Harry Goonatilake
Harry Goonetileke | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 27, 1929 Air Lanka , Board of Directors |
psc, SLAF (November 27, 1929 – April 11, 2008) was the fifth Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force from November 1, 1976, to April 30, 1981.[1]
Early life
Born 27 November 1929, as the only son of a family of five girls, his father was a booking clerk in the Railways Department and became an Assistant Transportation Superintendent at the time of retirement. Educated at the Royal College, Colombo and played of the college rugby team, he would continue to play and coach the air force team as well.
Career in the Air Force
Harry Goonetileke joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force as a
SLAF Museum and contributed greatly to SLAF sports particularly Rugby Football. He was the Chief of Air Staff before being promoted as Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force on November 1, 1976, a post he held till his retirement on April 30, 1981.[2]
In 2007 he was promoted to the rank of
Air Chief Marshal
along with 9 other former service commanders.
Family life
In 1955 he married Marian Perera and had two sons and two daughters. Both his sons joined the
Air Commodore Shirantha Goonatilake was killed in 1995 when the plane he was piloting was shot down by a SAM
, to date is the most senior air force officer killed in action.
Death
He died on 11 April 2008.[3] His funeral was held at the General Cemetery Borella, Colombo on 12 April with military honors.[4]
References
- ^ "Harry Goonatilake, a true patriot". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
- ^ Heroes who made the supreme sacrifice Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Air Chief Marshal Harry Goonethileke passes away Archived 2008-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Air Chief Marshal Harry Goonetileke former Air Force Commander died". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
External links
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