Cadet corps
In 1891,a well known educationalist,Sir Louis Edmand Blaze OBE,JP,BA esq. founded a school,The Kingswood. Blaze belonged to a Ceylonese burgher family,but at Kingswood there was no any religion except for the religion of Kingswood. It is he who firstly coined the term “Gentlemen of Kingswood” to describe the well mannered behaviour of boys of his school. Since then, Kingswood has produced thousands of great personalities. The college marks its 130th year of excellence this year. Kingswood is one of the first five schools to form a cadet movement in the island. The history of Cadeting in Sri Lanka runs back to the 1880’s.
Captain Earnest Handscomb Spencer’s courageous enthusiasm lead to the formation of a Cadet company in Kingswood. In the year 1902 Kingswood cadeting came under the guidance of CLI(Ceylon Light Infantry),but already cadeting training was given to the Kingswoodians unofficially. Every school cadet movements were fully governed by the CLI,But any of the Kingswood cadet activities were not interfered by the CLI before 1902,because of the discipline of “Gentlemen of Kingswood”.
Major S.M.Burrows was appointed as the first commander of Kingswood who was a distinguished officer in the Ceylon Cadet Batallion(CCB). At the very outset,sanctions were granted for only five schools by then Colonial government to form a cadet movement. They were Royal, St.Thomas, Wesley, Kingswood & Trinity. It’s an honor to mention, Kingswood college is the first to originate a cadet movement in the hill capital. Following the formation,44 names of Kingswood boys were enrolled. Among them there were 30 Europeans,8 Sinhalese,3 Malays and 3 tamils. In 1903, Kingswood cadets attended the annual volunteer camp in Diyathalawa. Our boys were guided by Captain E.H. Spencer with the assistance of Lieutenants J.E. Casis and W.P. Philips. As Ceylon was a colonial of British, Ceylonese volunteers had to take part in the World War I representing England. Ceyon’s role in World War I was much appreciable.330 volunteers participated from 4 great english medium schools in the island. Among them, there were 88 Royalists,86 Thomians,84 Kingswoodians and 72 Trinitians.
The most significant achievement by Kingswood cadets is winning the coveted Herman lose challenge trophy at the very inception of its introduction, in 1917. The trophy was presented by a senior district judge of Ceylon at the time and carried his name from then. This trophy was awarded to the best platoon in the island & Gentlemen of Kingswood have the honor of becoming the first ever Herman lose trophy winners.It was a remembering milestone in the school history. Also,Kingswood cadets were able to win the Herman lose trophy thrice consecutively in 1919,1920 and 1921 showing clear succession. In 1925,a Guard of Honor was presented to Sir Jhon Randles (The main benefactor of modern Kingswood) at the opening occasion of new school building in “Randles’ hill”. When Kingswood college celebrated it’s 100 years of excellence in 1991,a guard of honor was presented to then Honorable President Ranasinghe Premadasa. The Kingswood cadet platoon celebrated its glorious centenary in 2002.As a part of the celebration, a route march was organized to Matale. It is commendable that the Kingswood cadets have won the 2nd batallion trophy in their centenary year. Kingswood cadets have shown their tremendous performances again by winning the Herman lose trophy in years 2003,2005,2006 & 2011.Our Boys won the 2nd batallion trophy for the 12 years consecutively from 2000.During this golden era of Kingswood cadeting, the platoon was lead by then platoon officer Major Sanath Weerasekara. Being the only officer in NCC history to serve 5 battalions as the Commanding officer, he is one amongst the most distinguished officers in NCC. His prior posts include NCC media spokesman and translator while he currently serves as SO 1 at NCC. Also, the courageous supports of the officers Lieutenant Colonels J.S.M. Wellangiriya & H.M.H. Pilapitiya are also so much appreciable. Their dedicated service for the onward March of Kingswood cadet platoon will be remembered forever with gratitude. The Sgt of the Kingswood cadet platoon and the 2011 Herman Lose winner Sgt. Kanchana Dissanayake was promoted as the Regiment Sergeant Major of the 2nd battalion in 2012 and was selected to participate at the Indian independence day celebrations. Kingswood Cadet platoon was able to win the 3rd place in 2015 and 2nd place in 2016 Herman lose trophies,& was lead by 2 lieutenant Mallawa Bandara and Captain Suresh Vidanagamage in respective years. Capt.Suresh Vidanagamage was awarded as the “Best Commander” in Herman lose trophy 2016 and in Batallion trophies in 2018 and 2019. The significance of the Kingswood cadets within the school is “The War hero statue”. The statue was built in order to commemorate and pay gratitude to all the Kingswoodians who sacrificed themselves in the civil war,serving the Motherland. And also,it is an honour to state Kingswood college is the only school in the island which owns a War heroes’ museum. In 2019,Kingswood cadets brought glory to their alma mater by setting two national records & was able to win the 2nd Batallion trophy after 7 years,under the captaincy of Major. Suresh Vidanagamage.Â
Highest ever points scored by a platoon in NCC history. Highest ever points taken by a college platoon in firing event. Kingswood cadet platoon, undoubtedly has made an immense contribution to the society during the past 119 years by moulding thousands of young personalities and by producing exemplary citizens with worthy qualities.