HISTORY OF THE SRILANKA MILITARY ACADEMY

slmacrest

                        
          
                      Diyathalawa situated in the Province of Uva lies in one of the most bracing climates of Srilanka,which first came into military Prominence when the British Government opened a camp for 5000 Boer prisoners of war in the early part of the last Century.
Thereafter,Diyathalawa served the Royal Navy,as a sanatorium for naval personnel of the Royal Navy's East -India Staion.A military Training depot was also established here for the many volunteer units of the then Ceylon Defence Force.
                            During the world war 2,Italian Internees were accommodated at diyathalawa.With the advent of independence, the Ceylon Army was formed on 10 october 1949.The military area in diyathalawa was the obvious choice to train the personnel of the fledgling Army,hence the Army Recruit training Depot was established at the premises of the Ceylon Volunteer Force Camp.It was ceremonially inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Rt. Hon. D S Senanayake on 06 February 1950.

                      The first officer Commanding of the army Recruit Training  Depot was Major R D jayatilake MBE CLI. The 1950  mandate of  the Army training Depot confined itself  to the training  of other ranks.Officer training  was conducted  abroad, especially in the United Kingdom.However, officer cadets  underwent a period of basic  training  at the army Recruit Training Depot before leaving for their training  overseas.Direct enlisted  officers and other ranks (with war service) were also trained at diyathalawa under a British Army Training Team(BATT).With the expansion of Ceylon Army ,there was a requirement of specific training programmes for various courses such as other ranks, non-commissioned officers,direct enlisted officers (university graduates)  basic  training for officer cadets  and other officer courses in Tactics, Administration etc.