Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps
Active 1900–1949
Country Ceylon
Branch Ceylon Defence Force
Type Militia
Role Infantry
Part of British Army
Garrison/HQ Kandy
Nickname(s) CPRC
Motto(s) Unitas Sales Nostra
Engagements Second Boer War
First World War
Second World War
The
Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps was a regiment of the
Ceylon Defence Force, which existed between 1900 and 1949. It was a volunteer (
reserve) regiment based in
Kandy, made up of only
Europeans, who were
tea and rubber planters of the hills of Sri Lanka. Throughout its existence, the regiment deployed personnel to fight in the
Second Boer War, and the
First and
Second World Wars.
HistoryEdit
After the disbandment of the
Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) in 1873, some British planters and mercantile elite tried to form a volunteer infantry unit loosely known as the
Matale Rifle Volunteer Corps but it was disbanded only months after its creation. In 1900, a new regiment named the
Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps was established with its headquarters at
Kandy; the officers and other ranks were made up of
Europeans, who were
tea and rubber planters in the central highlands of Ceylon. Its first
commanding officer was
Colonel R.N. Farquharson, a retired naval captain. The regiment was a
volunteer regiment mobilized to respond to internal emergencies or for deployments overseas.[
citation needed]
The regiment's first deployment took place on 1 February 1900 when a detachment was sent to
South Africa under the command of Major Murray-Menzies during the
Second Boer War, seeing action in Cape Colony as well as at Drifontein, Johannesberg, Diamond Hill and Wittebergen, and earning the Queen's and the King's Medals with seven clasps. During the conflict, the detachment lost one officer (Lieutenant A.H. Thomas, killed in action) and seven other ranks. A second detachment was sent to South Africa in 1902 arriving just before hostilities ended, and did not see combat. The overall conduct of Ceylon troops received accolades from
General Kitchener,
Chief of Staff to
Lord Roberts in South Africa, who affirmed, "The Ceylon Contingent did very good work in South Africa I only wish we had more of them."[
citation needed]
During the
First World War, the regiment sent a force of eight officers and
and 229 other ranks under the command of Major J. Hall Brown. The unit sailed for
Egypt on October 1914, and was initially deployed in defence of the
Suez Canal. The unit was later transferred to the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and in mid-1915 was committed to the
Gallipoli Campaign, landing at to
Anzac Cove ('Z' Beach) on the
Gallipoli Peninsula. The CPRC also performed operational duties as providing 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, Colonel T.Y. Wright (1904–1912), the CPRC sustained overall losses of 80 killed and 99 wounded in the First World War.[
citation needed]
The CPRC was mobilized once more when
World War II began in 1939. Although primarily deployed for home defence in Ceylon the CPRC was a source for officer reinforcements, providing an estimated 700 volunteers who were commissioned as officers in the
British Army and
British Indian Army. Between August 1940 and July 1942, the CPRC dispatched six contingents amounting to 172 soldiers as officer reinforcements to the Officer Training School at Belgaum, India.
[1]
When Ceylon gained independence from
Britain the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps was disbanded on 11 April 1949 along with the
Ceylon Defence Force, which led to the formation of the
Ceylon Army.[
citation needed]