{"id":77149,"date":"2021-11-03T17:14:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T17:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=77149"},"modified":"2021-11-03T17:14:19","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T17:14:19","slug":"the-story-of-major-gordon-burrows-by-uthsara-dissanayake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-story-of-major-gordon-burrows-by-uthsara-dissanayake\/","title":{"rendered":"The story of Major Gordon Burrows- by Uthsara Dissanayake"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story of Major Gordon Burrows- by Uthsara Dissanayake<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"trinity-college-kandy_Gordon-Burrows\"<\/p>\n

Source:<\/span><\/strong>Trinitycollege<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany believe he was an officer who stumbled upon the halls of this school. On the contrary, he knew where he was going; he was on his way to a fresh adventure, to his first job, as an Assistant Master at Trinity\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When\u00a0Major Gordon Burrows and Trinity crossed paths\u00a0in\u00a01946,\u00a0Trinity\u00a0was undergoing many\u00a0major reformations\u00a0and changes,\u00a0such as\u00a0the\u00a0Church Missionary Society\u00a0deciding to\u00a0hand\u00a0over\u00a0control of the\u00a0School to an independent Board of Governors in 1940,\u00a0the appointment of\u202f Mr\u00a0C.E.\u00a0Simithraaratchy\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0Ceylonese\u00a0and Old\u00a0Boy\u00a0as Principal, and the\u00a0construction of the new\u00a0College\u00a0Hall,\u00a0(which was gifted by\u00a0AHT de\u00a0Soysa,\u00a0an\u00a0Old\u00a0Boy)\u00a0to replace the Old Hall which was demolished\u00a0to make way for the new Hall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early Life<\/span><\/h3>\n

G.A.E Burrows was born on 20th February 1915 in Forest Hill, South London, where his father was curate at the local Presbyterian Church. He was the second of four children \u2013\u00a02 boys and 2 girls. When he was studying for the Ministry to be a Priest,\u00a0War broke out and he joined the British Army as an Intelligence officer in\u00a0the Royal Intelligence Corps.\u00a0During the period of the Second World War, the\u00a0South East Asia Command (SEAC) was created by the Allies in August 1943 and\u00a0was\u00a0based in Delhi.\u00a0Major Gordon Burrows served\u00a0in\u00a0Lord Louis Mountbatten\u2019s staff as an Intelligence officer after the\u00a0SEAC\u00a0headquarters moved in April 1944 to Peradeniya Gardens in Ceylon. \u00a0He\u00a0rose\u00a0to the\u00a0position\u00a0of\u00a0Chief\u00a0Intelligence\u00a0Officer\u00a0to\u00a0Lord Louis Mountbatten. The SEAC at the time was a crucial command post for the co-ordination of most\u00a0defenses\u00a0of allied forces.\u00a0Also,\u00a0the recapture of Burma\u00a0by England\u00a0was\u00a0coordinated\u00a0by the SEAC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During his time at SEAC, Major Gordon Burrows went to\u00a0Church on Sundays at St Paul\u2019s, Kandy. There he got to know members of the local community, some of whom became lifelong friends. This proved seminal, for it was one of them who suggested to him, after the war had ended, that he consider staying in Kandy,\u00a0becoming a\u00a0school-teacher.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He was an Intelligence officer, a\u00a0Teacher, a\u00a0Housemaster and finally\u00a0Co-Vice\u00a0Principal\u00a0at\u00a0Trinity College.\u00a0He had\u00a0also\u00a0risen through the ranks during the\u00a0World\u00a0War\u00a0II\u00a0to become\u00a0a Major. After the war ended,\u00a0Major Gordon Burrows stayed in Ceylon as it was\u00a0then\u00a0known.\u00a0He\u00a0fell in love with the beauty of the island amidst all chaos in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing the piano at the College hall<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whilst he was an army officer,\u00a0he\u00a0once\u00a0played the piano as part of a recital at the\u00a0College\u00a0Hall,\u00a0for\u00a0he was\u00a0a concert-quality pianist.\u00a0Here he met Mr.\u00a0Simitharachchy\u00a0with\u00a0whom he was acquainted. After being\u00a0invited\u00a0to spend another year in Ceylon,\u00a0in 1946\u00a0he\u00a0agreed\u00a0to\u00a0stay working as a Latin teacher at\u00a0College.\u00a0He\u00a0returned to\u00a0England in 1947 to\u00a0consider whether\u00a0his decision\u00a0was\u00a0not spontaneous and what he really wanted to do\u00a0with\u00a0his life, whether\u00a0to teach in Ceylon, or not.\u00a0Yet,\u00a0Trinity\u00a0had\u00a0got\u00a0under his skin in that\u00a0brief\u00a0period\u00a0of time\u00a0and so,\u00a0having given serious thought to\u00a0being\u00a0lured\u00a0by the burning hot sun, the golden\u00a0beaches,\u00a0and the bright moon,\u00a0in all of which he never lost his delight,\u00a0Maj.\u00a0Gordon Burrows returned to Trinity\u00a0in 1949\u00a0as Co-Vice Principal,\u00a0taking up\u00a0residence within the school premises.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A natural born teacher<\/span><\/h3>\n

For fourteen more years he\u00a0laboured\u00a0here at\u00a0College\u00a0educating\u00a0young\u00a0Trinitians\u00a0in Latin and English,\u00a0and being\u00a0the\u00a0natural\u00a0born teacher\u00a0he\u00a0was,\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Burrows (as addressed at the time) enjoyed teaching as did his students have the same enjoyment of learning. Mr.\u00a0Burrows did not waste a moment of the boys\u2019\u00a0constant pursuit of curiosity\u00a0and\u00a0was remarkable in inspiring others with his own enthusiasm. While his methods of teaching were\u00a0unorthodox,\u00a0to say the least,\u00a0his results were always spectacular.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n