EX- SERVICES NEWS

Veterans’ Home benefactor arrives

Lt. Cdr. Marty Somasundaram who donated Rs 10 million to construct the Rex Nathanielsz Memorial Accommodation building opened recently at the Veterans’ Home Bolagala, Katana, arrived from Australia recently.

He will visit the Veterans’ Home with his wife Stella and daughter Tamar today.

Change of Association name

Ex- Servicemen's Association of the Gajaba Regiment will change its name at the 11th Annual General Meeting at Wadduwa Holiday Resort on March 18. They will be known as Gajaba Veterans Association.

A day with the Veterans

A group of 12 members of the Sri Lanka Army General Service Corp Executive Committee visited the Bolagala Veterans Home and spent the day with the veterans recounting old memories, singing and dancing with them. The day ended with a grand lunch. The visit was made after a decision at the Executive Committee meeting.

Christmas at Veterans' Home

The Veterans’ Home run by the Sri Lanka Ex- Servicemen's Association held Christmas celebrations on December 25, ending with a fellowship and lunch.

Veterans’ Home Advisory Committee meets

The first meeting of the committee appointed to advise on the affairs of the Veterans’ Home is scheduled to meet at the Veterans’ Home on January 6 at 10.30.

The committee members are Major General Tilak Paranagama VSV USP, Lt. Cdr. Somasiri Devendra, Rear Admiral S R Samaratunga, Rear Admiral D S Molligoda, Air Vice Marshal Sriyan Samararatne, Daphne Perera, Quintus Andradi, Wing Commander R H Hulangamuwa, Colonel Faiz-ur-Rahman, Captain Patrick Jayasinghe, Captain A I Jayawardena, Major General L C R Gunawardena, Lt. P Seneviratne, Lt. Cdr. Caldera and T N David.

Memoirs of a War Veteran: the Seelow Heights

Even though time has elapsed after the war, whenever abyzov hear or read the world “Order” his mind return to the damp and rainy April of 1945.

How could he forget that hour before dawn, when he and his colleagues reached out of that damp cellar into the trench after the unexpected exploration. They wanted for the artillery preparation to start, standing in the trench on squelching planking under a pitch black sky and then it finally started.

When they saw the storm clouds gather and lightning flare, some of them closed their ears with their hands that night. Thousands of lightnings and thunders flashed and rumbled. The ground shook.

The firing of the guns, motars and Katyusha rocket launchers merged into a violent ear-splitting roar. They could not even hear themselves speak. They smoked without reprimand, looked at one another and smiled, pleased with the developments.

An hour before dawn on April 16, the artillery motars and rocket launchers fired thousands of shells at the enemy. It was difficult to imagine the havoc they wreaked upon the enemy trenches and other defences. They smiled, did not gloat and they triumphed. It seemed that the artillery precipitated all their anger and wrath on the Hitlerites. But there was hope that everything would end soon.

After half an hour of this roaring, a searchlight beam pierced the sky and thousands of multi-coloured flares went up. A moment later the positions of the Nazis were illuminated by dozens of powerful search lights. Shells were still bursting there and though the soil seemed to have been soaked with moisture and shells raised dense bursting clouds of dust.

Warning his arm Kiselov cried out “here we go !”

They jumped over the parapet of the shallow trench and ran. It was light as day though the dust hung in the air. They continued to run. Someone shouted “here they are”.

The artillery was still firing. Their appearance in the German trenches caused confusion. Immediately, they poured sub-machine gun fire on the Hitlerctes, hit them with the firearms and with entrenching shovels whose blades were as sharp as knives and then forged again.