He followed a Company
Commanders' Course at the School of Infantry, Warminster, 20 May to 18 July 1952 and a Land/Air Warfare
Course at the School of Land/Air Warfare, RAF, Wilts, 12 Oct to 7 Nov 1952.
He was also attached to the First Battalion of the Queens Own Yorkshire
Light Infantry, in Germany, serving with the NATO Forces in Europe.A He
relinquished the appointment of GSO2 Army HQ on 18 Jan 1953 & left for UK to
follow a course of training at the Staff College in Camberley. On 2 June
1953 he was ppointed Equerry to H.M. The Queen at the Coronation and
received the Coronation Medal. He was appointed a MVO (now re-classified as
the LVO) on 21 April 1954 when H.M. The Queen visited Ceylon. Back in the
CLI he was associated with the formation of the "D" Company which was raised
on 14 May 1954 and was himself the first to command that Company. He was
awarded the Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal during this period.
In 1955 he was given the task of raising the Ceylon Armoured Corps (CAC) and
was appointed its first CO on 10 Oct 1955. On 17 Dec 1955, a Combined
Services Buddhist Mission left for Burma by RCyNS Vijaya, to represent the
Armed Forces of Ceylon at the Buddha Jayanthi Commemoration Celebrations.
The Contingent carried with them a gift of a Bo sapling which was
ceremonially planted during the celebrations. This contingent was led by
Major Attygalle MVO. He held the appointment of OC Troops, Echelon Square
from 25 Dec 1955 to 9 Aug 1956. On 1 Oct 1958 he was promoted to the rank of
Lt.Col. He followed a course of training with the RAC from 23 March to 17
April 1959.
On 1 Dec 1962 he was promoted to Col. & in addition to his duties as CO, CAC,
he was appointed Commander, Army Force Panagoda. In June 1963 he went on an
official visit to Yugoslavia (where he went through a gruelling guerilla
warfare training course in Yugoslavia ) and the UK. He relinquished the
appointment of Commander, Army Force Panagoda on 13 Aug 1963 and. was
appointed Commander TaFII on 14 Aug 1963, covering Jaffna, Mannar and
Trincomalee. He relinquished duties as CO, CAC on 20 March 1964 and was
appointed Chief of Staff of the Ceylon Army with effect from 21 March 1964.
He relinquished his duties as Commander TaFII on 30 June 1965. In 1966 he
proceeded to UK to follow a Course at the Imperial Defence College. On his
return to Ceylon, he continued to hold the appointment of Chief of Staff. He
was promoted to the rank of Brigadier on 22 Sept 1967 & appointed
Act.Commander of the Army. On 1 Oct 1967 he was promoted to the rank of
Maj.Gen. and appointed the Commander of the Ceylon Army. As Army Commander
he paid official visits to the USA and Canada in March 1969 and to USSR in
Feb 1972. He was promoted to the rank of Lt.Gen. on 4 April 1974. With this
promotion he achieved the unique distinction of being the first Ceylonese
and the first Commander of the Ceylon Army to be promoted to the rank of
Lt.Gen. He commanded the Army for ten years and on retirement (13 Oct 1977)
he was promoted General & took up the appointment of Addt. Secretary in the
Defence Ministry and also as the Chief Co-ordinating Authority in the MoD.
He was also the National Security Adviser, a Director of the National
airline, Airlanka, Founder Chairman, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri
Lanka) Limited and Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in London. He is also the
recipient of the Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal, the Republic of
Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal (1972) and the SL Army 25th Anniversary Medal
(1974). In May 1990, President R. Premadasa honoured Gen. Atygalle with the
national honour Deshamanya. He passed away on 15 Jan 2001, in Colombo, after
a brief illness. |