Story of a Signalman

1. The Arrival of Parakrama

In 1960 H.M.Cy.S. Parakrama arrived after a refitting done by our Ceylonese crew with the help of the British, a gift to Ceylon from Britain. Her former name was H.M.S. Pickle.

Soon after Parakrama arrived, as we went to Cochin for about a month and took part in naval exercises with the Indian Navy. On her arrival, half of the crew were replaced by new members, but all the original officers remained for some months. They were all a lovely lot.

With Lt. Cdr. Allan Caldera as the Captain, Lt. Whahid as First Lieutenant, Lt. Cdr. Poulier as Engineer Officer, Lt. Cdr. Samararunge as Supply Officer, Lt. Asoka De Silva as Communications Officer, and Sub Lieutenant Chris Fernando and a couple of other officers whose names I forget. Chief Roberts was the Master at arms, later he passed away as a Sub. Lieutenant meeting with an accident in Trincomalee.

We also did quite a bit of illicit immigrant patrolling and were based in Trincomalee for some time. It was then that she crashed onto the oil jetty going for diesel.

Most of these officers I met in Australia on my several visits to see our daughter. It is on the Parakrama_ that I met Lieutenant Chris Lawton, who was an ERA Petty Officer then, he played a major role in helping our Veterans. Later on my visit to Australia Ly. Lawton and all the other members of the Association were so beautiful, getting together like an extended family, always insisting on your using their first name.

After about six months, the balance of the original crew was drafted and the officers too were replaced. With Lt. Cdr. Ivan Livera as Captain — he truly was a dumb case with no knowledge of Navigation. But we had a very capable and knowledgeable officer as First Lieutenant, in Lt. Brian Dharmarathne. Engineering Officer was Lt. Cdr. D.A.G. Fernando. Others were Lt. Ananda H. Silva, Lt. Babu Jacobs, Lt. Earnie Kelaart, Sub.Lt. Elikawella Supply Officer, Lt. Wijesinghe, and Sub Lt. Marshall.

Photo: H.M.CY.S Parakrama on the Far Eastern cruise, it’s me standing on the bofor deck