The Bracegirdle Incident
Dr. Laksiri Fernando
It was during this period 79 years ago in 1937, the ‘Bracegirdle Incident’ flared up giving considerable impetus to the young Left movement in Sri Lanka, also creating potential for the nationalist movement to call for independence from the British rule. It was on 22 April 1937 that Bracegirdle was served with a deportation order which was defied with the backing of the leftist leaders in the country. What follows here is a translation of what I wrote in 1973, about the incident, in Sinhala, in Jathika Viyaparaya, Viyawastha Vardhanaya Saha Vamansika Viyaparaye Upatha (Nationalist Movement, Constitutional Development and Origins of the Left Movement). No changes are made to the text except few corrections of names. The subheadings are however new with more paragraph breaks.
Background
Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle was an Englishman who arrived in Ceylon in early 1936 from Australia. He came to Ceylon to be trained as a planter in the tea industry. Later, the Australian police reported that he had been an active member of the communist youth movement when he was a student in Sydney.
Photo- Bracegirdle beside Colvin R. de Silva and others at Horana in 1937
Bracegirdle undertook ‘creeping’ [apprenticeship in tea-planting] at Relugas estate in Madulkelle under the Superintendent, H. D. Thomas. Soon he was not only surprised but resented the way the European planters treated the estate workers. The treatment was so horrible and horrendous. Conflicts arose between Bracegirdle and the Superintendent Thomas, as the former became a ‘friend’ of the workers. Thus the intention of Thomas soon was to send Bracegirdle back to Australia.
However, Bracegirdle was of a different intention. Guided by his feelings for socialism, he came to be in touch with the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). Neither the planters nor the police tolerated the situation, as one of their fellowmen had apparently become a tool of the communists. Almost from the beginning Thomas had informed the Inspector General of Police about Bracegirdle. If not by persuasion, their intention was to send him back by force. All happened in a quick pace.
