{"id":35706,"date":"2021-04-05T01:14:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T01:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=35706"},"modified":"2021-04-06T12:24:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T12:24:55","slug":"the-senior-force-by-des-kelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\">&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly<\/span><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4AC_vlPbGi0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our &#8220;Armed Forces&#8221; as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title &#8220;Senior Force&#8221;, &amp; it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">I take pride in introducing this story, albeit a sad one, because I too spent many moments of prayer at the Church of St.Anthony, in Kochchikade, the Church that was practically beside H.M.Cy.S. &#8220;Gemunu 2&#8221;, a land-base, where I was drafted to, during my Service in the Royal Ceylon Navy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">I remember having to pass St.Anthony&#8217;s Church, both on my way to the Navy Barracks, and again, on my way home, whenever I was &#8220;on liberty&#8221;, as it was termed, at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">This particular Church was ALWAYS crowded with people, not necessarily Catholics, but also Buddhists, Hindu folk, and anyone who really believed that this Saint could work miracles for anybody in trouble.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">We, at eLanka send our deepest sympathy to the family of the Officer in question. With respect, I salute you, Sir.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29442\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Desmond-Kelly.jpg\" alt=\"Desmond Kelly\" width=\"125\" height=\"178\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Desmond Kelly.<\/p>\n<p>(Editor-in-Chief).\u00a0 eLanka.<\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>THE ONLY MILITARY OFFICER TO PERISH IN EASTER SUNDAY CARNAGE &#8211; <\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong><em>By Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunatne, Chief of Defence Staff<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><strong><em>Source: Sunday Island<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35707 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg\" alt=\"Sugath Nadeeshan Silva\" width=\"188\" height=\"286\" \/><\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">What a sad, sad story! Absolutely tragic. May his soul RIP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\"><em>It\u2019s customary from time immemorial for Naval Officers\u00a0<strong><u>whether they are Catholics or not<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0to light a candle in this church when they get their new sea going appointment because, as you are very well aware, St Anthony is the Saint who look after seafarers like us.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">Not only the above, but whenever a Naval Ship leaves from Colombo Harbour, the CO turns the ship towards S. Anthony\u2019s Church and then turns the ship back to the Harbour entrance. As it says, St Anthony is the Saint who looks after seafarers.\u00a0Cibba<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">It was Easter Sunday,\u00a0April 21, 2019.\u00a0SLCG Ship Suraksha, 100 meter long Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) was getting ready for 14 &#8211; day Patrol. Her fuel tanks were topped up, all victuals (required for 10 officers and 100 men crew for 14 days) loaded. Both cold and cool rooms were full with fresh fish\/ meat and vegetables. Ship was ready to sail at 12 noon on 21st April 2019. Logistic officer onboard has a lot of planning and work prior to long Patrol or voyage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">Young Lieutenant on board, who took over his new appointment as Assistant Logistics Officer (ASO) few days back was working hard. New appointment, new ship, new friends and new crew for him, he wanted to impress them with his work. A call came from home around 7AM in the morning from his mother to say they are on their way to village Church in Kochchikade, Negombo. He was the second son of a devoted Catholic family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">He thought of only one thing: I am going to miss Easter Sunday Mass<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">He got an idea, quickly went up to Commanding Officer\u2019s (CO) cabin and tapped door gently. &#8220;Yes&#8221; the Commanding Officer replied. &#8220;Door is open&#8221;. His Commanding Officer was a decorated former Naval Special Forces Captain. He is with Sri Lanka Coast Guard on two year tenure as the Commanding Officer of OPV. Young Lieutenant requested the Commanding Officer permission to go to Church. Even though the Commanding Officer was a decorated Naval Officer with career of bravery and valor, he is a kind hearted one. After all his young subordinate was only requesting permission to go to church on Easter Sunday. He knew his junior was a Catholic. He gave permission and also said a few words he now regrets. &#8220;Sugath, closest Church to us is St Anthony\u2019s, Kochikade.\u00a0It\u2019s customary from time immemorial for Naval Officers whether they are Catholics or not to light a candle in this church when they get their new sea going appointment because, as you are very well aware, St Anthony is the Saint who look after seafarers like us.\u00a0So, please go Son. Take the ship\u2019s vehicle. Come back by 11. We are sailing at 12.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">Young Lieutenant quickly changed in to his best civil clothes and went to church. He was thinking of lighting a candle, praying and returning to the ship\u00a0by same vehicle. Time was 0830 hours. He heard announcement that Tamil Mass starts at 0840 hours. Church was full of devotees. Families with their children dressed in their \u00a0best Sunday. Happy and chatting \/ greeting each other. Our young Lieutenant can understand and speak Tamil very well. So, he changed his mind. CO said, &#8220;come back by 11&#8221;. There is enough time to attend the Tamil Mass and return to ship.\u00a0. He dispatched his young driver telling him &#8220;I will attend the Mass and come back to ship. I can get a three wheeler. It\u2019s not that far from here to the Naval Base\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">The Tamil Mass started at 0840 sharp. The suicide bomber walked into the Church at 0845 and detonated himself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">With the deafening sound, Naval Base was activated. News starts coming in \u2018blast at St Anthony Church Kochikade\u2019. CO of the SLCG Ship Suraksha knew his subordinate was in the church. He rang his mobile while rushing to the scene. Mobile was ringing, but no answer. The ship\u2019s crew looked for their officer whilst transferring casualties. CO rang the mobile of his subordinate officer again. This time someone answered !. A female voice! She introduced herself as a nurse in the Accident Ward of General Hospital Colombo. She said in a faint voice, &#8220;Sir, he is dead\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;CO sat on the road curb with tears in his eyes. He is a battle-hardened Naval Special Forces man. He has seen enough deaths and destruction in his life, but this loss hit him hard. He said &#8220;My son! Why did I allow you to go to Church?