Four Four Bravo
Encyclopedia
Four Four Bravo was the call sign
of an fifteen-man Sri Lankan Army
patrol, deployed in the Jaffna Peninsula
on July 23, 1983. The patrol was ambushed and thirteen of its members were killed by the LTTE. This incident sparked the Black July riots
and is considered to be the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War
.
with the call sign Four Four Charlie, at Kondavil.
Patrol Four Four Bravo was scheduled to leave Gurunagar (code name Four Four) at 2200 hours as a routine patrol from the C Company of the First Battalion of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry
based at Madagal about 20 miles away. The patrol arrived at 2147 hours. It consisted of a detachment of 15 soldiers led by Second Lieutenant A.P.N.C. De S. Vaas Gunawardene. The instructions of the Brigadier were that the patrol should be back in Madagal before 2359 hours, if necessary shortening the prescribed route: Gurunagar - Jaffna - Naga Vihara - Nallur - Kopay - Urumpirai - Kondavil - Kokuvil - Jaffna
- Kaliyan - kadu - Madagal. 2nd Lt. Gunawardene received the instructions from Major De Silva who further emphasized that the patrol must be in Madagal Camp by midnight. Four Four Bravo left Gurunagar at 2206 hours and was in radio contact every five minutes all reports indicated that Jaffna was quiet.
aka Seelan and had observed the army patrols. That night a group of 25 LTTE men, including Velupillai Prabhakaran
, Kittu, Iyer, Victor, Pulendran, Shellakili, Santhosam and Appiah gathered at Tinneveli on the Palali - Jaffna road at a point where the road was dug up to install new telecommunication equipment. Near one such excavation four mines were placed and a plunger stolen from the Kankesanturai Cement Factory was placed on the balcony of a nearby house. A machine gun nests were placed near the exploder and across the road. The force was split in two and placed on both sides of the road with Sellakili present.
At 2328 hours the patrol reported that it was leaving Urumpirai junction and everything was quiet. The patrol was made up of a jeep with 2nd Lt. Vaas Gunawardene, Private N.A.S. Manutange driving and Corporal G.D. Perera and Private S.S. Amarasinghe, Private S.P.G. Rajatillake and Private K.P. Karunaratne in the rear and a Tata Benz half truck with the rest of the patrol with Sergent S.I. Thelakaratne in the front seat with Corporal G.R. Perera at the wheel and Private A.J.R. Fernando between them. Five minutes of leaving Urumpirai the Jeep was slowing down near Tinneveli because of the obstruction on the road due to the installation of telecommunication equipment. As it was passing the excavation on the road, the exploder set off the mines, followed by a hail of machine gun fire on the Jeep and the half-truck. The explosion of the mines wounded many of the men in the jeep including 2nd Lt. Vaas Gunawardene who leapt out of the Jeep and pulled out a hand grenade, but was mowed down by machine gun fire. The rest in the jeep scrambled out attacked the enemy with hand grenades before being killed. Cpl. C.D. Perera charged at the enemy firing his SLR, his body was found a short distance from the jeep.
On witnessing the explosion the half truck stooped and it too came under fire from both parties of the terrorist. The fire killed Cpl. Perera in the driver's seat, Private Robert, Sunil and Wijesiri in the rear and wounded Private Manapitiya. Sgt. Thelakaratne and Private Fernando who were both wounded scrambled out, took cover from the vehicle and opened fire, however Fernando was soon killed. Thilakaratne kept firing until home-made grenade blew off one hand and all but blew off one foot. Cpl. R. A. U. Perera and Cpl. Sumathipala kept on firing and the latter in addition lobbed his grenade. In his dying moments Private Manapitiya gave his grenade to the Cpl. Sumathipala who changed their magazines and kept on the pressure on the enemy. At one stage they alighted from the vehicle and kept on firing at the enemy in two different directions thus pinning them down. At 2340 hours a message was sent to Brigadier Balthazar that radio contact with the patrol was lost and that a sentry had heard gunfire and explosions in the distance. The Army camps in Palali, Madagal, Thondamanar and Velvettiturai were alerted and the ambush prepared for Four Four Charlie was canceled by the Brigadier. It was sent in search of Four Four Bravo.
