
open seas near Batticaloa, she was attacked by several dozen Japanese
dive bombers. The carrier and her escorting destroyer were quickly sunk
by the Japanese aircraft. Over 300 men died; most of the survivors were
rescued by a nearby hospital ship that the Japanese did not attack. A
British commercial photographer on board (who had been enlisted as a
photographer for the Admiralty) stood on the burning flight deck of the
Hermes calmly taking photographs as the ship sank beneath him. He was
among the survivors; the pictures (released to the public in 1945) were
hailed as “some of the greatest pictures of World War II.” Who was the
photographer?
7. In the 1980s, the popular Lankan music group Gypsies released
their first audio cassette containing their innovative hit song
Kurumitto – a conversation between a human and a bemused little alien
from Mars. It was a cover version of a popular 1977 song by Dutch
musician Petrus Antonius Laurentius Pierre Kartner, who sang under the
stage name Father Abraham. What was the original song called?
8. Sath Samudura (Seven Seas) is a landmark Lankan Sinhala film that
depicts the plight of fishermen living in the Southern Province of Sri
Lanka. First released in 1967, it was critically acclaimed and won eight
Sarasaviya film awards including best picture and best director. In
1997, it was named one of the Top 10 films made during the first 50
years of Lankan cinema. Name the university academic who co-wrote the
screenplay and directed the film, which was his first and only cinematic
venture.
9. Which stone seal, found in 1799 by Napolean’s soldiers in Egypt,
provided the key to understand Egyptian hieroglyphics, the picture based
language used in ancient Egypt? It had writing on it in Egyptian, Greek
and hieroglyphics.
10.Headcount Index is the percentage of population living below the
poverty line, and is widely used to measure poverty in Sri Lanka. It is
calculated by dividing the number of poor people in a population by the
total population and multiplying it by 100. The headcount index is 8.9
per cent at national level according to the Household Income and
Expenditure Survey 2009/10 conducted by the Department of Census and
Statistics. Within this, there are district level variations. Which
district in Sri Lanka reported the highest headcount index of 20.3 per
cent?
11. On May 23, 2003, during the 56th Cannes International Film
Festival in France, which that year paid homage to the great Italian
director Federico Fellini, UNESCO’s Director-General presented the UN
organization’s Fellini Gold Medal to two outstanding film directors of
the world. One was Lester James Peries of Sri Lanka, who was given it
‘in honour of his distinguished career, which has inspired an entire
generation of Sri-Lankan directors, and in recognition of his
exceptional contribution to Sri Lankan cinema, laying the foundations
for a veritable avant-garde cinema on the island.’ Who was the other
director?
12.A noted American film director, who excelled in the first half of
the 20th Century, once remarked: “My doctor told me to stop having
intimate dinners for four -- unless there are three other people!” Whose
words are these?
13.A bobsled team from the tropical Caribbean sounds like an oddity,
and it is! Yet a certain Caribbean country entered a four-man bobsled
team in the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games. The novelty of a Caribbean team
in a winter sport made this team firm fan favourites at the Calgary
Games. But they crashed on one of their four runs and got out of the
sled and walked it to the finish to massive applause. They returned to
the Olympics in both 1992 and 1994. In the latter, they came 14th,
beating the United States, Russia and France. The 1993 movie Cool
Running’s is loosely based on their exploits. What is this Caribbean
country?
14.Nasruddin was a Middle Eastern storytelling character -- the
subject of many clever tales such as the Stupid Oaf. Nasruddin had
gathered stories from far and wide during his travels. In Turkey, he is
known as Nasreddin Hodja of Anatolia, a historical character from the
days of Seljuk rule in the Middle Ages. Nasreddin, Nasrudin or Nasruddin
(different variations of the same) is claimed as native by Afghans,
Iranians, Uzbeks and Arabs -- as well as in the Turkic Xinjiang area of
western China. What is the modern day name of the country in which
Nasruddin was born?
15.Mukesh Ambani, aged 54, is currently (March 2012) the richest
Indian in the world (and second richest Asian), with an estimated net
worth of around USD 22.3 billion. He heads Mumbai-based Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL), whose shares have risen in recent years
significantly increasing his personal wealth. Mukesh Ambhani also holds
owns a cricket team in Indian Premier League (IPL).
They became 2011 winners of the Nokia Twenty20 Champions Trophy. Name
this IPL cricket team, for which Lankan cricketer Lasith (Slinga)
Malinga also plays.
Last week’s answers
Last week’s answers
1. Galle Buck, in Colombo Fort
2. Lake Gregory, Nuwara Eliya
3. Laxapana-Aberdeen Hydro Project
4. 10.30 pm
5. Australia
6. William Blake (1757 – 1827)
7. Anton Perera
8. Marc Antony Fernando
9. Aconcagua, 6,960 m (22,834 ft)
10. Sweden
11. Jay Parini
12. Confucius
13. Sir James Lovelock
14. Standing long jump
15. Fred Noonan
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