Sacred
to the memory of Principal
E. L. Bradby
by T. D. S. A. Dissanayaka
Member of the Royal College Class of 1949
SO Jul 13 2003: Edward Lawrence
Bradby, Principal of Royal College from 1939 to 1945, was born in 1907 and
educated at Rugby and Oxford, where he took a double First in Classics. At the
time of his appointment he was General Secretary of the NGO The International
Student Service. Earlier he was a much respected House Master at Merchant
Taylors School, which like Rugby is a famous Public School in England. By virtue
of his educational background and proven ability as a teacher and as an
educationist, he was well suited to be Principal of the renowned Royal College,
which had celebrated its Centenary in 1935. However he had one major
disadvantage, he was only 32 years old.
Fate decreed that Principal Bradby would
be a wartime Principal of Royal College. His arrival in Ceylon in mid-September
1939 in time for the commencement of the Third Term for schools in Ceylon, was
delayed by World War II. His initial contract as Principal of Royal College was
for five years, thus ending in September 1944. It appeared in 1944 that World
War II would end in 1945. Therefore he accepted an extension of just one year
because he wanted to get back to England, after World War II was over. Before he
left Ceylon in 1945 he presented The Bradby Shield for the two Rugby Football
matches which are played annually since 1943 between Royal College and Trinity
College, one in Colombo and the other in Kandy. Incidentally, from 1921 to 1942
only one match was played annually. -
From a few hundred spectators in 1945,
The Bradby Shield now caters for capacity crowds of several thousand spectators,
with many disappointed being left out because of lack of seats and even standing
accommodation. Besides the high standards in Rugby Football maintained by both
schools, there is much revelry organized by Old Boys of both schools. For years
the Old Boys of Trinity College organized a splendid Dance at The queen’s
Hotel, Kandy, of late the Old Boys of Royal College organize a dance to match it
at The Citadel Hotel, Kandy. In Colombo at Old Royalists Rugby Dinner,
coloursmen in Rugby Football scrum down to reminisce, to eat and drink in style
at a five-star Hotel.
This year The Bradby Shield matches will
be played as follows:
Saturday l9th July - Bogambara, Kandy
Saturday 2nd August - Royal College
Sports Complex
What makes Principal Bradby one of our
great Principals ? This article will a to answer that question.
Principal Bradby had only childhood
memories of World War I when he was a schoolboy at Rugby. In 1939 he had no
illusions. Even his departure from London for Ceylon, with his bride was delayed
because of the outbreak of World War II. When the Bradbys finally left London,
their ship was diverted at Gibraltar and had to take the circuitous route via
the Cape of Good Hope. Before leaving London he had read widely about Royal
College. That included every magazine of Royal College for the entirety of the
decade of the nineteen thirties and every annual report of the Principal read on
Prize Day during that decade. Besides he had many long and fruitful discussions
with Major H. L. Reed MC, our Principal from 1920-1932, acknowledged then and
now as one of our great Principals, and Principal L. H. W. Sampson, his
predecessor who had served from 1932-1938. Now he not only had to implement his
corporate plan to usher Royal College into the decade of the nineteen forties
but also to place the school on a war footing.
When Principal Bradby assumed duties in
November 1939, he exhorted the boys of the Sixth Form at Royal College to join
the armed forces and fight for King and Country. He gave vivid accounts of
Royalists who had seen action in World War I. Some of them had won the Military
Cross, others the Military Medal and many more were killed in action.
One of the best testimonials he gave for
those seeking King’s Commissions was to D. S. Attygalle who was our Head
Prefect in 1940, the Senior Sergeant of our Cadet contingent, a coloursman in
Athletics and Rugby Football. He took the sword of honour the Army passing out
parade at Diyatalawa in 1941, whereupon he was commissioned as a Second
Lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry, our oldest regiment. In 1967, Major
General D. S. Attygalle was appointed Commander of the Army. When he retired in
1977, he was a four-star General. Principal Bradby recommended to the Navy, in
the strongest possible terms, Kajan Kadirgamar who had Captained our Rugby
Football team in 1940, was a Prefect and the Senior Sergeant. As a Naval Cadet
he took the sword of honour at the passing out parade at Trincomalee in 1941. As
a Sub-Lieutenant he saw action off the coast of Burma with the Royal Navy and
was awarded the Burma Star. In 1960 Commodore Rajan Kadirgamar was appointed
Commander of the Navy at the young age of 40 years. He was later promoted to the
rank of Rear Admiral.