Four Four Charlie located the destroyed vehicles at 0009 hours and reported in. Cpl. R. A. U. Perera also telephoned from the Kondavil CTB Depot about that time. He had fired till he ran out ammunition and thereafter had retreated, wounded in both legs. He gave the location of Cpl. Sumathipala, who had also fired till his ammunition was almost expended, and thereafter had retreated and was lying wounded. Brigadier Balthazar him self reached the location, and found Sgt. Thelakaratne in critical condition and sent him to the hospital. He died on the way.
, except 2nd Lt. Gunawardene who was armed with a sub machine gun and grenades. The LTTE used sub machine guns, repeater shot guns stolen from the Chavakachcheri Police Station. They had with them T56 assault rifle
and a SLR rifle.
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
of an fifteen-man Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
patrol, deployed in the Jaffna Peninsula
Jaffna Peninsula
The Jaffna Peninsula is an area in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna and comprises much of the former land mass of the ancient Tamil kingdoms of the Nagas and the medieval Jaffna kingdom. The peninsula is mostly surrounded by water, connected to...
on July 23, 1983. The patrol was ambushed and thirteen of its members were killed by the LTTE. This incident sparked the Black July riots
Black July
Black July is the commonly used name for the anti-Tamil pogrom and attacks carried out by mobs in Sri Lanka which began on July 23, 1983. The riots occurred following a deadly ambush by a Tamil militant organization known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which killed 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers...
and is considered to be the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
.
Background
By July 1983 tension was rising in the Jaffna Peninsula and though out the country, the TULF had decided that their Members of Parliament resign their seats and on July 21, 1983 in Parliament, V.N. Navaratnam delivered an emotional farewell address. On the July 23 was a quiet day in Jaffna, even though there were political activity in Mannar. That day at the Army Camp at Gurunagar under the command of Brigadier J.G. Balthazar, the army was preparing an ambush for a LTTE leader Sellakili, who had been engaged in terrorist activities. It was to be carried out by a group of CommandosCommandos
Commandos is a stealth-oriented real-time tactics game series, available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game is set in the Second World War and follows the escapades of a fictional British Commandos section. It leans heavily on historical events during WWII to carry the plot...
with the call sign Four Four Charlie, at Kondavil.
Patrol Four Four Bravo was scheduled to leave Gurunagar (code name Four Four) at 2200 hours as a routine patrol from the C Company of the First Battalion of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry
Sri Lanka Light Infantry
The Sri Lanka Light Infantry is the oldest regiment in the Sri Lanka Army and the oldest infantry regiment in the army. It is made up of ten regular battalions, five volunteer battalions. Headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda...
based at Madagal about 20 miles away. The patrol arrived at 2147 hours. It consisted of a detachment of 15 soldiers led by Second Lieutenant A.P.N.C. De S. Vaas Gunawardene. The instructions of the Brigadier were that the patrol should be back in Madagal before 2359 hours, if necessary shortening the prescribed route: Gurunagar - Jaffna - Naga Vihara - Nallur - Kopay - Urumpirai - Kondavil - Kokuvil - Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
- Kaliyan - kadu - Madagal. 2nd Lt. Gunawardene received the instructions from Major De Silva who further emphasized that the patrol must be in Madagal Camp by midnight. Four Four Bravo left Gurunagar at 2206 hours and was in radio contact every five minutes all reports indicated that Jaffna was quiet.
Ambush
During this time Sellakili was planning on getting revenge for the death of Charles Lucas AnthonyCharles Lucas Anthony
Charles Lucas Anthony, also known as Lt. Colonel Seelan, from Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka, was a close associate of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran...
aka Seelan and had observed the army patrols. That night a group of 25 LTTE men, including Velupillai Prabhakaran
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka...
, Kittu, Iyer, Victor, Pulendran, Shellakili, Santhosam and Appiah gathered at Tinneveli on the Palali - Jaffna road at a point where the road was dug up to install new telecommunication equipment. Near one such excavation four mines were placed and a plunger stolen from the Kankesanturai Cement Factory was placed on the balcony of a nearby house. A machine gun nests were placed near the exploder and across the road. The force was split in two and placed on both sides of the road with Sellakili present.
