General Officer Commanding, Ceylon

General Officer Commanding, Ceylon (also known as Commander of Troops) was the designation of the General Officer appointed to command all British Army units stationed in the island of Ceylon during the British colonial administration of the island.[1] The post was succeeded by the Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force.

History

The post entitled the holder a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon and advised the Governor of Ceylon on military matters.

Apart from British Army units that were deployed for garrison duty in the island, the officer held command over the Ceylon Defence Force if mobilized. However mobilization could be carried out only under orders from the Governor.

Following independence in 1948, the command was split. With the creation of the Ceylon Army, it head had was referred to as the Commander of the Ceylon Army and the British troops in Ceylon came under the command of the Commander, Ceylon Garrison and UK troops in Ceylon until the withdrawal of British troops from the island.

Official Residence

The GOC Ceylon was entitled to a Class A Quarters issued to government officers for the use of his official residence in Colombo and had the General's House, Nuwara Eliya as a country house.

List of General Officers Commanding, Ceylon

No.	Portrait	Rank	Name	Appointment	Left office	Unit	Decorations
1		Colonel	James Stuart	1796
2		Major general	Welbore Ellis Doyle	1 January 1797
3		Colonel	Peter Bonnevaux	30 June 1797		10th Madras Native Infantry
4		Brigadier general	Pierre Frédéric de Meuron	12 July 1797
5		Colonel	Josiah Champagné	February 1799
6		Major general	Hay MacDowall	19 July 1799
7		Major general	David Douglas Wemyss	1804
8		Major general	Sir Thomas Maitland	1805		62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot	GCB, GCH
9		Major general	John Wilson	1811
10		Lieutenant general	Sir Robert Brownrigg	1812		9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot	GCB
11		Major general	Alexander Cosby Jackson	1812		66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot
12		Major general	Sir Edward Barnes	1820		47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot	GCB
13		Major general	Sir James Campbell	22 July 1822
14		Major general	Sir Hudson Lowe	1826			GCMG, KCB
15		Major general	Sir John Wilson	14 October 1831
16		Major general	Sir Robert Arbuthnot	1839		76th Regiment of Foot	KCB
17		Lieutenant general	Sir Colin Campbell	16 April 1841		78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot	KCB
18		Major general	William Smelt	28 January 1847
19		Major general	Philip Bainbrigge	23 May 1852
20		Major general	Thomas Reed	13 September 1854
21		Major general	Henry Frederick Lockyer	1856
22		Major general	Terence O'Brien	1860
23		Major general	Studholme John Hodson	1865
24		Major general	Henry Renny	1869
25		Major general	John Alfred Street	1874
26		Major general	William Wilby	1879	1886
		Brigadier general	Henry Huntly Leith Malcolm	1913	1915
		Lieutenant general	Sir Henry Royds Pownall [2]	1942	1943
		Major general	Sir Francis Ivan Simms Tucker[3]	March 1944	September 1944

See also

• Sri Lanka Army
• Commander of the Army
• Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon

References

1. "British Commanders". Ceylondatabase.net. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
2. "King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : POWNALL, Lt Gen Sir Henry Royds (1887-1961)". kingscollections.org. Kings College London. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
3. "Officers of the Indian Army 1939-1945 -- T". www.unithistories.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

External links

• British Commanders