[ 13 September 1803 ] On 14 September 1803, Captain W. Pollock of the 51st Regiment of Foot, commanding a punitive military column targeting rebel held areas of Ceylon, reported to Major General Macdowal that the previous day, having found “the enemy had retreated into the interior of their territory, I ordered the Palace and…
[ 7 June 1818 ] On 7 June 1818, a short newspaper article in the Windsor and Eton Gazette carried an opinion piece on the latest reports from the British colony of Ceylon. It denounced the brutality of the British authorities, including their use of extreme methods of collective punishment against areas believed sympathetic to the rebels…
2 June 1915 On 2 June 1915, Sir Robert Chalmers, the governor of Ceylon, on the pretext that ethnic rioting between Muslims and Sinhalese Buddhists had been provoked by German agents, declared martial law. There was, however, no evidence to suggest any German involvement. Bonar Law, Secretary of State for the Colonies, admitted a month…
CHURCHILL URGES THE R.A.F. TO CONSIDER USING MUSTARD GAS IN IRAQ [ 29 August 1920 ] On 29 August 1920, Secretary of State for Air Winston Churchill wrote to Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff, urging that the RAF consider the use of ‘mustard gas’ bombs against ‘recalcitrant natives’ in Iraq.1 Mustard gas had…
MARTIAL LAW DECLARED IN CEYLON, 200 SHOT DEAD OR HUNG [ 29 July 1848 ] On 29 July 1848, Lord Torrington, the governor of Ceylon, declared a state of emergency after several thousand peasants abandoned work on the plantations, dared to elect their own king and marched on the ancient central town and administrative centre…
BRITISH TROOPS BURN HOMES AND DESTROY RICE STORES IN CEYLONESE VILLAGES [ 7 June 1818 ] On 7 June 1818, a short newspaper article in the Windsor and Eton Gazette carried an opinion piece on the latest reports from the British colony of Ceylon. REPORTS OF THE BURNING OF THE NIGERIAN TOWN OF OGODO FIRST PUBLISHED […
