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Born 27 November 1929, as the only son of a family of five girls, his father was a booking clerk in the
Railways Department and became an Assistant Transportation Superintendent at the time of retirement. Educated at the
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he was appointed
Director of Operations with responsibility for all flying and ground operations in the RCyAF. In this capacity he played a major role during the
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and contributed greatly to SLAF sports particularly Rugby
Football. He was the Chief of Air Staff before being promoted as
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and played of the college rugby team, he would continue to play and coach the air force team as well.
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In 1955 he married Marian Perera and had two sons and two daughters. Both his sons joined the
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in 1951 in the first batch of locally trained pilots. He received his flight training in the
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on
November 1, 1976, a post he held till his retirement on April 30, 1981.
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416:"Air Chief Marshal Harry Goonetileke former Air Force Commander died"
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was killed in 1995 when the plane he was piloting was shot down by a
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aircraft to Ceylon. His commands included
Commanding Officer
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Harry
Goonetileke joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force as a
203:(November 27, 1929 – April 11, 2008) was the fifth
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He died on 11 April 2008. His funeral was held at the
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in 1954. Four years later in 1958, he was promoted to
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397:Air Chief Marshal Harry Goonethileke passes away
287:along with 9 other former service commanders.
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337:, Colombo on 12 April with military honors.
248:. He was a member of the team that flew to
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207:from November 1, 1976, to April 30, 1981.
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168:Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal
444:Official Website of Sri Lanka Air Force
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283:In 2007 he was promoted to the rank of
701:National Defence College, India alumni
516:Commanders of the Sri Lankan Air Force
676:Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force
467:Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force
379:Heroes who made the supreme sacrifice
128:Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force
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308:Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force
278:Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force
205:Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force
355:"Harry Goonatilake, a true patriot"
301:Marshal of the Sri Lanka Air Force
252:and back ferrying the RCyAF's new
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258:No. 2 (Transport) Squadron, RCyAF
118:No. 2 (Transport) Squadron, RCyAF
696:Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
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681:Sri Lankan Air Chief Marshals
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312:Chief of the Defence Staff
260:and Commanding Officer of
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266:Staff College, Wellington
240:aircraft and earning his
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224:Career in the Air Force
218:Royal College, Colombo
190:W.D. Harry Goonetileke
319:Shirantha Goonatilake
158:Uttama Seva Padakkama
96:Years of service
238:Boulton Paul Balliol
180:, Board of Directors
148:Sri Lankan Civil War
134:Director Operations.
132:Chief of Air Staff,
691:Sri Lankan aviators
297:Sri Lanka Air Force
90:Sri Lanka Air Force
402:2008-04-13 at the
384:2007-09-30 at the
314:, his younger son
304:Roshan Goonatilake
254:de Havilland Heron
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474:Succeeded by
452:Military offices
299:, his eldest son
285:Air Chief Marshal
270:1971 Insurrection
187:Air Chief Marshal
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143:1971 Insurrection
108:Air Chief Marshal
36:November 27, 1929
20:Harry Goonetileke
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357:. Archived from
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262:RCyAF China Bay
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174:Other work
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600:Abeywickrama
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424:. Retrieved
420:the original
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363:. Retrieved
359:the original
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230:Flight Cadet
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139:Battles/wars
54:(2008-04-11)
671:2008 deaths
666:1929 births
606:Gunathilake
594:Goonetileke
570:Gunawardena
552:Goonatilake
540:Amerasekera
477:Dick Perera
274:SLAF Museum
660:Categories
618:Jayampathy
582:Weerakkody
576:Ranasinghe
471:1976–1981
426:2008-04-12
365:2007-05-24
341:References
306:served as
211:Early life
69:Allegiance
32:1929-11-27
636:Rajapaksa
630:Pathirana
178:Air Lanka
73:Sri Lanka
63:Sri Lanka
564:Fernando
400:Archived
382:Archived
234:Chipmunk
124:Commands
99:30 years
79:Service/
195:, ndc,
59:Colombo
39:Mutwall
588:Perera
558:Perera
546:Mendis
534:Barker
528:Bladon
154:Awards
81:branch
43:Ceylon
329:Death
242:Wings
624:Dias
310:and
236:and
201:SLAF
114:Unit
104:Rank
49:Died
26:Born
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323:SAM
197:psc
193:USP
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250:UK
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
