“A Very Gallant Man”: Lance-Corporal Richard Aiyadurai of the Royal Fusiliers

By John D Ellis

Richard Aiyadurai was born in Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka), c.1890^[1]www.findagrave.com/memorial/56031415/richard-aiyadurai  The son of Mr CJ Aiyadurai of Changanai, Vaddukoddai, Ceylon, he was an alumnus of Trinity College Kandy, and a volunteer with the ‘Ceylon Light Infantry.^[2]www.findagrave.com/memorial/56031415/richard-aiyadurai Also WW1 Ceylon Volunteer Service Medal – Great Britain: Orders, Gallantry, Campaign Medals – Gentleman’s Military Interest … Continue reading

Richard Aiyadurai.^[3]Photo added by Hariraam Selvanathan. www.findagrave.com/memorial/56031415/richard-aiyadurai

In December 1915, he was one of the Ceylonese contingent travelling to Britain on board the French steamer SS Ville De La Ciotat when it was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-34.^[4]WW1 Ceylon Volunteer Service Medal – Great Britain: Orders, Gallantry, Campaign Medals – Gentleman’s Military Interest Club (gmic.co.uk) Posted by Paul Supramaniam. Also … Continue reading It is not known if he undertook his basic training in Northampton, alongside his fellow survivors and other Black and Asian soldiers, but by 1916 he was serving in France with the 23^rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman’s).^[5]WW1 Ceylon Volunteer Service Medal – Great Britain: Orders, Gallantry, Campaign Medals – Gentleman’s Military Interest Club (gmic.co.uk) Posted by Paul Supramaniam. As such, he almost certainly saw action in the Battle of Somme (July to November 1916).

Serving in the same regiment, but in different battalions, were: Private Valleton AS Redman of Jamaica, with the 4^th Battalion.^[6]www.historycalroots.com/private-valleton-redman/ Roy Van Twest of Ceylon, in the 28^th Battalion (until transferring to the newly created Machine Gun Corps).^[7]www.historycalroots.com/a-cingalese-machine-gunner-at-the-somme-sergeant-roy-van-twest/ Sergeant Ajit Anil (Jick) Rudra, from India, in the 16^th Battalion.^[8]www.historycalroots.com/a-sri-lankan-in-the-die-hards-private-cyril-lorenz-mellonius-a-somme-veteran-of-the-middlesex-regiment/

The 23^rd Battalion was a cosmopolitan unit comprising men of every social class, (from labourers and mechanics to former public-school boys and doctors), and from all over the globe (e.g. Canada, the United States, China, Ceylon and Egypt).^[9]Ward, FW. “The 23^rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman’s): a record of its service in the Great War, 1914-1919”. (Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1920). pp.13-26. Arriving in France in 1915, the following year they were at the Somme, and in 1917 they saw action at Vimy Ridge and Bourlon Wood, ending the year on the Hindenburg Line.^[10]Ibid. pp.12-14. Between 1914 and 1919 nearly 5,000 officers and men served in its ranks. Approximately 3,200 of them were either killed in action, declared missing in action, became prisoners of war, were wounded or died of wounds.^[11]Ibid. pp.11-13. Amongst the fallen was Lance-Corporal Richard Aiyadurai.^[12]In the infantry a Lance-Corporal is usually second in command of a section of 8-12 men, commanded by a Corporal.

Following the Battle of Cambrai, and shortly after 8pm on the evening of the 2^nd of December 1917, the 23^rd Battalion went ‘over the top’. They moved stealthily through the snow-covered ‘no-man’s land’ and successfully took German positions at Bourlon Wood.^[13]Ward, FW. “The 23^rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman’s): a record of its service in the Great War, 1914-1919”. (Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1920). pp.56-57. Darkness and the element of surprise resulted in relatively few casualties. The following day, Lance-Corporal Richard Aiyadurai was killed by a German sniper. A Lieutenant-Colonel ER Freeman, of the 23^rd Battalion, later described the circumstances of his death, in a letter to his father:

“Whilst firing at the enemy, Lance Corporal Aiyadurai was sniped through the head and killed instantly. He was a very gallant man. He set a fine example to all ranks on account of his cleanliness, smartness and cheeriness. I felt his loss very keenly as I had grown very fond of him. He died the death of a brave soldier. He was buried on the battlefield.”^[14]Martyn, JH. “Martyn’s Notes on Jaffna: Chronological, Historical, Biographical”. (Asian Educational Services, 2003). p.40.

Richard Aiyadurai’s battlefield burial was out of necessity. A German counterattack to the south of the 23^rd’s position had resulted in them now occupying a vulnerable salient. Thus, on the evening of the 4^th/5^th of December the battalion was forced to withdraw through Graincourt to Hermies.

As the German Army re-occupied the recently vacated positions, the bodies of hundreds of British soldiers were recovered from the area between Bourlon Wood and the National Road by a medical company.^[15]Prisoners of the First World War, the International Committee of the Red Cross. Page number 20482. findmypast.co.uk Tags (nick-named called “dog-tags” by soldiers) on the bodies facilitated the identification of the names, ranks and units of 309 solders, in addition to two who could not be identified. Seven of the men were Royal Fusiliers, one being Lance-Corporal Richard Aiyadurai.^[16]Ibid. The Germans informed the International Committee of the Red Cross that they had buried the men in mass graves near to where they had been found.^[17]Ibid.

Map showing the area around Bourlon Wood in 1917.^[18]The Battle of Cambrai (20 November to 4 December 1917)- Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France (remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com)

Richard Aiyadurai was posthumously awarded the ‘British War Medal 1914-1919’ and the ‘Victory Medal’.^[19]The National Archives (TNA) WO 372/1/34398. His personal effects, credit amounting to the sum of £12/19s/10d were paid to his father, Canthappa James Aiyadurai, in December 1918 and January 1920.^[20]National Army Museum; Chelsea, London, England; Soldiers’ Effects Records, 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 685001-686500; Reference: 408 A dependent’s pension was paid to Richard’s parents Candaffa James and Esther Annapillai Aiyadurai.^[21]UK, WW1 Pension Ledger and Index Cards, 1914-1923. Reference Number: 001/0008/AIR-ALC. Document Number: 48432/OS/D. www.fold3.com The pension record incorrectly notes his rank as Corporal and date of … Continue reading

Lance-Corporal Richard Aiyadurai, 23^rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers, is remembered on the Cambrai Memorial, (panels 3 and 4).^[22]www.findagrave.com/memorial/56031415/richard-aiyadurai Also www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead In 1936, his portrait was reputedly unveiled in the Diyatalawa Army HQ, (now the home of the Sri Lankan Army) in the uniform of the Royal Fusiliers.^[23]WW1 Ceylon Volunteer Service Medal – Great Britain: Orders, Gallantry, Campaign Medals – Gentleman’s Military Interest Club (gmic.co.uk) Posted by Paul Supramaniam.