 major general vijaya wimalaratne rwp, rsp, vsv, usp, psc, gr (in sinhalese: ) was a sri lankan army officer and one of the most distinguished generals in sri lanka. ==education== he was educated at royal college, colombo and joined the sri lanka army as an officer cadet in august 1962. he commenced his career as an officer in the army on 1 august 1963 on completion of training at the indian military academy, there he was appointed battalion cadet adjutant in his final term . ==military career== he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the gemunu watch, leaving soon after for a jungle warfare course in malaysia and on his return was assigned with the task of conducting the jungle warfare phase for officer cadets. his competency and application of the subject to the local scenario made the training very interesting. he used to trek the jungles of buttala, wellawaya and ampara in search of training areas and described the bush jungle as âpodi singho marangâ. sometimes he was called âkala kumarayaâ since the jungle appeared to be his home! he also introduced training on fighting in built up areas and anti-terrorist operations to the army. gen. wimalaratne was also a graduate of the british army staff college at camberley. during his colourful career he had the distinction of raising the formidable gajaba regiment. he nurtured, trained and guided the officers and the men and made the battalion an effective fighting unit. the nucleus he created in the battalion became a catalyst and the performance of the gajaba battalion later is ample testimony of his leadership and vision. during âop liberationâ in 1987 he commanded 3 brigade in the first ever two brigade operation launched in the history of the sri lanka army. he was holding the appointment of deputy security forces comd jaffna. meticulous planning of operations and attention to detail were his strong points and he taught and guided his staff to achieve the same standards. he played a major role in the rescue of the troops in the jaffna fort in 1990 and in the 'operation balavegaya
1992_deaths Alumni_of_the_Royal_College,_Colombo Assassinated_Sri_Lankan_activists Assassinated_military_personnel Landmine_victims People_killed_during_the_Sri_Lankan_Civil_War Sinhalese_people Sri_Lankan_generals Sri_Lankan_military_personnel_killed_in_action