Trinitians go to war
Udena R. Attygalle, a Trinity Ryde gold medallist of 1997 writes

Up in the hills of Kandy, in Trinity's Cadet Room stands a German machine-gun of the World War I make. Captured during the victory march of the British, it was a gift of gratitude from King George to Trinity College — the first school to be thus honoured outside England — on the other side of the Empire. And it stands as proud testimony to the contribution that Trinity made towards World War I.

Trinity had sent forth 65 men (including Principal A.G. Frazer). Thirteen sacrificed their lives, 18 were wounded, two were taken prisoner and three were awarded commissions.

H.E. GarvinWhen in 1914 the first shots were fired to mark the beginning of World War I, Trinity College far away from the theatre of war, was not yet 50. Yet in August that year three old boys, Aelian Pereira, H.E. Garvin and John Andrew who were in England, promptly volunteered for active service.

Back at school, legendary Principal Frazer was keen that Trinity should share in the war effort. Every day the Union Jack was spread over the table in the hall and war prayers held. Trinity's efforts to send a cadet contingent to the war climaxed with the famous 72-mile march to Colombo in 38 hours. Yet the authorities were unmoved. They would not alter the existing rules and the 65 Trinitians who did battle for the Empire did so individually.

All the while, the war was changing fast; from one of movement to that of a static battle in the trenches. Garvin, in a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Frazer in May 1915 writes that he together with Aelian, both of the Queen Victoria Rifles, had marched through France right into Belgium which Germany had overrun. "For 24 hours my lot was in the supporting trenches and I can assure you that it wasn't half as good as a bed in Trinity College. The dugouts in each of which two of us had to sleep measured 4 feet by 2 feet by 3."

"When the Germans attack, they come along in solid formation singing their patriotic songs and making a very brave show. We wait till they are checked by our entanglements and then hell seems to be let loose — thousands of rifles get going, some men shout and curse some sing, some seem to go mad," Garvin writes of his first taste of war.

Of the 1,000 who had left with the Queen Victoria Rifles only 200 were left when Aelian was awarded a commission with the Durham Light Infantry.

The next we hear from Aelian is, while he is a prisoner-of-war at an officers' camp in Karlsruhe. "The bravery of a soldier shows perhaps more in hospital than in the field. Can you imagine a man laughing at the idea of having his leg cut off? I find our college motto 'Respice Finem' very heartening," he says writing to the College Magazine.

Four boys, Senior Prefect Richard Aluwihare, A. Halangoda, A. Rudra and Frank Drieberg, who went to England for university education enlisted in the British army. They were part of the disastrous Battle of Somme on July 1, 1916. In his biography, Rudra, a member of the 18th Royal Fusiliers remembers going to the place where the Germans had attacked with chemical gas, soon afterwards. "At the trenches we found the dead and dying strewn all over the place. If one stood in an affected area too long the gas ate through the soles of our boots and got our feet."

The battle itself saw many a Trinitian fall. H. Vancuylenburg, in a letter to the Ceylon Independent of August 26, 1916 says, "I remember quite distinctly seeing Halangoda, Drieberg, Staples, Aluwihare and Rudra fall and not too long afterwards I got my first bang which blew off my leg as far as the knee."

Bosom buddies Aluwihare and Rudra were in the thick of battle. In Rudra's biography, he recalls, "I was outside the crater and felt an acute pain in the middle of my back, under my pack. 'I've bought it,' I said to myself. I gingerly felt my back under my pack. What had happened was that a piece of shrapnel had smashed in the tin containing my iron rations. The goodies were ruined, but they had certainly saved my life. Glancing around I saw Richard lying in the open about five feet away, his uniform covered in blood. He had been wounded a second time."

A few months later came the news that Drieberg had been killed in the Somme battle. He was only 19. Halangoda too was seriously wounded.

W.H. Pate of the Ceylon contingent had sent Trinity this description of an air attack so far unknown in war. "A German airplane followed us all the way and when we were in a wood they let go. Their shells fell like the rain in about three acres of wood. I was knocked out several times by the concussion of the shells, but managed to scrape through. I lay in one newly-made shell hole for about two minutes and then up again. I had scarcely gone 15 yards when another shell dropped just where I had been. The ground kept heaving like some huge chest of a giant.

"Afterwards nearly every man had a cigarette in his mouth. It was not done for swank or anything of that sort, but we wanted something to soothe our nerves. I have myself smoked them one after another or I think I should have gone mad."

A.J. Wells who would otherwise have been a planter in Batticaloa had been in active service for only a year when he was killed. An officer of his company had written to his father, "He was hit by a shell whilst gallantly doing his duty at his post with a machine-gun.

"He was one of the most reliable and efficient machine gunners in the section and carried out his duty to the last, showing great courage and coolness under fire. You have the satisfaction of knowing your son died a hero's death."

These are a few of the incidents of heroism of Trinitians who fought in the war. Space constraints do not permit us to document all the events.

The great war ended at 11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

J.W.S. Bartholomeusz received the Croix de Guerre of the first class for his bravery.

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