Major General Vanigamuni Indrajith Vijeyakumar Mendis Wimalaratne, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, psc, GR (; 25 August 1940 – 8 August 1992) was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. One of the most distinguished field commanders in Sri Lanka, Wimalaratne raised the Gajaba Regiment, he commanded the 1st Brigade during the Vadamarachchi Operation, he commanded the Amphibious Task Force Commander during Operation Balavegaya and was the Commander Security Forces – Jaffna at the time of his death in a land mine explosion at Point Arali in the Kayts Island while making preparations to re-capture Jaffna. Early life and education Born on 25 August 1940, second of a family of eight boys, Wimalaratne was educated at Royal College, Colombo. Military career Early career Wimalaratne joined the Ceylon Army as an Officer Cadet in August 1962 and underwent training at the Indian Military Academy, in Dehradun as part of the first batch of four Ceylonese cadets sent to Dehradun. There he was the first foreign cadet to be appointed Battalion Cadet Adjutant in his final term. On his return, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the newly formed Gemunu Watch on 1 August 1963, leaving soon after for a jungle warfare course in Malaysia at the British Army Jungle Warfare Training School. Serving with the 1st Battalion, Gemunu Watch as a subaltern, he was appointed adjutant of the 2nd(Volunteer) Battalion, Gemunu Watch in 1968. In 1970, he was appointed as an instructor conducting the jungle warfare phase for Officer Cadets at the Army Training Center (ATC) in Diyatalawa. He served till 1979 becoming the Chief Instructor of the Army Training Center, having introduced training on urban warfare and counter-insurgency. In 1976, Major Wimalaratne served as the Liaison Officer to the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she took part in the Non-Aligned Summit in Colombo. He attended the British Army Staff College at Camberley Gajaba Regiment In 1983, Major Wimalaratne was appointed as the first commanding officer of the Gajaba Regiment when it was formed on 14 October 1983 with the amalgamation of the Rajarata Rifles and Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment at the Saliyapura Army Camp. Promoted to lieutenant colonel, he played a major role in forming and expanding the Gajaba Regiment as one of the elite infantry regiments in the army and is remembered as its founder. Wimalaratne served as the commanding office the 1st Gajaba Battalion from its formation in