Gratien Fernando

Who was Gratien Fernando?

Bombardier Wathumullage Gratien Hubert Fernando CGA was the leader of the Cocos Islands Mutiny, an agitator for the freedom of Sri Lanka from the British.

Fernando was born to Sinhalese Buddhist parents. His father was a superintendent at the Ceylon Telegraph Office.

He went to school at St Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia. He was later converted to Roman Catholicism. He was impressed by the program of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and by the anti-imperialist literature which it circulated. He was very much an anti-racist in his attitude and at the beginning of the Second World War joined the Ceylon Garrison Artillery in order to fight fascism. He was shipped off with his unit first to the Seychelles and later to Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands.

Here, he argued with his officers and agitated for action among his colleagues: his agenda was the opening of the battle against British colonialism. He finally persuaded a core group to rebel, seize the island and signal the Japanese that they had done so. On the night of 8/9 May, led by Fernando, men of the unit mutinied. However, their plan failed and the rebellion was suppressed the next day. The leaders of the mutiny were court-martialled and condemned within a week.