Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Encyclopedia
The Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) - is a Combat Support corps of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of six regular regiments and one volunteer (reserve) regiment. Regiment Center located at Kew Road, Slave Island
, Colombo
. Present strength of the Corps is 145 Officers and 4150 ORs.
APCs.
. Activities were initially confined to minor repairs to mechanical transport vehicles, armaments, small arms and the production of a large quantity of training stores. Later an engineer officer, Maj N.V Matthysz was appointed Officer Commanding and was its first Commanding Officer in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The unit moved to Kew Road, Slave Island (where its present Regiment Centre is) on 1 September 1950. This was a command workshop of the REME and the CEME was fortunate to get the building with some of the available machinery as most of such machinery was back loaded by the British
before the hand over. The CEME strength when moving to the new premises was 1 British Officer seconded form REME, 2 Ceylonese Officers, 4-seconded NCOs from the REME, 14 other ranks and some civilian tradesmen.
s and IED
s that became rampant in the northern and eastern provinces with the escalation of the Sri Lankan civil war
. His design was different to that of the South Africa
n Buffel
s that provided protection only against land mines, in that the passenger and driver were in a single compartment built almost two metres from ground level to dissipate the explosive force of the IED. Subsequently the Army's Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, to whom the construction of the original vehicles was entrusted, developed a second version based on the Buffels which had been brought in 1985. SLEME developed the Unicorn Mark I by 1987, that where produced in large numbers by the SLEME for the Sri Lanka Army and for the other services too with a total of 93 Unicorns being produced.
Tel-+94112857894
Tel-+94572224633
Tel-+94272246048
Tel-+94213232937
Tel-+94252222898
Tel-+94243244673
Recently raised.
Tel-+94812388895
COMMANDANT=
Base Workshop-Colombo
Present Commandant - Lt Col Duminda Jayasinghe
Present Commandant - Lt Col Indu Samarakoon Lsc
Slave Island
Slave Island is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka located directly south of the Fort area of Colombo. The name Slave Island was given during the period of British occupation and administration, and refers to the situation under Portuguese and Dutch administration when slaves were held there, most of...
, Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
. Present strength of the Corps is 145 Officers and 4150 ORs.
Role
The role of the Sri Lanka Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) is to repair and maintain all electrical,mechanical biomedical and optical equipment in the SL Army, except for engineer plant and signal equipment. Repair and recovery teams are employed in the field to give repair and recovery support to operational commitments. In addition to its classic role SLEME is tasked to function essential services such as electricity (power generation), water supply drainage and railways during times of workers unrest and strikes. There are three base workshops at Udawalawe, Katubedda and Colombo for base repairs of vehicles/equipment. Corps is consist with a trade school to up-lift the knowledge of its members at Gannoruwa-Kandy. The SLEME also under takes the production of UnibuffelUnibuffel
The Unibuffel is a mine-protected wheeled APC used by the Sri Lankan military.-Production history:Although similar to the South African Buffel, it is built entirely by the Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers...
APCs.
History
The Corps of Ceylon Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (CEME) was born on 12 December 1949 with the enlistment of 2/Lt. R.A.J Ratnam CEME. The CEME first became operative as a small workshop, located in the Army Headquarters premises under the advisory capacity of Capt. Roy Davies REMERoyal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from Challenger II main battle tanks and WAH64 Apache...
. Activities were initially confined to minor repairs to mechanical transport vehicles, armaments, small arms and the production of a large quantity of training stores. Later an engineer officer, Maj N.V Matthysz was appointed Officer Commanding and was its first Commanding Officer in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The unit moved to Kew Road, Slave Island (where its present Regiment Centre is) on 1 September 1950. This was a command workshop of the REME and the CEME was fortunate to get the building with some of the available machinery as most of such machinery was back loaded by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
before the hand over. The CEME strength when moving to the new premises was 1 British Officer seconded form REME, 2 Ceylonese Officers, 4-seconded NCOs from the REME, 14 other ranks and some civilian tradesmen.
Unicorn
Research began in 1983 by a concerned Infantry Major named Jayantha de Silva to locally develop an armored personnel carrier to protect troops against land mineLand mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
s and IED
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
s that became rampant in the northern and eastern provinces with the escalation 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...
. His design was different to that of the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n Buffel
Buffel
The Buffel is a mine-protected APC used by the South African Army during the South African Border War. The Buffel was also used as an armoured fighting vehicle and proved itself in this role...
s that provided protection only against land mines, in that the passenger and driver were in a single compartment built almost two metres from ground level to dissipate the explosive force of the IED. Subsequently the Army's Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, to whom the construction of the original vehicles was entrusted, developed a second version based on the Buffels which had been brought in 1985. SLEME developed the Unicorn Mark I by 1987, that where produced in large numbers by the SLEME for the Sri Lanka Army and for the other services too with a total of 93 Unicorns being produced.
