Years of service 1953 -1988 Rank Lieutenant-general Unit Sri Lanka Engineers Service/branch Sri Lanka Army | Name Nalin Seneviratne Allegiance Sri Lanka Died August 12, 2009 | |
Commands held Commander of the Sri Lankan Army,
Commander - Security Force, Jaffna Battles/wars 1971 Insurrection,
Sri Lankan Civil War Awards Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya Other work Governor of the North East Province Battles and wars 1971 JVP Insurrection, Sri Lankan Civil War Similar People Vijaya Wimalaratne, Denzil Kobbekaduwa, J R Jayewardene, Velupillai Prabhakaran | ||
General Ganegoda Appuhamelage Don Granville Nalin Seneviratne, VSV, ndc, SLE (August 25, 1931 – August 12, 2009) was a Sri Lankan Army officer. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1985 to 1988 and first Governor of the North East Province.
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Early life and education
One of his brothers were Ana Seneviratne, a former IGP, and the other brother Gamini Seneviratne was a senior career diplomat. Educated at Royal College Colombo, Seneviratne excelled in sports and academics. He took part in athletic and rugby, and was a Regimental Sergeant Major of the College Cadet Corp.
Military career
Seneviratne joined the Ceylon Army after leaving school in 1951 as a Cadet Officer and received his basic training at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Apron completion of training he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and posted to the Ceylon Engineers in 1953.
He received promotions to the ranks of Lieutenant in 1955, Captain in 1958 and Major in 1963. During this time he had served as a staff officer at Army Headquarters and HQ, Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration. After being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1971 he became the Commanding Officer, 1 Field Engineer Regiment, Ceylon Engineers and later was an Extra Aide-de-camp to the President. In 1977 he was promoted to Colonel and became the Commander Engineer Group till 1980. Whilst serving in the Army, he was seconded to the Ceylon Shipping Corporation for two years and a member of the Board of Directors of the Tractor Corporation from 1977 to 1980. He was appointed as Director Engineer Services and later Director Designated Budget and Financial Management before being promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1981, taking command of the Support Force, Panagoda, later the post of Commander - Security Force, Jaffna and thereafter served as Coordinating Officer of Jaffna and Kilinochchi.
He had undergone training at Royal School of Military Engineering and the United States Army Engineering School at Fort Belvoir. He is also a graduate of the National Defence College, New Delhi.
On February 11, 1985, he was appointed as the 10th Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and promoted to the rank of Major General. The following year he was promoted to Lieutenant General. Commanding the army for over three years he oversaw the largest military operation undertaken to that date, the Vadamarachchi Operation and carried out a rapid expansion of the army. He retired on August 16, 1988.
He had been awarded the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV) for over 25 years of distinguished service in the army, his other medals include the Purna Bhumi Padakkama, Vadamarachchi Operation Medal, Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal, Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal, Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal and the President's Inauguration Medal.
Later life
On retirement from the Army, Lieutenant General G.D.G.N. Seneviratne was appointed as the first Governor of the North East Province from 30 November 1988 and served until 30 November 1993. In 2007 he was promoted to the rank of General along with 9 other former service chiefs. He died August 12, 2009, aged 78 and last rites carried out with full military honours at the Borella General Cemetery.
Family
He was married to Mala Seneviratne, their only child Dushyanthi is the principal cellist of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka and is married to Khavan Perera, son of General Denis Perera.