1942: Ceylon

The main events of 1942 in Ceylon, British crown colony off the southeast tip of India, were the great Japanese air raids of early April against the capital at Colombo and the Trincomalee naval base. The Governor, Sir Andrew Caldecott, had already warned the island's population on Feb. 19, four days after the fall of Singapore, to be prepared for direct involvement in the war in view of the 'new and crucial stage' of the world struggle. On March 25 it had also been announced that a Japanese naval force had occupied the Andaman Islands across the Bay of Bengal. Early in April a large Japanese fleet entered these waters, and on April 5 seventy-five carrier-based planes attacked the harbor, airdrome and railway at Colombo. Twenty-seven of the attacking aircraft were shot down, five were probably destroyed, and twenty-five damaged. Four days later Trincomalee was raided in force. Twenty-one planes were downed, twelve probably destroyed and two damaged, but the defenders suffered casualties, including the aircraft carrier, Hermes, which was sunk. Although a Japanese invasion of Ceylon was feared at the time, this did not come about, and as the year wore on the colony's defenses were strengthened.