To keep the momentum with respect to the
Armed Forces, Principal Bradby himself applied for a Commission in the Ceylon
Cadet Corps. He was commissioned as a Major. However, at Royal College he
refused to be called Major E. L. Bradby because Major H. L. Reed MC, a Principal
of legendary fame, had seen action in World War I and was a much decorated
Officer.
As a scholar in the Classics,
Principal Bradby was puzzled that whereas Royal College down the ages had some
of her best pupils studying the Classics, the Oriental Classics, namely Pali and
Sanskrit, were not even in our curriculum. He set right that defect with
immediate effect and took a personal interest in the teaching of these new
subjects.
Indeed Pali and Sanskrit turned out to be
very popular subjects at Royal College. Many years later Principal Bradby was
delighted to learn that one of his pupils, P. H. Premawardhana of the Royal
College Class of 1944, took a First in Sanskrit at the University of Ceylon and
joined the prestigious Ceylon Civil Service in 1956.
Principal Bradby was so pleased with the
standard of English, troth spoken and written, at Royal College and repeatedly
said that our standards in English were even higher then those at Merchant
Taylors School. By the same token he was puzzled, by all accounts he had
received, that Sinhala and Tamil were woefully neglected. Therefore corrective
action was taken without delay.
Principal Bradby was a devout Christian
and read the Bible frequently. However, professionally he had misgivings about
one aspect of the traditions of Royal College, namely readings from the Bible at
school functions. In his opinion Royal College, was a secular institution as
opposed to a Christian institution, therefore there should be readings from the
Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic scriptures as well. Thus in one master stroke in
early 1940, he honoured Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam by having
readings from all four scriptures at the daily general assembly. His strategy
worked like a charm and it is a tradition of Royal College even today.
Thus quite clearly Principal Bradby had
quickly got into his stride. Before his first year at Royal College was duly
completed, he decided to utilize the inadequate funds collected to build a
swimming pool ever since our centenary to build instead a gymnasium. It was
ceremonially opened in 1941 and gymnastics was introduced to our curriculum with
immediate effect.
Principal Bradby displayed the human side
of him in the supervision of the Royal College Hostel at "Maligawa",
across the street and opened in May 1939. Mrs. Bradby who was expecting their
first baby, was put in charge of all welfare measures. With food rationing due
to World War II, Principal Bradby was an unexpected visitor for a meal to check
for himself that nourishment was adequate. Everyday he was a visitor to the sick
room, where he comforted the inmates. Periodically he invited a few hostellers
at a time to join Mrs. Bradby and him for high tea.
In December 1941, Principal Bradby was
given a few days notice to vacate our splendid premises on Reid Avenue, to make
way for a Military Hospital. Ironically Royal College made virtually homeless on
Sunday 7th December 1941, the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, resulting in the
United States entering World War II. Principal Bradby and the boys of Royal
College marched out through the Boake Gates singing,
" Are we down hearted ?
Oh no, No ‘.
Somehow Principal Bradby obtained special
permission for just one term to locate Royal College next door, at The Colombo
University College, now The University of Colombo. In that short period of time,
Royal College was re-located at Turret House and three bungalows on Turret Road
duly rented out for classrooms and even laboratories for Science practicals. The
Colombo University College continued to make available their grounds for sports.
The makeshift arrangements were operational for four long years reflecting much
credit on the resilience of Principal Bradby.
Exceptionally able though he was,
Principal Bradby had a clear idea of his limitations. He needed to have the full
support of the Old Boys and his staff. In The Royal College Union he had a
series of special committees. For example the Committee on University Education
had luminaries such as Professor Nicholas Attygalle (Medicine), Professor A. W.