Unibuffel
Since 2000 the SLEME shifted to producing the more advanced Unibuffel with a total of 53 Unibuffel being produced as of 2006.Regular/Vol Units
- 1st Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Panagoda - Commanding By Lt Col Sujeewa Kristhorubadu(SF - South)
Tel-+94112857894
- 2nd(V) Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Diyathalawa - Commanding By Lt Col Nalinda Ariyasena
Tel-+94572224633
- 3rd Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Minneriya-Commanding By Lt Col Asela Amarasekera(SF-East)
Tel-+94272246048
- 4th Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Jaffna- Commanding By Lt Col Indika Yakandawela (SF - North)
Tel-+94213232937
- 5th Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Anuradhapura-Commanding By Lt Col Duminda Gunasinghe(SF-Wanni)
Tel-+94252222898
- 6th Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Mulatiu- Commanding By Lt Col Sanjaya Gunewardhana(SF-Mulatiu)
Tel-+94243244673
- 7th Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Kilinochchi- Commanding By Maj DA Sirimannage(SF-Kilinochchi)
Recently raised.
- EME Armd Battalion-Sarliyapura-Commanding By Lt Col Deepal Hathurusinghe- Tel-+94252234812
- EME Arty Bde Wksp-Minneriya-Commanding By Lt Col Nalin Peiris Tel-+94273273416
- Sri lanka Electrical And Mechnaical Engineers School-Commndant-Lt Col Sarath Tennakoon
Tel-+94812388895
Base Wksp
- Base Wksp Colombo - +94112436477
- Base Wksp Udawalawa - +94472233202
- Base Wksp Katubeddha - +94112635409
COMMANDANT=
Base Workshop-Colombo
- Col WPP Feranando Psc MIMI - 1992.05.01 to 1995.03.22
- Col BDLND Thisera AMIMI - 1995.03.22 to 1995.10.31
- Lt/Col HMWP Bandara PSC - 1995.11.01 to 1998.01.28
- Lt/Col GS Padumadasa FIMI(UK)MIAC(SL) - 1998.01.28 to 1999.03.04
- Lt Colonel MSG Gunawardana psc
- Lt Col ALR Wijethunga USP
- Lt Col JLCR De Sila
- Lt Col AMN Jayakody Lsc
- Lt Col PSRL Rajakaruna Lsc
- Lt Colonel DR Mayadunna RSP
- Lt Col MAAD Sirinaga
- Major TMGGS Thennanakoon (Acting)
- Lt Col SPAIMB Samarakoon (Acting)
- Lt Col SDSH Gamage
- Present Commandant is Col PTM De Silva
.
- Base Wksp Katubedda
Present Commandant - Lt Col Duminda Jayasinghe
- Base Wksp Udawalawa
Present Commandant - Lt Col Indu Samarakoon Lsc
Volunteers
- (v) Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- Present Commanding Officer is Lt Col Nalinda Ariyasena
Notable members
- GeneralGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
S. Cyril Ranatunge, VSVVSVVSV can refer to:*Vesicular stomatitis virus, a virus in the family Rhabdoviridae*Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya, a military decoration of Sri Lanka*VSV EC, an Austrian ice hockey team*Very Slender Vessel, a type of high speed boat...
, SLACSri Lanka Armoured CorpsThe Sri Lanka Armoured Corps is currently a collection of six regular regiments and a volunteer regiment. It has an independent Armoured Brigade and provides the armour capability of the Sri Lankan Army, with vehicles such as the T-55, T-55AM2, and Type 69 main battle tanks, the BMP infantry...
- former GOCGeneral Officer CommandingGeneral Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
, Joint Operations CommandChief of the Defence Staff (Sri Lanka)The Chief of the Defence Staff is the highest ranking military officer in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. The Chairman outranks all respective heads of each service branch but does not have operational command authority over them or their service branches, however overseas inter service corporations...
and Permanent SecretaryPermanent SecretaryThe Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
of the Ministry of DefenceMinistry of Defence (Sri Lanka)The Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order is the Sri Lankan government ministry responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.... - Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant colonelLieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Noel Mathyesz - Commanding Officer, Ceylon Electrical and Mechanical Engineers & accused conspirator in the 1962 coup d'état attempt - Maj Gen WGMUR Perera - First to be the Deputy Chif of Staff-SL Army & Col Comdt-2006 to 2010 form Corps of EME.