Ceylon Contingent Memorial - Kandy - 1907
Brownrigg St, Kandy.
Originally positioned along Kandy's lakeside Esplanade, this splendid bronze memorial was erected to commemorate the Boer War service of two contingents of locally-raised, European units of the Ceylon Volunteers whose ranks were drawn primarily from the white planter community in Ceylon. In January 1900, in a show of patriotic ardour and loyalty to Queen and Empire, the colonial Legislative Council of Ceylon unanimously agreed to send a 129-strong contingent of Ceylon Mounted Infantry to South Africa to contribute to the war effort. Upon arrival in South Africa, the CMI were inspected by Lord Roberts and were described in a Daily Telegraph article on 11 March 1900 as "lithe, clean-cut fellows and their 'mounts' are the hardy and wonderful Burma ponies." This first contingent saw action at Johannesburg, Pretoria, Dreifontein, Diamond Hill and Wittebergen. A second contingent of 200 infantrymen was dispatched to South Africa and arrived after hostilities had ceased in 1902 to perform garrison duties.
The memorial depicts a trooper of the Ceylon Mounted Infantry giving the signal "enemy in sight" and was designed by Geraldine Thomas nee Blake, the sister-in-law of Lt Arthur H Thomas, one of those killed in that conflict who is commemorated on this memorial; the names of the other fallen men are W Max Kelly, C Campion, QMSGT Cheyne, AS Hopper, K Hamilton, Claude C Bell and NW Smellie. It was unveiled by Field-Marshal HRH Prince Albert, The Duke of Connaught, KG, GCMG on 18 March 1907.
Given nationalist sentiment in post-independence Sri Lanka, the statue became the focal point for student protests in the 1960s and it was forcibly removed from its plinth along the Esplanade. Ever since then, it has been safely re-located within the out-of-bounds confines of the Sri Lankan Army barracks at Kandy, behind a high wall. This, along with the sun's position, would explain why I was not able to get a better photo of the bewhiskered trooper's face. Look closely at the bottom left-hand side of the plinth and you can see the sculptor's name 'Geraldine Blake' and the year '1905'.
Ceylon Contingent Memorial - Kandy - 1907
Brownrigg St, Kandy.
Originally positioned along Kandy's lakeside Esplanade, this splendid bronze memorial was erected to commemorate the Boer War service of two contingents of locally-raised, European units of the Ceylon Volunteers whose ranks were drawn primarily from the white planter community in Ceylon. In January 1900, in a show of patriotic ardour and loyalty to Queen and Empire, the colonial Legislative Council of Ceylon unanimously agreed to send a 129-strong contingent of Ceylon Mounted Infantry to South Africa to contribute to the war effort. Upon arrival in South Africa, the CMI were inspected by Lord Roberts and were described in a Daily Telegraph article on 11 March 1900 as "lithe, clean-cut fellows and their 'mounts' are the hardy and wonderful Burma ponies." This first contingent saw action at Johannesburg, Pretoria, Dreifontein, Diamond Hill and Wittebergen. A second contingent of 200 infantrymen was dispatched to South Africa and arrived after hostilities had ceased in 1902 to perform garrison duties.
The memorial depicts a trooper of the Ceylon Mounted Infantry giving the signal "enemy in sight" and was designed by Geraldine Thomas nee Blake, the sister-in-law of Lt Arthur H Thomas, one of those killed in that conflict who is commemorated on this memorial; the names of the other fallen men are W Max Kelly, C Campion, QMSGT Cheyne, AS Hopper, K Hamilton, Claude C Bell and NW Smellie. It was unveiled by Field-Marshal HRH Prince Albert, The Duke of Connaught, KG, GCMG on 18 March 1907.
Given nationalist sentiment in post-independence Sri Lanka, the statue became the focal point for student protests in the 1960s and it was forcibly removed from its plinth along the Esplanade. Ever since then, it has been safely re-located within the out-of-bounds confines of the Sri Lankan Army barracks at Kandy, behind a high wall. This, along with the sun's position, would explain why I was not able to get a better photo of the bewhiskered trooper's face. Look closely at the bottom left-hand side of the plinth and you can see the sculptor's name 'Geraldine Blake' and the year '1905'.