Sabapathipillai Rajanayagam Youngest To Be Awarded OBE

Sabapathipillai Rajanayagam commenced his career in 1934 as a 26-year-old Telegraph Engineer in the Ceylon Central Telegraph Office after completing his undergraduate studies at Imperial College, London.

- Logan Thurairatnam

He joined the Signal Corps of the Ceylon Defence Force as a volunteer officer in 1938. When the Japanese entered the war, Rajanayagam was mobilised and sent to Trincomalee. He describes life in Trincomalee to be hard, living in the open. After two months he was demobilised with the rank of Captain and sent back to Colombo as it was deemed that his civil duties in the Central Telegraph Office was more important for the war effort.

The Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton had set up a Telecommunications Board composed of representatives from the Army, Navy, and Air force. Rajanayagam was appointed a member of that Board as a civilian officer. Signal (communications) requirements for the war effort was discussed and Rajanayagam was made responsible for land-based telecommunication lines.

Lord Mountbatten established his office in Kandy. A dedicated communications cable was laid between India and Ceylon by a British ship and another cable between Colombo and Trincomalee. Rajanayagam was also responsible for supplying shore-based labour and for the land installation.

Aircraft, including fighter aircraft, were based in Colombo, Trincomalee, and Koggala, a new seaplane base in southeast Ceylon. Singapore had fallen and the idea was growing that Ceylon would be next.

While patrolling the Bay of Bengal an allied pilot Leonard Joseph Birchall CM, OBE, DFC, OOnt, CD, saw the Japanese fleet in the Bay of Bengal through a gap in the clouds and his message reached Colombo. The pilot was requested to repeat his initial report of the sighting. This message was intercepted by the Japanese, and they realized that the element of surprise was lost. The Japanese shot that plane down, fortunately, the pilot survived and was later referred to as the “Saviour of Ceylon”. This successful reconnaissance enabled the forces in Ceylon to be prepared.