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Attempted coup d'état of 1962 in Ceylon
Date
27 January 1962
Location
Ceylon
Result
Coup aborted/abandoned
Belligerents
Government of Ceylon
Ceylonese Colonels
Commanders and leaders
Sirima Bandaranaike Felix Dias Bandaranaike S. A. Dissanayake
F. C. de Saram Cyril Cyrus Dissanayake Maurice de Mel Royce de Mel Sydney de Zoysa
Units involved
1st Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry, Royal Ceylon Air Force
3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Volunteer Signals
Strength
Government-loyal armed forces and Ceylon Police Force
Elements in the armed forces and the Ceylon Police Force
Casualties and losses
1 died in prison
The 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt (also known as the Colonels' coup ) was a failed military coup d'état planned in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). A group of Christian officers in the military and police planned to topple the government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during the night of 27 January 1962. Organised by Colonel F. C. de Saram (Deputy Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force), Colonel Maurice De Mel, (Commandant, Ceylon Volunteer Force), Rear Admiral Royce de Mel (former Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy), C.C. Dissanayake (DIG, Range I), Sydney de Zoysa (retired DIG) and Douglas Liyanage (deputy director of Land Development), it was to take place in the night of 27 January 1962, but was called off as the government gained information in the afternoon and initiated arrests of the suspected coup leaders before the coup was carried out.[1][2]
The arrested conspirators were tried under a special law, convicted and jailed. Their sentences were overruled later on appeal as it found the new law violated the Ceylon constitution and denied fair trial. During the trial it was revealed that the coup had the backing of several former statesmen,[3][4] and brought out the brewing conflict between the entrenched elites and the newly emerging elites in post-independence Sri Lanka.[5]
^"How the British press saw Mrs Bandaranaike". The Sunday Times. October 22, 2000.
^"The Kataragama factor and the 1962 coup". The Sunday Times. August 13, 2000.
^Perera, K.K.S. (January 29, 2012). "Two Prime Ministers and the Governor General – did they have a role?". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
^J R Jayawardene of Sri Lanka. A Political Biography Volume II: From 1956 to His Retirement by de Silva, K M; Wriggins, Howard, pp.114-116 (Leo Cooper) ISBN 9780850524307
^Balachandran, P. K. (1 June 2006). "Significance of the abortive 1962 military coup". The Daily News (Sri Lanka). Retrieved 17 November 2015.
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