Editing Ceylon Defence Force (section)

==History==
The origins of the Ceylon Defence Force can be traced back to the formation of the Ceylon Volunteers in 1881, whereby the Citizens' Rifle Society rifle section was designated the 1st Battalion [[Sri Lanka Light Infantry|Ceylon Light Infantry]] with Lieutenant Colonel John Scott Armtage appointed as the first Commanding Officer. The Ceylon Volunteers subsequently were renamed the Ceylon Volunteer Force and finally was renamed the Ceylon Defence Force in 1910. Units of the Ceylon Volunteer Force in 1910.

* [[Ceylon Artillery Volunteers]] (CAV)
* [[Ceylon Light Infantry]] (CLI)
* [[Ceylon Mounted Infantry]] (CMI)
* [[Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps]] (CPRC)
* [[Ceylon Volunteer Medical Corps]] (CVMC)
* [[Ceylon Engineers]] (CE)
* [[Cadet Battalion Ceylon Light Infantry]]<ref name="SLABOOK">{{cite book |last=Army |first=Sri Lanka |title=Sri Lanka Army, ''"50 YEARS ON" - 1949–1999'' |date=October 1999 |edition=1st  |publisher=Sri Lanka Army |location=Colombo  |isbn=955-8089-02-8 |pages=1–3 |chapter=Chapter 1 }}</ref>

===Second Boer War===
In 1900 Ceylon Mounted Infantry saw action and in 1902 a contingent of Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps, took part in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Their services were recognised by presentation, in 1902, of a colour to the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, and a presentation in 1904, of a Banner to the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps.

Although there were Ceylonese officers much of the officer corps was made up of British officers and the other ranks were mostly Ceylonese with the exception of the [[Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps]] which was completely made up of Europeans.

===First World War===
In 1914, with the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], the Ceylon Defence Force was mobilised and expanded. Many volunteers from the Defence Force traveled to England and joined the British Army, and many of them were killed in action. One of them mentioned by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] was Private Jacotine of the Ceylon Light Infantry, who was the last man left alive in his unit at the Battle of Lys, and who continued to fight for 20 minutes before he was killed. The CPRC sent a force of 8 officers and 229 other ranks commanded by Major J. Hall Brown to the Great War. The unit sailed for Egypt in October 1914, and was deployed in defence of the Suez Canal. This unit was officially attached to the [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps]] (ANZAC) and was in 1915 dispatched to [[ANZAC Cove|Anzac Cove]] (‘Z’ Beach) on the [[Gallipoli Peninsula]]. The CPRC performed operational duties as guards to ANZAC headquarter staff, including the General Officer Commanding ANZAC, Lieutenant General [[William Birdwood]], who remarked, “I have an excellent guard of Ceylon Planters who are such a nice lot of fellows.” According to its onetime Commanding Officer (CO), Colonel T.Y. Wright (1904–1912), the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps had sustained overall losses of 80 killed and 99 wounded in the Great War. Soon after the war the 80th Carnatics, who were the last regular military unit stationed in Ceylon on garrison duties, left. This resulted in the Ceylon Defence Force becoming a regular military unit with some units, such as the Mobilized Detachment of [[Sri Lanka Light Infantry|Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers]] having troops mobilised on a permanent basis.

===Second World War===
{{See also|Ceylon in World War II}}
[[File:Army_HQ_Ceylon_1_Oct_1940.jpg|thumb|250px|British Army Headquarters in Colombo, October 1940.]]
[[File:Cole responded with enthusiasm to the local cultures, particularly in the Far East. This portrait reflects the fragility and grace he found, defended only nominally by the reassuring military uniform. Art.IWMARTLD5688.jpg|thumb|Sergeant Van Omoheusen of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, Ceylon.]]

In 1939, when the [[Second World War]] began, the Ceylon Defence Force was mobilised and expanded to fortify Ceylon to meet a possible threat posed by the Japanese. CDF came direct command of the [[South East Asia Command]] (SEAC) and formed part of the [[British 11th Army Group]]. It was sometimes referred to as the '''British Army in Ceylon''' or '''Ceylon Army Command''' during this time. [[South East Asia Command]] under [[Admiral]] [[Lord Louis Mountbatten]] had its headquarters located at [[Kandy]], Ceylon.

Troops from the Ceylon Defence Force, mainly the [[Ceylon Light Infantry]] and the [[Ceylon Garrison Artillery]] were placed outside Ceylon undertaking garrison duties on the [[Seychelles]] and the [[Cocos Islands]]. In [[Cocos Islands Mutiny]] took place (encouraged by [[Trotskyist]] [[Lanka Sama Samaja Party]]) by a few members of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery but was immediately put down by the Ceylon Light Infantry. CLI troops in 1941 escorted [[Italy|Italian]] [[POW]]s from the [[Middle East]] to Ceylon, and later in 1946 Japanese [[POW]]s from Ceylon to [[India]].

In 1945 reached its wartime peak at 645 officers and 14,247 other ranks. At the centre of the expansion was the Ceylon Light Infantry which grew by 1946 from one to five battalions.

===Post war===
In 1947 the CDF was again mobilised in its last major internal security operation to suppress a left wing [[hartal]], or mass stoppage of work. The Ceylon Defence Force was given additional support by an armed detachment of British [[Royal Marines]] from [[HMS Glasgow (C21)|HMS ''Glasgow'']], who were utilised to deter strikers in [[Colombo]].

The Ceylon Defence Force was officially disbanded on 11 April 1949 and reconstituted by ''Army Act No. 17 of 1949'' which revoked the ''Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance of 1910'' as the [[Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF)]], itself becoming the [[Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force]] (SLAVF) in 1972.