K. A. Gamage Explained

Honorific Prefix:Major
K. A. Gamage
Honorific Suffix:PWV
Native Name:K. A. ගමගේ
Native Name Lang:si
Death Place:Ampalavanpokkanai, Sri Lanka
Allegiance: Sri Lanka
Serviceyears:19982009
Rank: Major (Posthumously)
Servicenumber:O/64743
Unit:Special Forces
Awards:Parama Weera Vibhushanaya

Major K. A. Gamage, PWV (Sinhala; Sinhalese: K. A. ගමගේ, died 20 April 2009), was a Sri Lanka Army special forces officer who was posthumously awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, Sri Lanka's highest military award for gallantry. At the time of his death, he was serving in the army's elite Special Forces Regiment.

Military career

Having joined the Regular Force of the Sri Lanka Army in July 1998, he graduated from the Sri Lanka Military Academy Course 48. Gamage was commissioned into the 6th Battalion, Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment before he joined the Special Forces in 2001 after completing the Special Forces Training Course 27.[1] [2]

Actions on April 2009

By mid-April 2009, the Sri Lankan Civil War was in its final stages, with the army's northern offensive confining remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (commonly known as LTTE or Tamil Tigers) to an approximately 20sqkm area near the Nanthikadal lagoon, which had earlier been declared by the government as a no-fire-zone for civilians. This area was estimated to hold more than 100,000 civilians,[3] and was surrounded by a 3km (02miles) long fortified earth bund built by the LTTE.[4]

The 1st Battalion of the Special Forces Regiment was tasked with destroying the bund and facilitating the civilians' escape into government-held territory, and the operation was launched on the night of 19 April 2009, from the Ampalavanpokkanai area. Captain Gamage led one of the contingents for this operation, with orders to capture a section of the bund and cover the civilians' escape but not to advance forward of the bund itself. Gamage and his unit managed to cross the lagoon and reach the bund under the cover of darkness without being detected, and assaulted the Tamil Tiger bunkers along it. They successfully captured a section of the bund, starting a mass exodus of civilians into the government-held areas through it.[5]

However, they soon came under heavy fire from Tamil Tiger positions within the no-fire-zone. In order to protect the civilians and his unit from the fire, Captain Gamage chose to ignore his orders and repeatedly led attacks against these positions into the no-fire-zone. He fought through the night and into the morning of 20 April, until he was killed by LTTE fire. More than 25,000 civilians had reached the government-held areas on 20 April after the bund was captured.[6] The rest of the civilians were evacuated in the days that followed, allowing the military to launch their final assault against the Tamil Tigers and eliminate their leaders. The government officially declared victory and the end of the war a month later on 19 May 2009.[7] He was posthumously promoted to the rank of major and had married six months before he died.

Parama Weera Vibhushanaya

Captain Gamage was nominated by General Sarath Fonseka for the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, Sri Lanka's highest military award for gallantry, for his actions on 19 and 20 April 2009. Three years later on 16 May 2012, it was announced in The Sri Lanka Gazette by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa that Gamage will be posthumously awarded the medal along with 14 others.[8] The citation for his award states:Gamage's Parama Weera Vibhushanaya was presented to his next-of-kin at the Victory-Day celebrations on 19 May 2012 by Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka.[9] He was the fifth and last member of the Special Forces to receive the award.

Notes and References

  1. News: Blacker. David. The Exceptional Courage Of Mere Mortals  - Parama Weera Vibhushanaya. 16 March 2013. The Sunday Leader. 10 June 2012.
  2. Web site: Roll Of Honour 2009 . army.lk . Sri Lanka Army . 13 June 2023.
  3. News: Ethirajan. Anbarasan. Army 'routs Tigers in north-east'. 16 March 2013. BBC News. 5 April 2009.
  4. News: World's largest hostage rescue mission becomes success; over 30,000 rescued. 20 April 2009. Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka. 16 March 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120923171711/http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090420_09. 23 September 2012.
  5. Web site: President Awards PWV Gallantry Medals  - Third National Victory Day Parade Salutes Invaluable Sacrifices of War Heroes. Sri Lanka Army. 19 May 2012. 16 March 2013. https://archive.today/20130413144040/http://www.army.lk/detailed.php?NewsId=4735. 13 April 2013. dead.
  6. News: Haviland. Charles. Thousands flee Sri Lanka combat. 16 March 2013. BBC News. 20 April 2009.
  7. News: Weaver. Matthew. Sri Lanka declares end to war with Tamil Tigers. 16 March 2013. The Guardian. 19 May 2009. Chamberlain, Gethin.
  8. Web site: The Government of Sri Lanka. The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Extraordinary)  - No. 758/21. Sri Lanka Government Press. PDF. 16 May 2012. 16 March 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203033949/http://www.documents.gov.lk/Extgzt/2012/PDF/May/1758_21/G%2016036%20%28E%29%20EX.%20G..pdf. 3 December 2013.
  9. News: De Silva . Nishan . රණවිරුවන් 15කට පරම වීර විභූෂණ සම්මාන . 16 March 2013 . Neth FM News . Sinhala . Parama Weera Vibhushanaya for 15 War Heroes . 19 May 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010922/http://www.nethfm.com/site/%E0%B6%BB%E0%B6%AB%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BB%E0%B7%94%E0%B7%80%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%8A_15%E0%B6%9A%E0%B6%A7_%E0%B6%B4%E0%B6%BB%E0%B6%B8_%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%93%E0%B6%91_%E0%B7%80%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%B7%E0%B7%96%E0%B7%82%E0%B6%AB_%E0%B7%83%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%8A%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%8F%E0%B6%B1-1--6945.html . 3 December 2013 .