&#8221; \u00a0Young Lieutenant is the only Military Officer to succumb to injuries due to Easter Sunday terrorist attack.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\"><strong>This is a true story.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">Lieutenant (S) Sugath Nadeeshan Silva was born in Kochchikade, Negombo on 23rd November 1991, as the second son of his family. He had one elder and one younger brother. He had his early education at Thoppuwa St Philip Nari Sinhala Mixed School, Kochchikade and Mari Stella College, Negambo and proved to be one of the brilliant students, who excelled in studies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">He joined the Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) as an Officer Cadet on 17th September 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 24px;\">Sugath excelled in Cricket. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in Logistics Management in 2016 from KDU and successfully completed Sub Lieutenant Logistics course at Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee and joined SLCG Ship Suraksha as his first sea appointment when this untimely demise occurred due to a terrorist attack. He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant Commander and buried with full military honours. May he Rest In Peace.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our &#8220;Armed Forces&#8221; as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title &#8220;Senior Force&#8221;, &amp; it was from this Force, that the only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1104],"tags":[7405,7404,7403],"class_list":{"0":"post-35706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-desmond-kelly","9":"tag-church-of-st-anthony-kochchikade","10":"tag-ravindra-c-wijegunatne","11":"tag-sugath-nadeeshan-silva","12":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.7.1 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;THE SENIOR FORCE&quot; \u2013 By Des Kelly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;THE SENIOR FORCE&quot; \u2013 By Des Kelly - In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our &quot;Armed Forces&quot; as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title &quot;Senior Force&quot;, &amp; it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;THE SENIOR FORCE&quot; \u2013 By Des Kelly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;THE SENIOR FORCE&quot; \u2013 By Des Kelly - In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our &quot;Armed Forces&quot; as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title &quot;Senior Force&quot;, &amp; it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eLanka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-05T01:14:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-06T12:24:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"188\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"286\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\"},\"headline\":\"&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-05T01:14:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-06T12:24:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/\"},\"wordCount\":1159,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Church of St.Anthony Kochchikade\",\"Ravindra C Wijegunatne\",\"Sugath Nadeeshan Silva\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"DESMOND KELLY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"THE SENIOR FORCE\\\" \u2013 By Des Kelly\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-05T01:14:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-06T12:24:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"THE SENIOR FORCE\\\" \u2013 By Des Kelly - In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our \\\"Armed Forces\\\" as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title \\\"Senior Force\\\", & it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg\",\"width\":188,\"height\":286,\"caption\":\"Sugath Nadeeshan Silva\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"description\":\"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"width\":192,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"eLanka\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\",\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eLanka admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"THE SENIOR FORCE\" \u2013 By Des Kelly","description":"\"THE SENIOR FORCE\" \u2013 By Des Kelly - In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our \"Armed Forces\" as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title \"Senior Force\", & it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"THE SENIOR FORCE\" \u2013 By Des Kelly","og_description":"\"THE SENIOR FORCE\" \u2013 By Des Kelly - In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our \"Armed Forces\" as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title \"Senior Force\", & it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.","og_url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/","og_site_name":"eLanka","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","article_published_time":"2021-04-05T01:14:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-06T12:24:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":188,"height":286,"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"eLanka admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eLanka admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/"},"author":{"name":"eLanka admin","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd"},"headline":"&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly","datePublished":"2021-04-05T01:14:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-06T12:24:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/"},"wordCount":1159,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg","keywords":["Church of St.Anthony Kochchikade","Ravindra C Wijegunatne","Sugath Nadeeshan Silva"],"articleSection":["Articles","DESMOND KELLY"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/","name":"\"THE SENIOR FORCE\" \u2013 By Des Kelly","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-05T01:14:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-06T12:24:55+00:00","description":"\"THE SENIOR FORCE\" \u2013 By Des Kelly - In Ceylon, and around the World, it was known as the Senior Force. Although, general knowledge gives us our \"Armed Forces\" as Army, Navy, Air Force, then Police, the fact remains that the NAVY has the title \"Senior Force\", & it was from this Force, that the only Military Officer to perish in Easter Sunday carnage, came.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sugath-Nadeeshan-Silva.jpg","width":188,"height":286,"caption":"Sugath Nadeeshan Silva"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-senior-force-by-des-kelly\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"&#8220;THE SENIOR FORCE&#8221; \u2013 By Des Kelly"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","name":"eLanka","description":"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization","name":"eLanka","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":82,"caption":"eLanka"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd","name":"eLanka admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eLanka admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew"],"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35706"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61169,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35706\/revisions\/61169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}