Appreciation:

Soldier, lawyer and diplomat

Major General Hemachandra Wickrama Gerard Wijeyekoon OBE.,ED., was the elder son of Sir Gerard Wijeyekoon, President of the Senate and Lady Wijeyekoon. Soldier, lawyer and diplomat Major General HWG Wijeyekoon was born on June 25, 1911. He schooled at St Joseph's Collage Colombo and entered Oxford University. After his graduation (BA), he was called upon to the Bar as a successful advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon and later joined the public service as a Land Settlement Officer. He was married to Olive Wickramasinghe and they had two sons and a daughter.

He joined the Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers and was appointed as a Second Lieutenant on March 1, 1935. With the out-break of the Second World War, he was mobilized in 1939 and promoted to the rank of Captain on November 29, 1940. Having posted to three CLI, he had attended a Tactics Course at Poona, India. He was promoted to the rank of Major on June 4, 1942 and Lt Col on December 8, 1944.

As a Lt Col, he commanded a Battalion of the Ceylon Light Infantry during the war. On termination of the war and subsequent demobilization of the units, he was made non-effective from March 2, 1946.

It was of an interest to record that after independence, Lt Col HWG Wijeyekoon was personally selected by then Prime Minister, DS Senanayake as the Secretary to the Chief Whip in the House of Representatives. With the growth of the Ceylon Army, on October 10, 1949, a regular infantry Battalion, named the Ceylon Infantry Regiment was formed and Lt Col HWG Wijeyekoon, was recalled to receive a commission in this Regiment in June 1950. In June 1950 this Regiment was redesigned as the first Battalion the Ceylon Light Infantry on November 15, 1949. Lt Col HWG Wijeyekoon, continued as its commanding officer and became as the First Commanding Officer of the Battalion. Lt Col HWG Wijeyekoon, was the first to introduce the regimental custom of toasting the motherland or the queen with arrack. Being a patriotic person LT Col HWG Wijeyekoon, preferred to consume a local drink for this purpose.

LT Col HWG Wijeyekoon, relinquished the command from first CLI on December 31, 1953. Subsequently he assumed duties as the Chief of Staff of the Ceylon Army on January 1, 1954. He held this appointment till February 9, 1955 on which date he was promoted to the rank of Col and appointed to act as Commander of the Army till January 1, 1956. From February 17, 1956 to November 14, 1959, he was the Commandant of the Ceylon Volunteer Force. During this period he was the acting Commander of the Army on four occasions.

On November 14, 1959 Col HWG Wijeyekoon, was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and Major General on January 1, 1960.

After his retirement, he was appointed High Commissioner of Ceylon to Pakistan, with concurrent accreditation to Iran. After his tenure in Pakistan he was appointed Ambassador to Italy with concurrent accreditation to Greece. While serving in Italy he met with a motor accident and sustained fatal injuries. He was accorded military funeral on April 6, 1969 at Borella, Kanatte with the participation of a distinguished gathering including Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and the Leader of the Opposition Sirimavo RD Bandaranaike.

As a Commanding Officer Lt Col HWG Wijeyekoon had paid special attention to the welfare of soldiers and religious activities. He was the first to introduce Sinhalese words of command on the parade ground and trained his men through the medium of mother tongue. As the Commandant of the Ceylon Volunteer Force he formed the Army Hewisi Band consisting of oriental drummers and pipers.

Major General Wijeyekoon was an exemplary officer and a gentleman to his fingertips during the period he acted as commander. He displayed qualities of organization and administration tempered with impartiality which were acknowledged by the officer corps of the Army.

Maj Gen HV Athukorala