Mylvaganam (Science), and Professor J. L. C. Rodrigo (Classics). The Games
Committee had former Captains of the Ceylon teams, such as C. C. Dissanayaka
(Athletics), Dr. H. S. R. Goonewardene (Athletics), Dr. C. H. Gunasekera
(Cricket), S. S. Jayewickrema (Cricket) and Danton Obeysekera (Boxing). On the
Staff he regularly consulted Vice-Principal H. J. Wijesinghe, his successor
Vice- Principal J. C. A. Corea (later Principal), Senior Science Master M. M.
Kulasekeram (later Vice-Principal), C. Samarasinghe (later Senior Science Master
and still later Vice-Principal), J. E V. Pieris (Head Master of the Lower
School), Bernard Mendis, and H. R . Fernando both Hostel Masters, senior
teachers C. E. Belleth (Science) and R. Rajaratnam (Science), both of whom had
played in the Royal-Thomian Cricket match in their time and other senior
teachers, Captain C. P. De A. Abeysinghe (Cadeting), Captain B. C. Anghie (Rugby
Football), R. C. Edwards (Art) and T. M. Weerasinghe (English).
Principal Bradby was indeed a practical
man. He rarely spoke in parables but instead spoke of well established truths in
the context of Royal College. Thus he spoke not of:
Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind
in a healthy body) as his distinguished predecessors had done, but instead he
quoted from the Royal College Anthem:
"We will learn of books and men, and
learn to play the game"
Accordingly, he accorded the highest
honour at Royal College to those who simultaneously shone in studies and sports.
A supreme example was Lakshman Wickremesinghe, our Head Prefect in 1944. He won
both panel prizes in English, the Steward Prize and the Shakespeare Prize,
another panel prize the Dornhorst Memorial Prize, the Best Speakers’ Prize and
several other prizes, was Chairman of the Senior Literary Association, Editor of
the Magazine, won Colours in Athletics, and Rugby Football and entered The
University of Ceylon on a scholarship. Four years later he took a First in
Economics and a scholarship to Oxford. There he studied Divinity and was
ordained a priest of the Church of England. At the age of 35 years he became a
Bishop, the youngest Bishop in the worldwide network of the Church of England.
Principal Bradby also observed that young
Upali Amerasinghe of the Royal College Class of 1939 was cast in the same mould.
Our Head Prefect in 1946 he went on to win four panel prizes and four Colours
and was the Editor of the Magazine. He took a First in English at the University
of Ceylon and won four Colours. At Cambridge he obtained a doctorate in English
and a Blue in Boxing. Unfortunately he died of natural causes at the young age
of 29 years.
Principal Bradby gave every encouragement
to sports even when Royal College was evicted from our traditional base. He gave
the highest priority to team work as opposed to individual brilliance which he
never commended at a General Assembly or in public. However, in private he
greatly appreciated individual performance. Accordingly in 1940 he publicly
commended the Athletics team, which won the Public School championship, in 1941
the Rugby Football team which for the first time ever defeated Trinity College
and in 1942 the Cricket team which defeated S. Thomas College.
On the other hand in private he was
thrilled in 1942, when our Cricket Captain and Head Prefect Gamini Salgado
scored a splendid century in the Royal Thomian Cricket match. In 1943 he was
delighted when Summa Navaratnam, Captain of Rugby Football scored a splendid try
to defeat Trinity College for the first time in a match played in Kandy. He went
on in due course, to Captain Ceylon’ In 1944 Principal Bradby was astounded
when our Captain of Cricket George Rajapakse, later a Cabinet Minister and
Member of Parliament for Mulkirigala, scored twin centuries against Trinity
College at Asgiriya. That was a feat no schoolboy in Ceylon could match for the
next twenty years or so. Principal Bradby was also most appreciative of the
excellence of Basil Henricus in boxing at the Stubbs Shield encounters. He went
on to represent Ceylon at the Olympic Games and to represent Ceylon in Athletics
and Rugby football to become a triple international.
Amongst other star sportsmen the Bradby
era produced were Mahesa Rodrigo, who in 1946 was our Head Prefect, Captain of
Cricket and Captain of Rugby Football. He went on to Captain Ceylon in Rugby
Football and to score a splendid century for Ceylon against the West Indies.