At 2328 hours the patrol reported that it was leaving Urumpirai junction and everything was quiet. The patrol was made up of a jeep with 2nd Lt. Vaas Gunawardene, Private N.A.S. Manutange driving and Corporal G.D. Perera and Private S.S. Amarasinghe, Private S.P.G. Rajatillake and Private K.P. Karunaratne in the rear and a Tata Benz half truck with the rest of the patrol with Sergent S.I. Thelakaratne in the front seat with Corporal G.R. Perera at the wheel and Private A.J.R. Fernando between them. Five minutes of leaving Urumpirai the Jeep was slowing down near Tinneveli because of the obstruction on the road due to the installation of telecommunication equipment. As it was passing the excavation on the road, the exploder set off the mines, followed by a hail of machine gun fire on the Jeep and the half-truck. The explosion of the mines wounded many of the men in the jeep including 2nd Lt. Vaas Gunawardene who leapt out of the Jeep and pulled out a hand grenade, but was mowed down by machine gun fire. The rest in the jeep scrambled out attacked the enemy with hand grenades before being killed. Cpl. C.D. Perera charged at the enemy firing his SLR, his body was found a short distance from the jeep.
On witnessing the explosion the half truck stooped and it too came under fire from both parties of the terrorist. The fire killed Cpl. Perera in the driver's seat, Private Robert, Sunil and Wijesiri in the rear and wounded Private Manapitiya. Sgt. Thelakaratne and Private Fernando who were both wounded scrambled out, took cover from the vehicle and opened fire, however Fernando was soon killed. Thilakaratne kept firing until home-made grenade blew off one hand and all but blew off one foot. Cpl. R. A. U. Perera and Cpl. Sumathipala kept on firing and the latter in addition lobbed his grenade. In his dying moments Private Manapitiya gave his grenade to the Cpl. Sumathipala who changed their magazines and kept on the pressure on the enemy. At one stage they alighted from the vehicle and kept on firing at the enemy in two different directions thus pinning them down. At 2340 hours a message was sent to Brigadier Balthazar that radio contact with the patrol was lost and that a sentry had heard gunfire and explosions in the distance. The Army camps in Palali, Madagal, Thondamanar and Velvettiturai were alerted and the ambush prepared for Four Four Charlie was canceled by the Brigadier. It was sent in search of Four Four Bravo.
Four Four Charlie located the destroyed vehicles at 0009 hours and reported in. Cpl. R. A. U. Perera also telephoned from the Kondavil CTB Depot about that time. He had fired till he ran out ammunition and thereafter had retreated, wounded in both legs. He gave the location of Cpl. Sumathipala, who had also fired till his ammunition was almost expended, and thereafter had retreated and was lying wounded. Brigadier Balthazar him self reached the location, and found Sgt. Thelakaratne in critical condition and sent him to the hospital. He died on the way.
Patrol members
- Second LieutenantSecond LieutenantSecond lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
A.P.N.C. De S. Vaas GunawardeneA.P.N.C. De S. Vaas GunawardeneSecond Lieutenant A.P.N.C. De S. Vaas Gunawardene, SLLI was a Sri Lankan commissioned officer, he is best known as the Patrol Commander of the Four Four Bravo patrol that was ambushed by the LTTE July 23, 1983...
- Patrol Commander - SergeantSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
S.I. Thelakaratne - Patrol Second-in-CommandSecond-in-commandThe Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army... - CorporalCorporalCorporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
G.R. Perera - CorporalCorporalCorporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
R.A.U. Perera - Survived the attack with injuries - Lance CorporalLance CorporalLance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...
Sumathipala - Survived the attack with injuries - Lance CorporalLance CorporalLance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...
G.D. Perera - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
A.J.R. Fernando - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
M.B. Sunil - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
D.N.A.D. Manapitiya - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
G. Robert - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
A.J. Wijesiri - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
N.A.S. Manutange - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
S.S. Amarasinghe - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
S.P.G. Rajatillake - PrivatePrivate (rank)A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
K.P. Karunaratne
Equipment
The members of the Four Four Bravo were armed with SLR riflesFN FAL
The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...
, except 2nd Lt. Gunawardene who was armed with a sub machine gun and grenades. The LTTE used sub machine guns, repeater shot guns stolen from the Chavakachcheri Police Station. They had with them T56 assault rifle
Type 56 Assault Rifle
The Type 56 assault rifle is a Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, which has been manufactured since 1956. It was produced by State Factory 66 from 1956-73, then by Norinco from 1973 onwards.-Service history:...
and a SLR rifle.