Army units in Sri LAnka in July 1959

[tatt1994]

I'd like to be able to find information on people in the Army who were based on Sri Lanka in July 1959 - but have no idea where to start looking. Anyone got a clue on which regiments might have had people there?

[Andy J2022]

After Ceylon (as it then was) gained independence in 1948 there was no longer a British garrison there. However the British Army continued to provide support in helping to train the newly formed Sri Lanka Army by sending a British Army Training Team (BATT). Also some members of the Sri Lanka Army were sent to train in the UK, particularly at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Staff College Camberley for officers, and at the specialist trade training schools for other ranks. However by the mid 1950s this co-operation had been scaled down to save money which the Ceylonese government couldn't afford. 
The Royal Navy continued to use its Trincomalee Naval Dockyard to support its Indian Ocean operations and the RAF had two airbases on the island up to 1956, when the left wing Bandaranaike government demanded that all British forces leave Sri Lanka. However Solomon Bandaranaike was assassinated in September 1959, so it's possible that the Sri Lankan government asked for military support from Britain during the ensuing internal unrest. Bandaranaike's widow subsequently became the world's first female prime minister.

[tatt1994]

I've been told by a descendant that there were some Army people there, but it'll take a while to get hold of their ancestors service record. They  dont  know the regiment, just the service number.  I'm interested in any other people who were present, sounds like there would not have been many. I'm guessing maybe engineers or something like that.

[tatt1994]

Now discovered it was RAF not army.