Hugh Aldons, captained Ceylon in hockey a sport which was then not played at
Royal College, represented the nation regularly in rugby football and in one
match in cricket against England.
Principal Bradby observed that young
Gamini Goonesena was a spin bowler of rare calibre. In due course he went on to
captain Cambridge University and Ceylon. He also observed that young John De
Saram was an athlete who trained exceptionally hard and was a very diligent
student. He went on to represent Ceylon at the Olympic Games and to win academic
honours at the University of Ceylon, such as winning a Smith-Mundt scholarship
to Yale University. He wound up his distinguished career as an UN international
civil servant as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, a prestigious
Ambassadorship.
Principal Bradby attached much importance
to debating. He was in raptures in listening to the oratory of one of our Head
Prefects in 1941, the dimunitive Neville Kanakeratne who was a scholar in
History. At the height of his career as a diplomat, Ambassador Neville
Kanakeratne was looked upon as the finest orator Sri Lanka ever produced, even
better than Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and President J. R.
Jayewardene.
Principal Bradby also activated the Drama
Society, which produced a play every year "The Sham Trial" starring
Neville Kanakeratne and "The Merchant of Venice" starring Neville
Kanakaratne, as Shylock the Jew, were the most successful of such plays. All
proceeds were donated to war charities.
By the same token Principal Bradby
attached much importance to literary skills and hence the Editor of the Magazine
was a key school appointment. Accordingly several Editors, B. St. E. De Bruin
(1940), Neville Kanakaratne (1941), Lakshman Wickremesinghe (1944) L. C.
Arulpragasam (1945) and Upali Arnerasinghe (1945) wound up. their distinguished
careers at Royal College as Head Prefect and were awarded the Dornhorst Memorial
Prize. C. G. Weeramantry, the Editor in 1943 was such a good writer and a
scholar that he won the Dornhorst Memorial Prize without being Head Prefect.
Today, he is a world famous author on Law and was a Judge of the International
Court of Justice, at the height of his career.
With the fall of Burma, Malaya and
Singapore in early 1942, Ceylon could conceivably be the next victim. That
became a stark reality on Easter Sunday 1942, when carrier - borne aircraft from
Japan under the command of Admiral Chechi Nagumo of Pearl Harbour fame, bombed
Colombo and Trincomalee caused havoc. Against this background Principal Bradby
opened a branch of Royal College in Bandarawela, as a wartime measure. At peak,
twenty percent of the school operated from "Glendale" Bandarawela.
With the threat of an invasion by Japan receding in 1943, Principal Bradby
continued expanding the school activities as he deemed fit. The Royal College
Farm at Narahenpita which was opened in 1940 on a four acre plot was expanded in
1943 to twelve acres and provided the Hostel with all the fruits and vegetables
that was needed, and the Boy Scout Troop, was established on a permanent basis
in 1944.
Principal Bradby was a strict
disciplinarian but a just man. As a matter of routine he put into operation the
Royal College Motto "Disce Aut Discede (Learn or Depart). There were no
exceptions, not even for those who had excelled in the Royal- Thomian cricket
match or in The Bradby Shield Rugby matches. He went a step further and applied
a similar discipline on the teachers. He came into class, sat at the back, and
listened to them teach. Those who were sub-standard had to teach or depart.
Perhaps the greatest contribution
Principal Bradby made to Royal College was to ensure that our hallowed
traditions stood firm in dark days and in happier times. By virtue of these
traditions, success is important but honour is even more important. Consequently
being a successful man is important, but being a gentleman is even more
important. May those hallowed traditions of Royal College never perish.
In 1983 Principal and Mrs. E. L. Bradby
visited Sri Lanka as the guest of The Royal College Union for the centenary of
Rugby Football match with Trinity College They were treated right royally. In
1996 he passed away at the age of nearly ninety years. Royal College. honoured
him with a touching memorial service held at The Cathedral of The Church of
Ceylon in Colombo. When His Lordship The Bishop of Colombo, The Right-Reverend
Kenneth Fernando of the Royal College Class of 1943, waxed eloquence in saying
an appropriate final prayer, his pupils, then in their seventies, were moved to
tears, while some even broke down and wept.