Denis Perera

Early life and family

Born to Mudaliyar Maurice Perera and his wife Trisette, he was the youngest in the family with an elder sister and was educated at St Peter's College, Colombo. He was married to Ranjini Perera and had three sons: Kavan, Dinesh and Druvi. His eldest son, Kavan Perera, is married to Dushyanthi nee Seneviratne the daughter of General Nalin Seneviratne and they have two daughters, Kamani and Dayani. His second son is married to Shakila Chandratilleke, and they have three sons, like Denis himself, Shanil, Chalana and Meshan. His youngest son, Druvi, is married to Tanojie Samarasinghe and they have two sons Avindra and Shivendra. His grandsons often show keen interest in joining the army themselves.

Military career

Joining the newly formed Ceylon army on his 19th birthday, he received his training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Ceylon Army. Thereafter served for some time with a unit of the British Army of the Rhine. On his return he was stationed at the Diyatalawa garrison, taking part in the formation of the new engineering unit and later moved to the newly built Panagoda Cantonment in 1953, where the Ceylon Engineers was formed in 1957. In 1957 he attended the Royal School of Military Engineering and 1961 he graduated from the British Army's Staff College, Camberley.

During his career he had been attached to several Sri Lankan High Commissions and had been the Military Attaché of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London for three years. He was the Commandant of the Army Training Centre from 1969 to 1972 during the 1971 Insurrection and served as Commander, Southern Command. He had served as the Chief of Staff prior to being appointed as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army in 1977, as the youngest officer to be promoted to the post at age of 46 and first engineering officer. He would hold this post till 1981 when he retired from the army with rank of Lieutenant General and in 2007 he was awarded with the rank of full general.

During his tenure as the army commander, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy (KDA) after receiving Kandawala from Sir John Kotelawala to establish a defence University. For establishing the KDA, he was made a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute of the United Kingdom and the Institute of Management of Sri Lanka. KDA awarded him a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) and he was made its first Chancellor.

He was the first officer to be awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV) for over 25 years of distinguished service in the army in 1980 after military honours were reconstituted in Sri Lanka, his other medals include the Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal and the President's Inauguration Medal.

Later years and death

Following his retirement from the army he lived a very active life, he was appointed Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia – which also include accreditation to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. He was the chairman (non-executive) of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Ceylon Tobacco Company, Blackwood Hodge Engineering and GTE Directories Lanka. He founded the Association of Retired Flag Rank Officers; he was the President of the National Rifle Association and the Sri Lanka Badminton Foundation; and a committee member of the Sports Shooting Association.

In 2000 he was awarded the title of Deshamanya by the Sri Lankan government, and in 2007 promoted to the rank of General.

He died on 11 August 2013.

Honours